uvr

R companion package for uvr, the fast R package and project manager written in Rust.

Use uvr functions directly from your R console or RStudio/Positron — no terminal needed.

Installation

# Install from GitHub
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("nbafrank/uvr-r")

Or install from a local clone:

install.packages("path/to/uvr-r", repos = NULL, type = "source")

The first time you call any uvr function, if the CLI binary is not found you'll be prompted to install it automatically.

Usage

library(uvr)

# Start a new project
init()

# Add packages (CRAN, Bioconductor, GitHub)
add("ggplot2")
add("dplyr", do_lock = FALSE) # skip lock + install
add("dplyr", do_install = FALSE) # skip install
add(c("DESeq2", "GenomicRanges"), bioc = TRUE)
add("user/repo@main")

# Install everything from the lockfile
sync()

# Upgrade all packages to latest versions
lock(upgrade = TRUE)
sync()

# Run a script in the isolated environment
run("analysis.R")

# Remove packages
remove_pkgs("ggplot2")

Functions

Function	CLI equivalent	Description
init()	uvr init	Create a new uvr project
add()	uvr add <packages> <--no-lock> <--no-install>	Add packages to the project
remove_pkgs()	uvr remove	Remove packages
sync()	uvr sync	Install all packages from lockfile
lock()	uvr lock	Re-resolve deps, update lockfile
update_pkgs()	uvr lock --upgrade && uvr sync	Upgrade and install all packages
cache_clean()	uvr cache clean <--package> <--r-version>	Delete cached package installs and tarballs, optionally filtered
completions()	uvr completions <shell>	Generate shell completions (bash, zsh, fish, powershell)
doctor()	uvr doctor	Diagnose environment issues (R, build tools, project status)
export()	uvr export	Export renv.lock file built from uvr.toml
import()	uvr import	Import renv.lock file to build uvr.toml
run()	uvr run	Run a script in the project env, or a standalone script from its own header
tree()	uvr tree <--depth>	Show the dependency tree
scan()	uvr scan <--all>	Find packages your code uses but uvr.toml doesn't declare
activate()	uvr activate <--write-shim>	Print how to activate the project in a shell
install_uvr()	—	Install the uvr CLI binary
update_uvr()	—	Update both R package (from GitHub) and CLI binary
r_install() / r_list() / r_use() / r_pin()	uvr r ...	Manage R versions

Standalone scripts

From uvr 0.4.6 a script can declare its own dependencies in a header comment and run without a project — run() handles these too:

# analysis.R
# /// script
# dependencies = ["jsonlite", "praise"]
# ///
cat(praise::praise(), "\n")

run("analysis.R")   # installs into a cached env, no uvr.toml needed

Dependencies install into an environment keyed by the dependency set, so repeat runs start immediately and nothing is written beside the script. The script is isolated from any project you happen to be in: the project library, its .r-version pin and its .Rprofile are all bypassed.

Key arguments

# Version constraints
add("tidymodels@>=1.0.0")

# Dev dependencies
add("testthat", dev = TRUE)

# Bioconductor
add("DESeq2", bioc = TRUE)

# CI mode — fail if lockfile is stale
sync(frozen = TRUE)

# Upgrade all packages
lock(upgrade = TRUE)

# Forward args to script
run("analysis.R", args = c("--input", "data.csv"))

# Clean the cache selectively (uvr >= 0.4.2)
cache_clean(package = "sf")

# See what will install, and from where, before it runs (uvr >= 0.4.6)
sync(plan = TRUE)

# Build from source instead of using pre-built binaries
add("sf", no_binary = TRUE)

# Let uvr install missing system libraries (needs root/sudo; shows the plan first)
sync(install_system_deps = TRUE)

# Find dependencies your code uses but never declared
scan()

# Rolling R channels, and a custom install location (uvr >= 0.4.6)
r_install("devel")
r_install("4.5.1", install_dir = "/opt/R")
cache_clean(r_version = "4.4")

# Force progress spinners (hidden by default: R pipes uvr's output)
sync(progress = "always")

# Slow connection? Give the binary download more time
install_uvr(timeout = 300)

How it works

Each function shells out to the uvr CLI binary. The package automatically:

1. Finds the uvr binary on your PATH or in common install locations (~/.cargo/bin/, ~/.local/bin/)
2. Caches the path for the session (no repeated lookups)
3. Prompts to install the binary if not found (interactive sessions only)

The binary does the heavy lifting — resolving dependencies, downloading P3M pre-built binaries, managing the lockfile, and maintaining the isolated per-project library.

Requirements

• R >= 4.1.0
• The uvr CLI binary (install instructions)
• Optional: jsonlite (for downloading pre-built binaries via install_uvr())

Related

• uvr — the CLI tool and full documentation
• uvr on r/rstats — community discussion

Support

uvr is free and MIT-licensed. If it saves you time, you can support its development on Ko-fi.

License

MIT