ir

July 29, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

ir runs self-describing R scripts and renders or previews Quarto sources.

Put the packages and R version next to the code, then run the file. ir resolves the requirements, prepares a cached package library, and starts R with that library ready to use.

#!/usr/bin/env -S ir run
#| packages:
#|   - dplyr
#|   - tidyr==1.3.1
#| r-version: ">= 4.3"
#| isolated: true
#| exclude-newer: "2024-02-01"

airquality |> tidyr::drop_na(Ozone) |> dplyr::count(Month)

ir run script.R
./script.R

This records a last-known-good environment: tidyr is pinned to the version tested with the script, while the snapshot date selects dplyr and the transitive dependencies.

Full documentation: https://r-lib.github.io/ir/

Why use it?

  • The file explains itself. R and Python package requirements live in the script or document, not in a separate setup note.
  • Fast by design. ir keeps package setup direct and reuses cached resolutions and libraries when the same requirements are seen again.
  • Reproducibility is explicit. Use frontmatter r-version, --r-version, or IR_R_VERSION to select R by version. Use --rscript or IR_RSCRIPT only when you need a machine-local Rscript override. Use --exclude-newer, IR_EXCLUDE_NEWER, or frontmatter exclude-newer to resolve the default CRAN and Bioconductor repositories from Posit Package Manager snapshots as of a specific date. Without another R selector, the date selects the latest R minor released by then. When r-version can match more than one R minor, the date limits selection to minor versions released by then.
  • It works with normal R habits. Forward Rscript options, render or preview Quarto documents, evaluate inline expressions, or use --with for one-off packages.
  • Package tools are easy to try. Run package executables with rx, or install persistent launchers backed by a durable tool store.

ir is designed to be small, fast, and predictable: resolve once, reuse cached libraries aggressively, and avoid making you manage a project directory for a one-file workflow.

Common commands

ir run script.R
ir run --vanilla script.R
ir render report.qmd --to html
ir preview report.qmd
ir run --with cli -e 'cli::cli_alert_success("works")'
ir run --with BiocGenerics -e 'library(BiocGenerics)'
ir run --r-version 4.3 script.R
ir run --exclude-newer 2024-02-01 script.R
rx btw --help
ir tool run --from btw btw --help
ir tool install btw
ir cache dir

Bioconductor packages use their bare package names. pak selects the Bioconductor release compatible with the selected R.

Install

Install a pre-built binary on Linux or macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/r-lib/ir/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Install on Windows with Scoop using the r-bucket bucket:

scoop bucket add r-bucket https://github.com/cderv/r-bucket.git
scoop install ir

Alternatively, install the Windows binary directly from PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/r-lib/ir/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

The direct installers download the latest release and install ir and rx into ~/.local/bin on Unix or $HOME\bin on Windows. On macOS, the default ~/.local/bin directory is added to ~/.zprofile when needed. On Windows, the install directory is added to the user PATH. On Linux, the installer tells you if the install directory is not on PATH. If rig is not on PATH, the installers print platform-specific rig install guidance. Set IR_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1 to skip PATH changes. Set IR_INSTALL_DIR to choose another directory.

You can also build from source with Rust:

cargo build --release

This builds target/release/ir and target/release/rx.

Development setup

To install the system dependencies needed to build the project and run tests on a new machine, run:

scripts/install-dev-deps.sh

On Windows PowerShell, run:

.\scripts\install-dev-deps.ps1

The setup scripts install Rust, Python, rig, the current R release, R 4.3 for the version-selection and documentation example tests, and Quarto. They do not run tests or pre-warm package caches. Pass --dry-run on Unix or -DryRun on Windows to inspect the plan.

Requirements

  • R / Rscript on PATH, or --rscript/IR_RSCRIPT, when R is not selected by version or date.
  • rig on PATH when using r-version, IR_R_VERSION, --r-version, or date-only exclude-newer R selection.
  • quarto on PATH, or IR_QUARTO, when rendering or previewing .qmd, .Rmd, or R script files.

On first use, ir prepares its resolver tooling in its cache, so you do not need to pre-install pak or renv.

Learn more

For command details, configuration, and edge cases, see:

License

MIT. See LICENSE.