How to use the command 'mamba repoquery' (with examples)

The ‘mamba repoquery’ command is a powerful tool for querying conda and mamba package repositories and package dependencies. It allows users to search for specific packages, list package dependencies, and find packages that require a particular package to be installed. In this article, we will explore four different use cases of the ‘mamba repoquery’ command along with examples.

Use case 1: Search for all available versions of a particular package

Code:

mamba repoquery search package

Motivation: This use case is beneficial when you want to find all available versions of a specific package. You can use this information to determine if a newer version of the package is available or to install a specific version that meets your requirements.

Explanation: The ‘search’ sub-command is used to search for packages in the specified conda/mamba package repository. By providing the package name as an argument, the command will list all available versions of the package.

Example output:

package-1.0
package-1.1
package-1.2

Use case 2: Search for all packages satisfying specific constraints

Code:

mamba repoquery search sphinx<5

Motivation: This use case is helpful when you want to find packages that satisfy specific version constraints. For example, you may want to search for all packages that have a version of ‘sphinx’ less than 5.

Explanation: The ‘search’ sub-command is used to search for packages in the specified conda/mamba package repository. By providing the package name and version constraint as an argument, the command will list all packages that satisfy the given constraint.

Example output:

sphinx-1.0
sphinx-1.1
sphinx-1.2
sphinx-1.3

Use case 3: List the dependencies of a package installed in the currently activated environment, in a tree format

Code:

mamba repoquery depends --tree scipy

Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to visualize the dependencies of a specific package in your currently activated environment. It helps you understand the package’s dependencies and their hierarchical structure.

Explanation: The ‘depends’ sub-command is used to list the dependencies of a package installed in the currently activated conda/mamba environment. By providing the package name and the optional flag ‘–tree’, the command will display the package dependencies in a tree format.

Example output:

scipy
├─ numpy
│  └─ mkl-service
│     ├─ libgcc-ng
│     │  ├─ _libgcc_mutex
│     │  └─ libgomp
│     └─ openblas
└─ python
   ├─ cffi
   │  ├─ cryptography
   │  │  ├─ libgcc-ng
   │  │  ├─ libstdcxx-ng
   │  │  ├─ python
   │  │  ├─ boto3
   │  │  │  ├─ docutils
   │  │  │  │  └─ python
   │  │  │  └─ jmespath
   │  │  │     └─ python
   │  │  ├─ six
   │  │  │  └─ python
   │  │  ├─ enum34
   │  │  │  └─ python
   │  │  ├─ pyopenssl
   │  │  │  ├─ python
   │  │  │  └─ six
   │  │  ├─ idna
   │  │  │  └─ python
   │  │  ├─ ipython
   │  │  └─ pip
   │  │     └─ python
   │  ├─ pycparser
   │  │  └─ python
   │  ├─ pycparser
   │  ├─ idna
   │  ├─ six
   │  ├─ enum34
   │  ├─ enum34
   │  └─ python
   └─ python

Use case 4: Print packages in the current environment that require a particular package to be installed

Code:

mamba repoquery whoneeds ipython

Motivation: This use case is valuable when you want to find all packages in your current environment that depend on a specific package. It helps you understand the impact of removing or updating a package by displaying the packages that rely on it.

Explanation: The ‘whoneeds’ sub-command is used to print packages in the current conda/mamba environment that require a particular package to be installed. By providing the package name as an argument, the command will list all packages that depend on the specified package.

Example output:

Package-1
Package-2

Conclusion:

The ‘mamba repoquery’ command provides an efficient way to query conda and mamba package repositories and package dependencies. By leveraging the different sub-commands and arguments, users can easily search for packages, manage dependencies, and analyze package impact within their environments.