Installation

Comprehensive installation options for Pacsea on Arch Linux (and derivatives): prerequisites, AUR helpers, stable/git packages, building from source, clipboard support, and verification.

BlackArch users: If you use Arch (or an Arch-based system) with the [blackarch] repository already configured in pacman, Pacsea will pick up those packages in search and show a [BlackArch] filter in the Results title bar. Pacsea does not install or enable BlackArch for you—set up the repo separately, then install Pacsea as below.

Optional custom sync repos: To add third-party repositories (Chaotic-AUR, your own mirror, etc.) through Pacsea’s managed drop-in, use ~/.config/pacsea/repos.conf and Options → Repositories. You still need sudo (or your configured privilege tool) for apply; see How to use Pacsea — Custom repositories and Configuration — repos.conf.

Prerequisites

• Arch Linux (or derivative) with pacman
• Network access for AUR/Arch endpoints
• Terminal emulator (required for install/update operations): Pacsea tries these terminals in order: alacritty, kitty, ghostty, xterm, gnome-terminal, konsole, xfce4-terminal, tilix, mate-terminal. If none are found, Pacsea attempts to execute commands directly via bash, but this may not work properly if you're not already in a terminal environment. It's recommended to install at least one terminal emulator.
• For clipboard support: wl-clipboard (Wayland) or xclip (X11)

AUR helpers

Pacsea supports AUR operations via paru or yay. If neither is found on PATH, AUR actions are unavailable.

Install an AUR helper (pick one):

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git rustup

# Setup Rust
rustup default stable

# paru
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/paru.git
cd paru && makepkg -si

# yay (alternative)
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay && makepkg -si

Install from AUR

Stable prebuilt binaries (pacsea-bin):

paru -S pacsea-bin     # or: yay -S pacsea-bin

Latest development snapshot (pacsea-git):

paru -S pacsea-git     # or: yay -S pacsea-git

Upgrade later:

paru -Syu              # or: yay -Syu

Run (AUR installs):

pacsea                 # default command when installed from AUR

Desktop menu entry: The pacsea-bin and pacsea-git packages install a .desktop launcher and SVG icon so Pacsea appears in your application menu. If you build from a git clone, the same files live under data/ (data/pacsea.desktop, data/assets/pacsea.svg) for manual installation or packaging.

Install via Cargo

For a universal installation method that works on any system with Rust installed, you can install Pacsea directly from crates.io using Cargo:

Prerequisites

• Rust toolchain installed and configured
• Network access to download from crates.io

Installation

cargo install pacsea

This command will:

1. Download the latest published version from crates.io
2. Compile and install Pacsea to ~/.cargo/bin/pacsea
3. Add the binary to your PATH (if ~/.cargo/bin is in your PATH)

Run

pacsea                 # runs the installed binary

Update

To update to the latest version:

cargo install pacsea --force

The --force flag reinstalls even if the version is the same, ensuring you get the latest published release.

Comparison to AUR methods

Method	Scope	Dependencies	Update Method	Use Case
AUR (pacsea-bin)	Arch Linux only	AUR helper (paru/yay)	paru -Syu or yay -Syu	Stable releases on Arch
AUR (pacsea-git)	Arch Linux only	AUR helper (paru/yay)	paru -Syu or yay -Syu	Latest development on Arch
Cargo	Any OS with Rust	Rust toolchain	cargo install pacsea --force	Universal installation

Build from source

1. Install Rust toolchain

sudo pacman -S rustup && rustup default stable

2. Clone and build

git clone https://github.com/Firstp1ck/Pacsea
cd Pacsea
cargo build --release

3. Run

./target/release/Pacsea
# Dev mode: cargo run

Optional dependencies

Pacsea includes a TUI Optional Deps modal (Options → Optional Deps) that helps you install and verify recommended helper tools:

Clipboard support (for PKGBUILD copy):

• Wayland: install wl-clipboard (provides wl-copy)
• X11: install xclip

Security scanning tools (for AUR package security scans):

• clamav — malware scanning
• trivy — vulnerability scanning
• semgrep-bin — static analysis checks
• shellcheck — lint shell scripts
• VirusTotal API key (configured via Optional Deps modal)

Mirror management (for system updates):

• reflector — Arch mirror management
• pacman-mirrors — Manjaro mirrorlist
• eos-rankmirrors — EndeavourOS mirror ranking
• cachyos-rate-mirrors — CachyOS mirror rating

Other tools:

• AUR helpers: paru or yay
• Editors: neovim, vim, helix, emacs, nano
• Clipboard managers: klipper (KDE/X11)
• Package downgrade: downgrade — allows downgrading installed packages to previous versions (see How to use Pacsea for details)

If clipboard tools are not installed, Pacsea will show a non-fatal notice instead of copying.

Verify and first run

Run Pacsea and open the help overlay:

pacsea            # AUR installs
# or, from a local source build:
./target/release/Pacsea
# Press F1 or ? to open Help

Optional safe demo mode:

pacsea --dry-run  # AUR installs; no installs are performed
# or: ./target/release/Pacsea --dry-run

For usage instructions and getting started, see How to use Pacsea. If you encounter issues, check the Troubleshooting guide.

Config initialization:

• On first run, Pacsea creates three config files in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pacsea/ (fallback ~/.config/pacsea/):
  • settings.conf — app behavior (layout, main stack order, vertical row limits, defaults, visibility, scans, news, etc.)
  • theme.conf — colors and styling
  • keybinds.conf — keyboard shortcuts for all actions
• Every time you start Pacsea, the app also migrates older combined pacsea.conf layouts when present and repairs incomplete configs: missing theme palette entries are appended from defaults (or the whole default theme is written if theme.conf is empty/missing), and missing settings keys are added—before the theme is applied. That avoids broken startups when you upgrade or hand-edit only part of a file. Details: Configuration.
• During development, repo config/ files take precedence.
• For complete configuration documentation, see Configuration.

Uninstall

Using your AUR helper:

paru -Rns pacsea-bin    # or: yay -Rns pacsea-bin
# For git package: paru -Rns pacsea-git

Manual build artifacts:

• If built from source, remove the cloned repo directory. No system-wide files are installed unless you packaged it yourself.