archnotes

Find out what changed after pacman -Syu, package by package.

Arch tells you which packages moved. archnotes follows those exact version changes back to upstream release notes, local changelogs, and AUR context, then builds one readable digest. The package transaction stays fast: a small root hook writes an event and an unprivileged user service does the network work.

• The pacman hook never fetches from the network.
• Root and user processes exchange one JSON event through a shared spool directory.
• Resolution order is explicit and traceable instead of silently guessing.
• Bodies are size-bounded, cached, and rendered as plain text or Markdown.
• Missing notes remain visible; they are not filled with generated summaries.

The hook and daemon need neither setuid helpers nor a D-Bus service.

cargo build --release
sudo packaging/install.sh
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now archnotesd.service

~/.config/archnotes/config.toml (created with defaults on first run).

[filter]
mode = "allow_all"              # allow_all | denylist | allowlist
deny = ["linux-headers"]
semver_min = "patch"            # patch | minor | major
include_non_semver = true

[sources]
github = true
gitlab = true
gitea = true                    # Codeberg / Gitea / Forgejo (shared /api/v1)
changelog_files = true
aur = true

[sources.github_options]
token_env = "GITHUB_TOKEN"      # raises rate limit from 60/h to 5000/h

[notify]
desktop = true
coalesce_secs = 5               # merge nearby pacman transactions into one digest

[cache]
notes_ttl_days = 90
max_body_kb = 8

notify.summary, notify.open_action, notify.terminal, and cache.max_size_mb are accepted by the current config parser for compatibility, but are not active controls: desktop notifications currently contain the digest path and cache eviction is governed by notes_ttl_days.

archnotes show              # latest digest, ANSI colored
archnotes show --plain      # no ANSI
archnotes show 1715253812-* # specific transaction
archnotes list
archnotes trace firefox     # see what sources resolver tried
archnotes status
archnotes config edit

1. A previously successful source, if one is cached for the package
2. GitHub Releases API (when pacman -Qi's URL points to github.com)
3. GitLab Releases API (gitlab.com or self-hosted gitlab.*)
4. Gitea Releases API (codeberg.org or self-hosted gitea/forgejo hosts) — one /api/v1 implementation covers Codeberg, Gitea, and Forgejo
5. Local CHANGELOG/NEWS shipped under /usr/share/doc/<pkg>/
6. AUR package page as a fallback link when no other candidate was found

Successful source selections are cached under the XDG cache directory (normally ~/.cache/archnotes/resolver.json) so subsequent transactions can try the same source first.

cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace --locked
echo 'foo' | /usr/lib/archnotes/archnotes-hook   # smoke test (writes spool event as root)
journalctl --user -u archnotesd -n 100
archnotes show

MIT. See LICENSE.