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COMMAND_REFERENCE.md

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Julio Cesar Martinez edited this page Apr 14, 2026 · 5 revisions

Command Reference

Updated: 2026-04-10 | Read time: 5 min | Difficulty: Intermediate

pacwin commands can be used with explicit verbs or pacman shorthand flags.

Task Verb Pacman Flag
Search pacwin search <query> pacwin -Ss <query>
Install pacwin install <id> pacwin -S <id>
Uninstall pacwin uninstall <id> pacwin -R <id>
Update All pacwin update pacwin -Syu
Update One pacwin update <id> N/A
List Installed pacwin list pacwin -Q
Outdated pacwin outdated pacwin -Qu
Info pacwin info <id> pacwin -Si <id>

pacwin search

Finds packages matching a query across all detected managers. It utilizes an optimized Hybrid engine (Threaded in PS 5.1, Parallel objects in PS 7) to drastically reduce latency and CPU spike.

Syntax: pacwin search <query> [-Manager <string>]

PS> pacwin search nodejs
  > Searching for 'nodejs'...
  #    Name           ID             Version      Source
  ----------------------------------------------------------
  [1 ] Node.js        OpenJS.NodeJS  20.12.2      winget
  [2 ] nodejs         nodejs         21.7.2       chocolatey
  [3 ] nodejs         nodejs         20.12.0      scoop

pacwin install

Installs a package. If multiple matches are found, it interacts with the user to select the preferred source.

Syntax: pacwin install <id> [-Manager <string>]

PS> pacwin install nodejs
  Looking for candidates for 'nodejs'...
  ...
  Select a package by number [1-3] (empty to cancel): 3

  -> Installing: nodejs [scoop v20.12.0]
  ----------------------------------------------------
  Installing 'nodejs' (20.12.0) [64bit]
  ...

pacwin update

Updates all packages synchronously, or checks intelligent registries to update a specific package by ID.

Syntax: pacwin update [id] [-Manager <string>]

PS> pacwin update
  -- winget -----------------------------
  No updates available.
  -- chocolatey -------------------------
  Chocolatey upgraded 0/0 packages.
  -- scoop ------------------------------
  Updating scoop...

Individual Update:

PS> pacwin update vlc
  Looking for update candidates for 'vlc'...
  Searching in outdated packages...
  -> Updating 'vlc' with winget ...

pacwin uninstall

Removes an installed package. Requires -Manager if the exact package source is ambiguous to pacwin during runtime or if no index is provided.

Syntax: pacwin uninstall <id> -Manager <winget|choco|scoop>

PS> pacwin uninstall vlc -Manager winget
  -> Uninstalling 'vlc' with winget ...
  ----------------------------------------------------
  Found VLC media player [VideoLAN.VLC]
  Starting package uninstall...
  Successfully uninstalled

Important

Always verify the exact package ID before uninstalling, especially with winget, as it loosely matches substrings natively.

Next: Usage Patterns

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