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Emplace: Mirror Installed Packages Across Your Machines

Emplace tracks installed packages in a human-readable file and helps install them on another machine. See the documented setup, supported integrations, and maintenance caveat.
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Emplace is an open-source command-line utility that records installed software and helps you mirror that package list on another machine. It stores the list in a human-readable .emplace file, can use Git to sync changes, and prompts you to add packages installed through supported package managers. It does not host packages or replace the package managers that install them.

One important adoption caveat: the project README says its maintainer no longer actively develops it, though they review and accept pull requests. Treat the integrations and commands below as documented project behavior, not independently tested guarantees. Emplace project README.

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How Emplace synchronizes installed packages

Emplace connects package installation to a list you can carry between computers. After setup, its shell integration can prompt you to mirror a package installed through a supported manager. The package name is recorded in the .emplace file; Git can push and pull changes to that file. On another machine, emplace install presents the recorded packages for installation using the managers available there.

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This is package-list synchronization, not a complete system image or a declaration of every setting needed to reproduce a machine. The documented workflow concerns installed software; it does not promise to copy application data, system configuration, or identical package versions.

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Install Emplace and configure your shell

The README documents several installation routes: download a binary for your operating system, install with Cargo using cargo install emplace, use Scoop on Windows, or use nix-env -iA nixos.emplace on NixOS. Availability and exact steps can depend on your platform; consult the project README for its current instructions.

  1. Install Emplace using a route documented for your system.

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  2. Add the appropriate emplace init invocation to your shell configuration. The README provides initialization instructions for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and Nu.

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  3. Create or locate the configuration file. Use emplace config --new to create it, or emplace config --path to find its location.

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  4. Configure the documented Git-based workflow for the .emplace file so changes can be pushed from one machine and pulled on another.

Once the shell integration is active, the documented flow is to install software through a supported package manager and respond to Emplace’s prompt to mirror it. The project README illustrates this with commands such as sudo apt install meld, pacman -S zsh, brew install wget, choco install neovim, scoop install curl, and cargo install topgrade. These are documentation examples, not verified test results.

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Use emplace install on another machine

Install and initialize Emplace on the second machine, then pull the synchronized Git changes for the .emplace file. Run emplace install to prompt for installation of the recorded packages. The destination machine needs compatible package managers and access to the relevant packages; the command does not make unavailable packages installable.

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Because the source machine and destination may use different operating systems or managers, do not assume every recorded item has a direct equivalent. Review the prompts and package list for the destination rather than treating the file as a guarantee of identical environments.

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Which package managers does Emplace document?

The project README lists integrations across several operating systems and environments. Its list is documentation of claimed integrations, not confirmation that every manager works with every OS, shell, or current release.

Documented group Package managers and tools
Linux and Unix-oriented systems Apt, GNU Guix, Nix, Pacman, Paru, RUA, Yay, Zypper, Snap, DNF/YUM, and Pkg
macOS and Windows Homebrew; Chocolatey and Scoop
Language and toolchain packages Cargo, Cargo Binstall, Rustup Component, Python pip and pip3, npm, Ruby Gem, and Go

The README associates some managers with specific operating systems, so this list should not be read as a promise of universal compatibility. It also lists Bash, Zsh, Fish, and Nu as supported shells for initialization.

Remove a package from synchronization without uninstalling it

Use emplace clean to remove selected entries from the synchronized set. According to the README, this does not uninstall the software from the local machine. That makes it suitable when you want to keep a package where it is installed but stop offering it for installation on other machines.

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Project status and version information

The Emplace README says: “This software isn’t actively developed on by me anymore, I do however review and accept pull requests.” The statement has no date in the reviewed source, so it does not establish the project’s present activity beyond the wording currently in the README. If you depend on a long-lived workflow, weigh the inactive-development warning and confirm that the documented setup meets your needs before relying on it.

Reviewed package metadata identifies version 1.6.0, author Thomas Versteeg, an AGPL-3.0-or-later license, and the project repository. That metadata confirms the reviewed crate version; it does not establish that 1.6.0 is the newest release available today. The project describes itself as a “Command-line tool to mirror installed software on multiple machines.”

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