revdeprun

A command-line tool that automates reverse dependency checking for R packages. Provision R on Ubuntu, configure environment context, and run revdepcheck in a single command. Designed for cloud environments where you need reproducible, isolated test runs without tedious manual setup.

Installation

Prerequisites

Install Rust:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Install C compiler and linker:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential

Install revdeprun

From crates.io (stable release):

cargo install revdeprun

From GitHub (latest development version):

cargo install --git https://github.com/nanxstats/revdeprun.git

Note: If cargo or revdeprun is not found immediately after installation, restart your shell.

Environment

Currently, this tool is designed for Ubuntu-based systems and requires:

• Operating system: Ubuntu 22.04 or newer
• Version control: Git on PATH
• Network access: To download R, R packages, and repository
• Elevated privileges: sudo access for installing system dependencies and R

Security note: Reverse dependency checks execute arbitrary third-party code. Run revdeprun in temporary, isolated environments such as disposable cloud instances or containers.

Usage

Simply point revdeprun at your package repository:

revdeprun https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

The tool installs the current release version of R for Ubuntu and configures revdepcheck to use all available CPU cores by default. Results are written to revdep/ within your repository directory.

Command-line options

Usage: revdeprun [OPTIONS] <REPOSITORY>

Arguments:
  <REPOSITORY>
          Git URL or filesystem path to the target R package repository

Options:
      --r-version <R_VERSION>
          R version to install: release, oldrel-1, or exact version (e.g., 4.3.3)
          [default: release]

      --num-workers <N>
          Number of parallel workers for revdepcheck
          [default: number of CPU cores]

      --work-dir <WORK_DIR>
          Workspace directory for temporary files and cloned repositories

      --skip-r-install
          Skip R installation and use the existing system-wide R

  -h, --help
          Print help information

  -V, --version
          Print version information

Example workflows

Standard check on a remote repository:

revdeprun https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Specify R version and parallelism:

revdeprun --r-version devel --num-workers 48 \
  https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Use a custom workspace and SSH authentication:

revdeprun --work-dir /data/workspace \
  git@github.com:YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

Check a local directory:

revdeprun ~/workspace/YOUR-REPOSITORY

Use an existing R installation:

revdeprun --skip-r-install https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPOSITORY.git

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.