synh8

A Synaptic-inspired TUI for managing APT packages on Debian/Ubuntu systems, built with Rust and ratatui.

Linux only. Requires libapt-pkg-dev and root privileges.

Built with LLMs. See LLM.md.

Features

Browse, search, install, upgrade, and remove packages from the terminal
Full-text search (FTS5) across package names and descriptions
Vim-style navigation and visual mode for batch-marking packages
Automatic dependency resolution with preview before committing
Live progress display for downloads and installs
Run apt update with real-time download progress
Configurable columns and sort order
Changelog viewer

APT locking

Unlike apt, aptitude, and synaptic, synh8 does not hold the dpkg/APT lock while running. It checks the lock on startup and before committing changes, but does not prevent other tools from modifying package state while the UI is open. If you run apt install in another terminal while synh8 is open, synh8 won't notice. You're root. You know what you're doing.

Usage

Must be run as root:

sudo synh8

Keybindings

Arrow keys, PgUp/PgDn, Home/End act on the focused pane. Tab/Shift+Tab cycles focus between Filters, Packages, and Details.

Key	Context	Action
`s`	Global	Search
`u`	Global	Run apt update
`F2`	Global	Settings (columns, sort)
`Esc`	Global	Clear search / cancel visual mode
`Space`	Packages	Toggle mark
`v`	Packages	Visual mode (multi-select)
`c`	Packages	View changelog
`a`	Packages	Apply pending changes
`x`	Packages	Mark all upgradable
`z`	Packages	Unmark all
`,`/`.`	Details	Switch tab (Info/Deps/RDeps)
`q`	Any	Quit

Installation

sudo apt install libapt-pkg-dev
cargo install synh8

Or build from source:

sudo apt install libapt-pkg-dev
git clone https://github.com/folknor/synh8.git
cd synh8
cargo build --release

License

MIT