The package.json file is basically the same as for npm, with some extensions.

The mandatory xpack property

To identify a npm package as an xPack, it must have an xpack property, even empty:

{
  "name": "my-awesome-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "xpack": {}
}

Although not mandatory, it is also recommended to add an xpack keyword, to help find the xPacks in the public repository.

{
  "name": "my-awesome-project",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "keywords": [
    "xpack",
    "..."
  ],
  "xpack": {}
}

The binaries property

Binary xPacks do not include the binaries, they include only URLs where to download the binaries from, and checksums to validate the downloads.

These information are stored in the xpack property of package.json.

{
  "name": "@xpack-dev-tool/openocd",
  "version": "0.10.0-12.1",
  "description": "A binary xPack with OpenOCD",
  "...": "...",
  "xpack": {
    "binaries": {
      "destination": "./.content",
      "baseUrl": "https://github.com/xpack-dev-tools/openocd-xpack/releases/download/v0.10.0-14",
      "skip": 1,
      "platforms": {
        "darwin-x64": {
          "sha256": "30917a5c6f60fcd7df82b41dcec8ab7d86f0cea3caeaf98b965b901c10a60b39",
          "fileName": "xpack-openocd-0.10.0-14-darwin-x64.tar.gz"
        },
        "linux-arm64": {
          "sha256": "97a188ca8ba32498c80b1ca3c8831cbbaf01c6f935fb5bcb66144f1fbd432106",
          "fileName": "xpack-openocd-0.10.0-14-linux-arm64.tar.gz"
        },
        "linux-arm": {
          "sha256": "8a8025cfb07dbf203d9434179e84b748f8381213df6d53272e5c580fbe113896",
          "fileName": "xpack-openocd-0.10.0-14-linux-arm.tar.gz"
        },
        "linux-x32": {
          "sha256": "bd4a7e88d86d216b738a096ffa8bfe5ec4035ad17801d5595e45779363ff5974",
          "fileName": "xpack-openocd-0.10.0-14-linux-x32.tar.gz"
        },
        "linux-x64": {
          "sha256": "185c070f9729cf38dca08686c2905561c07a63c563e5bc7a70e045f2a1865c11",
          "fileName": "xpack-openocd-0.10.0-14-linux-x64.tar.gz"
        },
        "win32-x64": {
          "sha256": "1fb26bbcfd65dbabe747ce3c8467a1f1cece7253bde4a95de13c2267d422ed8b",
          "fileName": "xpack-openocd-0.10.0-14-win32-x64.zip"
        }
      }
    },
    "bin": {
      "openocd": "./.content/bin/openocd"
    }
  }
}

The supported platforms are:

  • linux-arm - Arm GNU/Linux 32-bit (since 0.6.0)
  • linux-arm64 - Arm GNU/Linux 64-bit (since 0.6.0)
  • linux-x86 (deprecated)
  • linux-x32 (deprecated)
  • linux-ia32 - Intel GNU/Linux 32-bit (since 0.6.0; deprecated)
  • linux-x64 - Intel GNU/Linux 64-bit
  • darwin-x64 - macOS 64-bit
  • win32-x86 (deprecated)
  • win32-x32 (deprecated)
  • win32-ia32 - Windows 32-bit (since 0.6.0; deprecated)
  • win32-x64 - Windows 64-bit

The files are downloaded from <baseUrl>/<fileName>. The common use case is to have all files in the same folder, and in this case it is enough to define baseUrl once, but it is also possible to define it for each platform, allowing to download files from different folders/servers.

The archives are unpacked in the destination folder, defined as relative to the package root folder (usually ./.content).

To shorten the paths, a number of the initial levels are skipped (skip).

When installing packages as dependencies of an xPack, after the archive is unpacked, links to each binaries defined in the bin section are created in the xpacks/.bin folder. On Windows, where soft links to files are problematic, .cmd stubs are created.

The properties property

TBD

The actions property

TBD

The configurations property

TBD