xpm - Universal Package Manager Wrapper

Working across multiple projects with different package managers?

You can use xpm instead of npm/yarn/pnpm/bun/deno (and even pip/poetry/uv).

Think of xpm as your universal translator for package managers. When you run xpm, it figures out which package manager your project uses, ensures your dependencies are up-to-date, and runs the appropriate command. It's like having muscle memory that works everywhere.

For example, when you run xpm dev in a project:

• xpm detects the package manager
• it auto-installs dependencies if necessary (compares lockfile hash)
• runs npm run dev / yarn dev / pnpm dev / bun dev / deno task dev

Install

npm install -g @assistant-ui/xpm

Features

• 🔍 Auto-detects your package manager from lockfiles or package.json
• ⚡ Dependency sync - auto-installs dependencies when lockfile changes
• 🎯 Unified commands - identical commands across all package managers
• 📦 Workspace aware - correctly handles monorepo operations
• 🏃 Runs from anywhere - works in project subdirectories
• 🌍 Multi-language - supports JavaScript and Python ecosystems

Usage

xpm               # Install dependencies
xpm add react     # Add a package
xpm dev           # Run a script

xpm add -g turbo  # Installs global dependency

xpx prettier      # Download and run from the registry

Configuration

xpm defaults to npm for global installs. Configure this with a config file at ~/.config/xpm/config.json or ~/.xpmrc.

Default Package Manager

Set the default package manager for new projects (when no lockfile or package.json packageManager field is found):

xpm set-config default-package-manager <npm|yarn|pnpm|bun|deno>

Environment variable (takes precedence):

export XPM_DEFAULT_PM=<npm|yarn|pnpm|bun|deno>

Global Package Manager

Set which package manager to use for global installs (-g flag):

xpm set-config global-package-manager <npm|yarn|pnpm|bun|deno>

Environment variable (takes precedence):

export XPM_GLOBAL_PM=<npm|yarn|pnpm|bun|deno>

Default: npm

Configuration Priority

1. Environment variables (XPM_DEFAULT_PM, XPM_GLOBAL_PM)
2. Config file (~/.config/xpm/config.json or ~/.xpmrc)
3. Default fallback (npm)

Python Support

While xpm is primarily designed for JavaScript projects, it also supports Python package managers for a unified development experience across languages.

Supported Python Package Managers

• pip - Detects requirements.txt
• pipenv - Detects Pipfile and Pipfile.lock
• poetry - Detects pyproject.toml and poetry.lock
• uv - Detects uv.lock
• conda - Detects environment.yml

Python Usage Examples

# In a Python project
xpm install          # Runs pip/pipenv/poetry install
xpm install flask    # Adds flask package
xpm remove flask     # Removes flask package

# Poetry project
xpm install --dev pytest  # Adds pytest as dev dependency

# UV project
xpm sync            # Syncs dependencies
xpm update          # Updates lockfile

Detection Priority

1. Lockfiles - Most specific (e.g., poetry.lock → Poetry)
2. Package files - Project configuration (e.g., Pipfile → Pipenv)
3. Fallback - Uses pip if requirements.txt exists

Note: Python global installs (-g) are not supported.

Future Work

TODO

• [ ] pnpm patch support - Support for pnpm patch files and patch packages
• [ ] Auto-install package managers - Prompt user to install missing package managers (for all supported package managers)

License

MIT