"pkgwhy" is a simple CLI tool for Linux users who suffer from "Package Amnesia."
Package Amnesia is commonly diagnosed in idiots, such as myself, the disorder is characterized by confusing package names and having 0 recollection of whether or not it's a vital component of my system or junk to be deleted. Symptoms include staying up 'til 3AM, a bin folder that looks god awful, and frequent reinstalls of your operating system because you accidentally deleted systemd.
Standard package managers (like pacman, apt, or dnf) are great at telling you what is installed, but do not tell you why you installed it. Was insertrandompackageidontcareabouthere a dependency for a some random game, or did you install it manually to fix a specific audio bug?
pkgwhy is the cure. Documentation for people who don't like writing documentation.
Now you can actually remember!
Clone this repo and install it locally:
git clone [https://github.com/Asa-DB/pkgwhy.git](https://github.com/Asa-DB/pkgwhy.git)
cd pkgwhy
pip install .
yay -S pkgwhy
# or paru, or whatever you're using to cope with your Arch installation
Since you'll probably forget how to use the tool designed to help you remember things, here are the commands.
When you install a package, immediately tell pkgwhy why you did it before your brain deletes the information.
pkgwhy add "vlc" "Needed it to play MAD videos I stole from Nico Nico Douga"
When you're hovering over the delete key six months from now:
pkgwhy show vlc
Output:
vlc
Installed: 2026-01-25 19:30:12
Reason: Needed it to play MAD videos I stole from Nico Nico Douga
See every package you've bothered to document, sorted by how recently you documented them.
pkgwhy list
If you want to remove something from the database:
pkgwhy remove vlc
Everything is tucked away in a tiny SQLite database at:
~/.local/share/pkgwhy/pkgwhy.db
If you want to move your notes to a new machine, just grab that file. If you delete it, your 'Package Amnesia' returns instantly! :O
idk i like it ok.
I love bugs! Feel free to tell me about them.