Add a dependency

The content/dependencies/ folder is for low-level build-time packages — shared libraries, -dev headers, compiler toolchains, and similar prerequisites that programs need in order to be compiled from source. They are not shown to users in the program catalog or the setup generator, but the script generator can find and install them automatically when a CUSTOM_INSTALL program lists them in its dependencies field.

When to use dependencies vs programs

Step 1 — Create the dependency folder

Inside content/dependencies/, create a folder named after the dependency’s slug:

content/dependencies/libssl-dev/

Step 2 — Create program.json

The format is identical to a program’s program.json:

{
  "name": "libssl-dev",
  "slug": "libssl-dev",
  "description": "OpenSSL development headers, required to build programs that use TLS.",
  "categories": ["build"],
  "package_names": {
    "default": "libssl-dev",
    "arch": "openssl",
    "void": "libressl-devel"
  }
}

The name, slug, description, and package_names fields work exactly the same as for programs.

Step 3 — Reference it from a program

In the program.json of the program that needs this dependency, add it to the dependencies array using the slug:

{
  "name": "My Tool",
  "slug": "my-tool",
  "package_names": { "default": "CUSTOM_INSTALL" },
  "dependencies": ["libssl-dev", "cmake"]
}

When the generator encounters my-tool, it will resolve libssl-dev and cmake, look them up in both content/programs/ and content/dependencies/, and add their package names to the install command before running my-tool’s install.sh.

Dependencies that are themselves custom-built

If a dependency is also not available through the standard package manager, set its package name to "CUSTOM_INSTALL" and add an install.sh inside the dependency folder:

content/dependencies/my-lib/
├── program.json          ← package_names: { "default": "CUSTOM_INSTALL" }
└── custom_install/
    └── install.sh

The generator handles this recursively — it will build my-lib from source before building whatever depends on it, no matter how deep the chain goes.

Lookup order

When the generator resolves a dependency slug, it searches content/programs/ first, then content/dependencies/. This means a slug that exists in both places will always resolve to the program entry. In practice, slugs should be unique across both folders.

Submit a pull request

Once your dependency is in place and everything tests correctly, open a pull request against the main repository:

github.com/RajPorus19/linux-setup-generator

Fork the repo, push your changes to a branch, and open a PR from that branch to main. See the Contributing guide for a step-by-step walkthrough.