u/nbafrank

A few weeks ago I shared (https://github.com/nbafrank/uvr), a fast R package and project manager written in Rust. The response was great with a lot of specific, actionable feedback. I've been focused on implementing features based on what you asked for. Here's what's new.

R companion package — use uvr without touching the terminal

This was the #1 request (thanks u/BothSinger886). Many R users — especially scientists — live in the console, not the terminal. Now you can manage your entire project from R:

# install.packages("pak") 
pak::pak("nbafrank/uvr-r")
library(uvr) 
uvr::init() 
uvr::add("tidyverse") 
uvr::add("DESeq2", bioc = TRUE) 
uvr::sync()

Every uvr command has an R equivalent: `init()`, `add()`, `remove_pkgs()`, `sync()`, `lock()`, `run()`. If the CLI binary isn't installed, it prompts you to install it automatically. No terminal required.

Positron just works (Rstudio is wip)

`uvr init` and `uvr sync` now generate a `.Rprofile` that sets up the project library path automatically. Open your project in Positron and it picks up the right library — no configuration needed.

For Positron, uvr also writes `.vscode/settings.json` with the project's R interpreter path, so the correct R version appears in the IDE without manual setup.

Smarter error handling

- Typo protection`uvr add tidyvese` (typo) used to write the bad name to your manifest before failing resolution. Now the manifest rolls back automatically on failure — your `uvr.toml` stays clean.

- 4-component versions Packages like `data.table` (version `1.18.2.1`) now resolve correctly against version constraints. This was a subtle semver edge case that broke real workflows.

`uvr run --with` for one-off dependencies

Like `uv run --with` in Python. Need a package for a quick script without adding it to your project?

uvr run --with gt script.R

The package is installed to a temporary cache and available only for that run.

What's next

- Windows support— compiles and runs on Windows now, full testing in progress

- DESCRIPTION file support — use `DESCRIPTION` as an alternative manifest alongside `uvr.toml`

- Continued benchmarking and hardening

The full feature set: R version management, CRAN + Bioconductor + GitHub packages, P3M pre-built binaries, lockfile, dependency tree, `uvr doctor`, `uvr export` (to renv.lock), `uvr import` (from renv.lock), shell completions, self-update, and more.

Install in one line:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nbafrank/uvr/main/install.sh | sh

Or from R:

pak::pak("nbafrank/uvr-r")
uvr::install_uvr()

GitHub: https://github.com/nbafrank/uvr

R package: https://github.com/nbafrank/uvr-r

Happy to answer questions. Your feedback last time shaped all of this — keep it coming.

Please try this out and test it yourself. I am using Positron for all of this and it's been going well. RStudio integration seems a bit more complex to me but if anyone wants to help please do