Provided by: dub_1.38.1-2_amd64 
NAME
dub - Package and build management system for D
SYNOPSIS
dub [--version] [COMMAND] [OPTIONS...] -- [APPLICATION ARGUMENTS...]
DESCRIPTION
Manages the DUB project in the current directory. DUB can serve as a build system and a package manager,
automatically keeping track of project's dependencies - both downloading them and linking them into the
application.
COMMANDS
init Initializes an empty package of the specified type in the given directory. By default, the
current working directory is used.
Custom templates can be defined by packages by providing a sub-package called "init-exec". No
default source files are added in this case. The "init-exec" sub-package is compiled and executed
inside the destination folder after the base project directory has been created. Free arguments
"dub init -t custom -- free args" are passed into the "init-exec" sub-package as app arguments.
run Builds and runs a package (uses the main package in the current working directory by default)
build Builds a package (uses the main package in the current working directory by default)
test Builds the package and executes all contained unit tests.
If no explicit configuration is given, an existing "unittest" configuration will be preferred for
testing. If none exists, the first library type configuration will be used, and if that doesn't
exist either, the first executable configuration is chosen.
When a custom main file (--main-file) is specified, only library configurations can be used.
Otherwise, depending on the type of the selected configuration, either an existing main file will
be used (and needs to be properly adjusted to just run the unit tests for 'version(unittest)'), or
DUB will generate one for library type configurations.
Finally, if the package contains a dependency to the "tested" package, the automatically generated
main file will use it to run the unit tests.
lint Builds the package and executes D-Scanner linter tests.
generate
Generates project files using one of the supported generators:
visuald - VisualD project files sublimetext - SublimeText project file cmake - CMake build scripts
build - Builds the package directly
An optional package name can be given to generate a different package than the root/CWD package.
describe
Prints a JSON build description for the root package an all of their dependencies in a format
similar to a JSON package description file. This is useful mostly for IDEs.
All usual options that are also used for build/run/generate apply.
When --data=VALUE is supplied, specific build settings for a project will be printed instead (by
default, formatted for the current compiler).
The --data=VALUE option can be specified multiple times to retrieve several pieces of information
at once. A comma-separated list is also acceptable (ex: --data=dflags,libs). The data will be
output in the same order requested on the command line.
The accepted values for --data=VALUE are:
main-source-file, dflags, lflags, libs, linker-files, source-files, versions, debug-versions,
import-paths, string-import-paths, import-files, options
The following are also accepted by --data if --data-list is used:
target-type, target-path, target-name, working-directory, copy-files, string-import-files, pre-
generate-commands, post-generate-commands, pre-build-commands, post-build-commands, pre-run-
commands, post-run-commands, requirements
clean This command removes any cached build files of the given package(s). The final target file, as
well as any copyFiles are currently not removed. Without arguments, the package in the current
working directory will be cleaned.
dustmite
This command uses the Dustmite utility to isolate the cause of build errors in a DUB project.
It will create a copy of all involved packages and run dustmite on this copy, leaving a reduced
test case.
Determining the desired error condition is done by checking the compiler/linker status code, as
well as their output (stdout and stderr combined). If --program-status or --program-regex is given
and the generated binary is an executable, it will be executed and its output will also be
incorporated into the final decision.
fetch When run with one or more arguments, regardless of the location it is run in, it will fetch the
packages matching the argument(s). Examples: $ dub fetch vibe-d $ dub fetch vibe-d@v0.9.0
--cache=local --recursive
When run in a project with no arguments, it will fetch all dependencies for that project. If the
project doesn't have set dependencies (no 'dub.selections.json'), it will also perform dependency
resolution. Example: $ cd myProject && dub fetch
Note that the 'build', 'run', and any other command that need packages will automatically perform
fetch, hence it is not generally necessary to run this command before any other.
add Adds <packages> as dependencies.
Running "dub add <package>" is the same as adding <package> to the "dependencies" section in
dub.json/dub.sdl. If no version is specified for one of the packages, dub will query the registry
for the latest version.
remove Removes a package that is cached on the local system.
upgrade
Upgrades all dependencies of the package by querying the package registry(ies) for new versions.
This will update the versions stored in the selections file (dub.selections.json) accordingly.
If one or more package names are specified, only those dependencies will be upgraded. Otherwise
all direct and indirect dependencies of the root package will get upgraded.
add-path
Adds a default package search path. All direct sub folders of this path will be searched for
package descriptions and will be made available as packages. Using this command has the equivalent
effect as calling 'dub add-local' on each of the sub folders manually.
Any packages registered using add-path will be preferred over packages downloaded from the package
registry when searching for dependencies during a build operation.
The version of the packages will be determined by one of the following:
- For GIT working copies, the last tag (git describe) is used to determine the version
- If the package contains a "version" field in the package description, this is used
- If neither of those apply, "~master" is assumed
remove-path
Removes a package search path previously added with add-path.
add-local
Adds a local package directory to be used during dependency resolution. This command is useful for
registering local packages, such as GIT working copies, that are either not available in the
package registry, or are supposed to be overwritten.
The version of the package is either determined automatically (see the "add-path" command, or can
be explicitly overwritten by passing a version on the command line.
See 'dub add-path -h' for a way to register multiple local packages at once.
remove-local
Removes a local package directory
list Prints a list of all or selected local packages. This includes all cached packages (user or system
wide), all packages in the package search paths ("dub add-path") and all manually registered
packages ("dub add-local"). If a package (and optionally a version spec) is specified, only
matching packages are shown.
search Search all specified providers for matching packages.
add-override
This command is deprecated. Use path based dependency, custom cache path, or edit
`dub.selections.json` to achieve the same results.
remove-override
This command is deprecated. Use path based dependency, custom cache path, or edit
`dub.selections.json` to achieve the same results.
list-overrides
This command is deprecated. Use path based dependency, custom cache path, or edit
`dub.selections.json` to achieve the same results.
clean-caches
This command removes any cached metadata like the list of available packages and their latest
version.
convert
This command will convert between JSON and SDLang formatted package recipe files.
Warning: Beware that any formatting and comments within the package recipe will get lost in the
conversion process.
COMMON OPTIONS
-h, --help
Display general or command specific help
--root=VALUE
Path to operate in instead of the current working dir
--recipe=VALUE
Loads a custom recipe path instead of dub.json/dub.sdl
--registry=VALUE
Search the given registry URL first when resolving dependencies. Can be specified multiple times.
Available registry types:
DUB: URL to DUB registry (default)
Maven: URL to Maven repository + group id containing dub packages as artifacts. E.g.
mvn+http://localhost:8040/maven/libs-release/dubpackages
--skip-registry=VALUE
Sets a mode for skipping the search on certain package registry types:
none: Search all configured or default registries (default)
standard: Don't search the main registry (e.g. https://code.dlang.org/)
configured: Skip all default and user configured registries
all: Only search registries specified with --registry
--annotate
Do not perform any action, just print what would be done
--bare
Read only packages contained in the current directory
-v, --verbose
Print diagnostic output
--vverbose
Print debug output
-q, --quiet
Only print warnings and errors
--verror
Only print errors
--vquiet
Print no messages
--color=VALUE
Configure colored output. Accepted values:
auto: Colored output on console/terminal,
unless NO_COLOR is set and non-empty (default)
always: Force colors enabled
never: Force colors disabled
--cache=VALUE
Puts any fetched packages in the specified location [local|system|user].
FILES
dub.sdl, dub.json
AUTHOR
Copyright (c) 1999-2025 by The D Language Foundation
ONLINE DOCUMENTATION
http://code.dlang.org/docs/commandline ⟨⟩
SEE ALSO
dmd(1), rdmd(1), dub-init(1), dub-run(1), dub-build(1), dub-test(1), dub-lint(1), dub-generate(1), dub-
describe(1), dub-clean(1), dub-dustmite(1), dub-fetch(1), dub-add(1), dub-remove(1), dub-upgrade(1), dub-
add-path(1), dub-remove-path(1), dub-add-local(1), dub-remove-local(1), dub-list(1), dub-search(1), dub-
add-override(1), dub-remove-override(1), dub-list-overrides(1), dub-clean-caches(1), dub-convert(1)
The D Language Foundation 2025-01-22 DUB(1)