Is it possible to update the pixi global manifest from the command line?

[matthewfeickert]

As a contrived example, let's say that you have a globally installed tool that was originally installed with a constraint. You now want to remove that constraint and update everything with pixi global update. Is it possible to edit that tool's environment's dependencies through the pixi global command line?

At the time being (pixi v0.34.0) I can't find a way to do this beyond something like the following:

$ pixi --version
pixi 0.34.0
$ pixi global install "uv=0.4.0"
Global environments as specified in '/root/.pixi/manifests/pixi-global.toml'
└── uv: 0.4.0 (installed)
    └─ exposes: uvx, uv
$ uv --version
uv 0.4.0
$ pixi global update
Updated environment uv.
$ uv --version  # why is this not v0.4.28? Because it is constrained in the pixi-global.toml
uv 0.4.0
$ cat ~/.pixi/manifests/pixi-global.toml
version = 1

[envs.uv]
channels = ["conda-forge"]
dependencies = { uv = "0.4.0.*" }
exposed = { uvx = "uvx", uv = "uv" }
$ sed -i 's/"0.4.0.*"/"*"/g' ~/.pixi/manifests/pixi-global.toml  # remove the constraint here
$ cat ~/.pixi/manifests/pixi-global.toml
version = 1

[envs.uv]
channels = ["conda-forge"]
dependencies = { uv = "*" }
exposed = { uvx = "uvx", uv = "uv" }
$ pixi global update
Updated environment uv.
$ uv --version  # as expected, latest version now
uv 0.4.28

There is of course the obvious

$ pixi global uninstall uv && pixi global install uv

which is fine for simple environments, and I guess for more complex environment you can do the equivalent of

$ pixi global remove --environment uv uv
$ pixi global install --environment uv uv

but I was curious if there was something more elegant. Maybe this is what pixi global edit is designed for though.

The v0.34.0 docs mention mention the ability to do

pixi global update [--package PACKAGE] <ENV>...

and

pixi global update-all [--assume-yes]

but those commands don't seem to exist yet:

$ pixi global update --help
Updates environments in the global environment

Usage: pixi global update [OPTIONS] [ENVIRONMENTS]...

Arguments:
  [ENVIRONMENTS]...  Specifies the environments that are to be updated

Options:
      --tls-no-verify                                  Do not verify the TLS certificate of the server
      --auth-file <AUTH_FILE>                          Path to the file containing the authentication token [env: RATTLER_AUTH_FILE=]
      --pypi-keyring-provider <PYPI_KEYRING_PROVIDER>  Specifies if we want to use uv keyring provider [possible values: disabled, subprocess]
  -v, --verbose...                                     Increase logging verbosity
  -q, --quiet...                                       Decrease logging verbosity
      --color <COLOR>                                  Whether the log needs to be colored [env: PIXI_COLOR=] [default: auto] [possible values: always, never, auto]
      --no-progress                                    Hide all progress bars [env: PIXI_NO_PROGRESS=]
  -h, --help                                           Print help

$ pixi global --help
Subcommand for global package management actions

Install packages on the user level. Example: pixi global install my_package pixi global remove my_package

Usage: pixi global [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Commands:
  add        Adds dependencies to an environment [aliases: a]
  edit       Edit the global manifest file
  install    Installs the defined packages in a globally accessible location and exposes their command line applications. [aliases: i]
  uninstall  Uninstalls environments from the global environment.
  remove     Removes dependencies from an environment [aliases: rm]
  list       Lists all packages previously installed into a globally accessible location via `pixi global install`. [aliases: ls]
  sync       Sync global manifest with installed environments [aliases: s]
  expose     Interact with the exposure of binaries in the global environment [aliases: e]
  update     Updates environments in the global environment
  help       Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -v, --verbose...
          Increase logging verbosity

  -q, --quiet...
          Decrease logging verbosity

      --color <COLOR>
          Whether the log needs to be colored
          
          [env: PIXI_COLOR=]
          [default: auto]
          [possible values: always, never, auto]

      --no-progress
          Hide all progress bars
          
          [env: PIXI_NO_PROGRESS=]

  -h, --help
          Print help (see a summary with '-h')

[matthewfeickert]

With regards to pixi global update [--package package] and pixi global update-all (not the main focus of the question), it seems from #1799 (reply in thread) that the docs are just out of date and need to remove these commands.