Disk Format

_ethpm_packages/

A user can have one or many different _ethpm_packages/ local directories. Think of it like the node_modules/ directory in Node or a virtual environment in Python.

  • By default, ethpm-cli will target the ./_ethpm_packages/ directory available under the current working directory.
  • If --ethpm-dir flag is specified on a cli command, the cli will target the provided directory.
  • If the environmnet variable ETHPM_CLI_PACKAGES_DIR is set, the cli will use this directory if one is not specified using the --ethpm-dir flag.

ethPM cli writes ethPM package assets to your disk using the following format.

  • .cwd/ (current working directory)

    • _ethpm_packages/

      • ethpm.lock

      • package_name/

        • manifest.json

        • _ethpm_packages/ (build dependencies if present in manifest)

        • _src/

          • Resolved source tree

ethpm.lock

A root-level JSON lockfile that manages what packages are currently installed. Everytime a package is installed or uninstalled, ethpm.lock must be updated with the corresponding package information.

  • installed_package_name
    • alias
      • Package alias, if one is used to install pacakge, else package name.
    • registry_address
      • If package is installed with a registry URI, else null.
    • resolved_content_hash
      • Validation hash of fetched contents. If re-generated, MUST match hash of given URI.
    • resolved_package_name
      • "package_name" resolved from target manifest.
    • resolved_uri
      • Content-addressed URI of manifest.
    • resolved_version
      • "version" resolved from target manifest.
    • install_uri
      • Content addressed / etherscan / registry URI used to install package.

ethPM XDG

For storing IPFS assets and the registry config file, ethPM-CLI uses the XDG Base Directory Specification https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-0.6.html. These files are written to $XDG_DATA_HOME / 'ethpmcli'. A user will only have one local ethPM XDG directory.