Scanning Existing Repos

The scan feature lets you import packages from an existing S3 bucket that already contains R packages (e.g. a legacy CRAN-style repository or a Posit Package Manager mirror).

How Scanning Works

When you trigger a scan, Paquetier:

1. Looks for PACKAGES.gz or PACKAGES index files in the S3 bucket.
2. Probes several standard path conventions:
   • CRAN-style: src/contrib/
   • Binary: bin/{os}/contrib/{rver}/
   • Posit/RSPM-style: {arch}/{os}/latest/src/contrib/
3. Parses the DCF-format index to discover packages, versions, and metadata.
4. Imports all discovered packages, versions, and artifacts into the Paquetier database.
5. Scans the Archive/ subdirectory for older versions.
6. Auto-detects source vs binary packages by inspecting tarball contents.

Scanning runs in parallel (4 workers) and reports progress via the web UI.

Triggering a Scan

Scans can be triggered by repository owners and admins:

1. Navigate to the repository you want to scan.
2. Click Scan (or use the scan option in the repository settings).
3. The scan runs in the background. Progress is streamed in real-time.

When to Use Scanning

• Migrating from an existing CRAN mirror — Import all packages at once instead of re-uploading them individually.
• Connecting to a shared S3 bucket — If packages are already stored in S3 by another tool, scan to register them in Paquetier.
• Disaster recovery — Re-populate the database from S3 if the database is lost.

Limitations

• Scanning only discovers packages that have a valid PACKAGES index file.
• The scan does not modify or move any files in S3; it only creates database records pointing to existing artifacts.