Forgetful Notes

Scoop

Scoop is a package manager for Windows that provides a way to install command-line tools and graphical applications from a terminal. It is designed to be simple, portable, and scriptable, making it a favorite among developers and power users on the Windows platform.

Info

Unlike traditional installers, Scoop installs programs into your home directory by default. This avoids UAC popups and keeps your system cleaner, as it doesn’t pollute the Program Files directory or the system path.

Core Philosophy

  • Portability: Installs programs in a self-contained way, making it easy to manage and remove them without leaving behind configuration files or registry entries.
  • Simplicity: Uses simple commands to find, install, and manage software.
  • Developer-Focused: Excels at installing command-line developer tools that might otherwise be difficult to set up on Windows.

How It Works

Scoop uses “buckets” to manage software repositories. A bucket is a Git repository containing JSON “manifest” files that describe how to download, install, and uninstall an application.

When you run scoop install <app>, Scoop:

  1. Finds the manifest for the app.
  2. Downloads the app’s installer or zip file.
  3. Extracts it to a dedicated folder in ~/scoop/apps.
  4. Creates “shims” (lightweight executables) in ~/scoop/shims that point to the actual program, automatically adding them to your path.

Essential Commands

# Search for an application
scoop search <app_name>
 
# Install an application
scoop install <app_name>
 
# List installed applications
scoop list
 
# Update an application
scoop update <app_name>
 
# Update all applications
scoop update *
 
# Uninstall an application
scoop uninstall <app_name>
 
# Add a new bucket (e.g., for extras like GUI apps)
scoop bucket add extras

Scoop provides a sane, scriptable way to manage software on Windows, bringing the convenience of a command-line package manager—common on Linux and macOS—to the Windows ecosystem. It is an excellent tool for automating the setup of a development environment.

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