---
title: "pacman-contrib"
category: "Desktop and system"
tagline: "Extra pacman tools: cache cleaning, update checks, dependency trees and more."
source: "pacman"
package: "pacman-contrib"
command: "paccache"
code: "https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman-contrib"
links:
  - name: "Cleaning the package cache"
    url: "https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman#Cleaning_the_package_cache"
---

## What it is

pacman-contrib is a set of small tools that go with pacman, Arch's package manager. `paccache` cleans old package files out of pacman's cache, `checkupdates` lists available updates without touching your system, `pactree` shows what a package depends on, and `pacdiff` helps merge changed configuration files after an update.

```
pactree -r openssl
```

## Why it's here

- **Disk space.** pacman keeps every package it downloads, and paccache trims that.
- **Answers about packages.** See why something is installed, or what depends on it.
- **Config merges.** pacdiff finds the `.pacnew` files updates leave behind.

## On CoreDesktop

pacman-contrib is installed from pacman as one of CoreDesktop's maintenance tools. At the end of each [`update`](/utilities/#update), `paccache` keeps the two most recent versions of each installed package in the cache and removes all cached versions of uninstalled ones. If `update` stops because `/` is low on space, `sudo paccache -rk1` frees more.