pkgmkr

pkgmkr simplifies the process of creating R packages by providing a single, straightforward function.

It is designed to be user-friendly and to handle various package configurations, including optional Git integration, license selection, and more.

Features

• Easy-to-use function for package creation
• Optional Git repository initialization
• Customizable package metadata
• License selection (MIT or GPL-3)
• README and pkgdown site generation
• Configuration file support (YAML/JSON)
• Comprehensive input validation and error handling

Installation

Install pkgmkr from r-universe:

install.packages(
  "pkgmkr",
  repos = c(
    "https://sdhutchins.r-universe.dev",
    "https://cloud.r-project.org"
  )
)

Usage

Basic Example

Create a new R package with essential features:

library(pkgmkr)

# Create a simple package
mk_pkg(
  path = "mypackage",
  author = "Jane Doe",
  email = "jane.doe@example.com",
  git = FALSE,
  readme_md = TRUE,
  check_pkg_name = TRUE,
  license = "MIT",
  pkgdown = FALSE
)

Full Example with Git and GitHub

Create a package with Git repository and GitHub integration:

library(pkgmkr)

mk_pkg(
  path = "~/projects/myawesomepackage",
  author = "John Smith",
  email = "john.smith@example.com",
  git = TRUE,
  git_username = "johnsmith",
  git_email = "john.smith@example.com",
  readme_md = TRUE,
  check_pkg_name = TRUE,
  license = "GPL-3",
  pkgdown = TRUE
)

Using a Configuration File

You can also create packages from a YAML or JSON configuration file:

library(pkgmkr)

# Create a configuration file
config <- list(
  pkg_name = "mypackage",
  first_name = "Jane",
  last_name = "Doe",
  email = "jane.doe@example.com",
  readme_md = TRUE,
  git = FALSE,
  check_pkg_name = TRUE,
  license = "MIT",
  pkgdown = FALSE
)

# Write the configuration
write_config("my_package_config.yml", config)

# Create package from configuration
mk_pkg_from_config("my_package_config.yml", file_type = "yaml")

Parameters

• path: Path where the package will be created (can be just a package name or full path) [required]
• author: Full name of the package author (e.g., “Jane Doe”) [required]
• email: Email address of the author [optional] - if not provided, DESCRIPTION will not include maintainer email
• git: Logical; whether to initialize a Git repository (default: TRUE)
• git_username: Git username for repository configuration
• git_email: Git email for repository configuration
• readme_md: Logical; whether to create a README.md file (default: TRUE)
• check_pkg_name: Logical; whether to check package name availability on CRAN (default: TRUE)
• license: License type - either “MIT” or “GPL-3” (default: “MIT”)
• pkgdown: Logical; whether to set up and build pkgdown documentation site (default: TRUE)

Input Validation

pkgmkr includes comprehensive input validation to help you avoid common mistakes:

• Package names must start with a letter and contain only letters, numbers, and dots
• Email addresses must be properly formatted
• Author names must include at least a first and last name
• The package directory must not already exist
• License must be either “MIT” or “GPL-3”

All validation errors provide clear, helpful messages to guide you in fixing the issue.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines on how to contribute to this project.