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wtf is detect-installer?

patrick91/detect-installer — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-18 · repo last pushed 2026-05-20

PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5MaintainedSetup · easy

TL;DR

A small Python library that figures out how a package was installed (pip, Homebrew, Conda, etc.) and gives you the right upgrade command.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Detects installer used
      Gives upgrade command
      Checks system traces
    Tech stack
      Python
      Zero dependencies
    Use cases
      Build a dependency manager
      Build a setup wizard
      Find your upgrade path
    Audience
      Developers
      Tool builders
    Supported managers
      pip
      uv
      pipx
      Homebrew
      Conda
      Mamba

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Find out which package manager installed a given Python package on your system.

REASON 2

Get the exact command to upgrade a package regardless of how it was originally installed.

REASON 3

Build a setup wizard or dependency manager that gives users accurate upgrade instructions.

REASON 4

Copy the zero-dependency source directly into your project instead of adding it as a dependency.

What's in the stack?

Python

How it stacks up

patrick91/detect-installer0xallam/my-recipe0xhassaan/nn-from-scratch
Stars——0
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Last pushed2026-05-202022-11-22—
MaintenanceMaintainedDormant—
Setup difficultyeasymoderatemoderate
Complexity1/52/54/5
Audiencedevelopergeneraldeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Zero external dependencies, so it drops into existing projects with no extra setup.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to use detect-installer to find out how the 'rich' package was installed on my machine.
Prompt 2
Help me integrate detect-installer into my CLI tool so it can tell users the right upgrade command.
Prompt 3
Explain which package managers detect-installer supports and how it tells them apart.
Prompt 4
Walk me through copying detect-installer's core code directly into my project instead of installing it as a dependency.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is detect-installer?

A small Python library that figures out how a package was installed (pip, Homebrew, Conda, etc.) and gives you the right upgrade command.

What language is detect-installer written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python.

Is detect-installer actively maintained?

Maintained — commit in last 6 months (last push 2026-05-20).

How hard is detect-installer to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is detect-installer for?

Mainly developer.

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