Updates

Software Updates

The update center: see pending updates from every source, review what changes, snapshot first, then send them out — staged, so you stay in control.

Overview

The Updates page collects pending updates from pacman, AUR, Flatpak, and npm into one table — no more juggling three tools to know what's out of date. Before anything runs, you can review which packages will change, hold the risky ones, snapshot the system, and choose to update everything or just a selection.

• One list, all sources — official repo and AUR packages plus Flatpak and npm projects with pending updates.
• Nothing sneaks in — updates are explicitly reviewed and triggered; risky ones can be held or ignored.
• Partial updates are not recommended — Arch packages are built against the latest libraries, so updating only some packages in a selection triggers a red warning asking you to confirm (details below).
• Honest during updates — the package list stays calm while an install/update runs, and refreshes automatically when it finishes.

The page layout

1. The package table

The main area is a sortable table with one row per pending update:

• Name and the current version (updating to a new version shown on the row).
• Size to download.
• Source — official repo, AUR, Flatpak, npm, or Local.
• Status / update type — Security, Feature, Bug Fix, or Maintenance.
• Installed date.
• A checkbox column on the left for selecting packages, and a ⋯ menu on the right of every row.

Rows with ignored packages are skipped automatically and listed in Manage Ignored instead.

2. The toolbar (navbar)

Buttons above the table:

• Check for Updates — re-sync the package databases and re-scan all sources for pending updates.
• Update All — stage the full system upgrade across every source (a review dialog shows exactly what will change first).
• Update Selected — update only the checked packages (this triggers the partial-update warning below).
• A selection summary in the middle showing how many rows are checked.
• Grid View toggle on the far right — switch between the table and a card-based grid layout.

3. The source panel

On the right side, a control panel groups sources, search, and batch actions at a glance:

• Sources — pacman, AUR, Flatpak, npm, and Local with a live count next to each (and the total download size); toggle any source on/off to filter the table.
• Search — filter the list by package name or ID; pick the search mode (name / ID / both).
• Update Type — chips for Security, Feature, Bug Fix, and Maintenance; toggle any combination to show only those kinds of updates.
• Sort by — change how the table is ordered (name, size, version, status, source).
• Actions:
• Update All — the full system upgrade across all sources.
• Ignore Selected — check one or more packages, then click this to skip them: they leave the list and are remembered (see below).
• Manage Ignored — open the ignored list and restore any package you want back into the update set.
• Count bar at the bottom — total updates waiting and the combined download size.

How to ignore updates

Ignoring is the way to pause a specific update without touching the rest:

1. Tick the checkboxes of the packages you want to skip.
2. Click Ignore Selected under the Actions section in the source panel.
3. The packages disappear from the list and are stored in ~/.config/neoarch/ignored_updates.json.
4. To undo it, click Manage Ignored, find the package, and restore it — it comes straight back into the update list.

⚠️ Partial updates are not recommended

Updating a selection (via Update Selected, a row, or a single package) instead of everything triggers a red Partial Update Warning:

You picked X of Y available updates. On Arch, packages are built against the latest libraries — a partial upgrade can desync libraries from their apps and break your system. It's recommended to do a full system upgrade instead.

You can Cancel (recommended, then use Update All) or confirm with "I understand — Update Selection". The warning only appears for pacman/AUR selections smaller than the full available set; updating everything skips it. Flatpak and npm are not at risk from partial upgrades, so they don't trigger the warning.

4. The row menu (⋯)

The ⋯ menu on the right edge of each row gives quick single-package actions:

• Update — update just this package (shows the partial-update warning if it isn't part of a full upgrade).
• View Details
• Ignore update — pause this update without touching the rest (see How to ignore updates).
• View in browser — open the package on its source website.
• Copy name

For AUR packages the menu adds AUR-specific actions: View PKGBUILD, View Changes, and Download snapshot.

5. The detail card

Click any row to open a detail card on the right side of the window. It shows the package's description, version, source, and the pending change, with action buttons (including Check for Updates) — so you can inspect an update before running it. Click the card out again to close it.

CLI equivalent

neo updates                           # list available updates (alias: list-updates)
neo upgrade                           # full system upgrade
neo upgrade --aur                     # AUR packages only
neo upgrade --flatpak / --npm         # that source only
neo update firefox                    # update specific packages
neo hold linux                        # hold a kernel from updates (IgnorePkg/HoldPkg)
neo backup                            # snapshot/backup before updating

Good to know

• During an update, the package list shows what's cached rather than flashing a bogus "no installed packages" — refreshing happens automatically once the operation finishes.
• Ignored packages are stored in ~/.config/neoarch/ignored_updates.json — see Configuration.
• Update data is local to your machine; a badge/notification signals when something new is available.

Related pages

• Home & Discover · Installed Packages · Configuration · CLI reference

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