>

Install AUR Packages with yay

The popular Arch AUR helper that searches the AUR, builds packages and resolves dependencies like pacman does for repo software.

LinuxpackagesyayaurarchMedium risk
Run yay -S package-name to search, build and install an AUR package; update everything with yay -Sua or plain yay.

01Command

Command
$ yay -S package-name

02What it does

yay wraps pacman: the same flags work for official-repo packages, and anything not found there is fetched from the AUR, built by PKGBUILD and installed. yay -Ss searches both repos at once, and a bare yay upgrades system packages plus AUR packages in one go. Because AUR packages are community PKGBUILDs, yay shows the build script before installing — reading it is the actual security model of the AUR.

03Risk

RiskMedium risk
RequirementsArch Linux or Arch-based distro; yay installed (available in official extra repo); base-devel
!Warning: AUR packages are unvetted community builds — review the PKGBUILD when prompted and never install packages blindly by name similarity.

04Undo

Undo
$ sudo pacman -Rns package-name

05Sources

  • AUR — yay package page
    Arch Linux User Repository · community · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: The AUR package page for yay describes it as an 'AUR helper' written in Go, confirming its role and distribution through the Arch User Repository.
  • yay — Yet another Yogurt (README)
    Jguer/yay (GitHub) · community · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Official README describes yay as an AUR helper and Pacman wrapper and documents yay -S <package> for install, yay -Sua for AUR updates; the strings 'yay -S', 'AUR' and 'pacman' appear in the text.

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

06Related solutions

Find File Owners and Package Contents with dpkg -S / -L
Linuxpackagesdebiandpkg

dpkg -S tells you which installed package a file came from; dpkg -L lists everything a package put on disk.

Low risk ✓ 2026-09-17