this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026
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Arch Linux

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I want to create and upload an AUR package. For context, I did that years ago for specific releases, but now I want to create a new package that focuses on upstream Git without specific releases.

What do I write to the pkgver= value? Do I just take the latest version there? Because it is downloading with git clone the version number will not change and the PKGBUILD script will compare pkgver() instead. So what is the purpose of pkgver= for when downloading and building from Git directly? Looking at examples from other existing packages, they all have a number there. But its mostly outdated, so I don't get it.

pkgname=thename-git
_pkgname="$(pkgname%-git}"
pkgver=???

pkgver() {
    cd "${_pkgname}"
    git describe --long | sed 's/\([^-]*-g\)/r\1/'
}

I am reading and researching, but need some assistance for this question. Currently reading the Archwiki:

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[–] SavvyBeardedFish@reddthat.com 2 points 1 week ago

If the version of the program does not change, but you make changes to the PKGBUILD, then you have to change pkgrel instead.

Sure, that's true! However, typically (but not always!) in git packages there's usually a new commit whenever you need to bump the pkgver so your pkgrel wouldn't need a bump then. pkgrel bump is only when it's the same (exact) version :)