Variables

Variables

Built-in Variables

These variables are set automatically during the build and available in prepare(), build(), and package() functions.

Directory Variables

Variable	Description
$srcdir	Source directory where all sources are downloaded and extracted
$pkgdir	Package root directory. Install files here in package()
$startdir	Directory containing the PKGBUILD

Package Metadata

The following PKGBUILD fields are also exported as environment variables:

Variable	Description
$pkgname	Package name
$pkgver	Package version
$pkgrel	Package release number
$epoch	Package epoch
$maintainer	Package maintainer
$url	Upstream URL

Custom Variables (since v1.48)

Any variable in the PKGBUILD that is not a recognized field is treated as a custom variable. Custom variables are exported as environment variables and available in all functions.

_buildflags="-O2 -Wall"
_srcname="${pkgname}-${pkgver}"

build() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${_srcname}"
  CFLAGS="${_buildflags}" make
}

Custom arrays work the same way:

_patches=(
  'fix-build.patch'
  'add-feature.patch'
)

prepare() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${_srcname}"
  for p in "${_patches[@]}"; do
    patch -Np1 -i "${srcdir}/${p}"
  done
}

Helper Functions (since v1.48)

Any function not recognized as a standard PKGBUILD function (build, package, prepare, preinst, postinst, prerm, postrm, pretrans, posttrans) is treated as a helper function.

Helper functions are injected into build scripts automatically:

_install_license() {
  install -Dm 644 -t "${pkgdir}/usr/share/licenses/${pkgname}" LICENSE
}

package() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${_srcname}"
  make DESTDIR="${pkgdir}" install
  _install_license
}

Helper functions referenced by install scriptlets (preinst, postinst, etc.) are also included automatically, with transitive dependency resolution -- if helper A calls helper B, both are injected.

Usage

build() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"
  ./configure --prefix=/usr
  make
}

package() {
  cd "${srcdir}/${pkgname}-${pkgver}"
  make DESTDIR="${pkgdir}" install
}