📦 Package Manager for PowerToys Run

⚡ Search NPM, NuGet & PyPI Instantly ⚡

Stop switching to your browser to find packages.
Search across NPM, NuGet, and PyPI with Alt+Space → pm react → Done! ✨

⚠️ Important Note for Better Performance

To improve response speed and result accuracy, please try to specify the package manager name in your search query:

pm npm <package> - Search only NPM (faster, more accurate)
pm nuget <package> - Search only NuGet (faster, more accurate)
pm pip <package> - Search only PyPI (faster, more accurate)

This simplifies the work for both you and the plugin by searching only the relevant registry instead of all three simultaneously.

1️⃣ Download & Extract (30 seconds)

Option A: Download from Releases

Go to Releases
Download PackageManager-1.0.0-x64.zip or PackageManager-1.0.0-ARM64.zip
Extract the ZIP file

2️⃣ Install to PowerToys (30 seconds)

Installation Steps:

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog

Paste the following path and press Enter:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\

Copy the extracted PackageManager folder into the Plugins directory

Your folder structure should look like this:

Plugins\
  └── PackageManager\
      ├── Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager.dll
      ├── plugin.json
      └── Images\
          ├── packagemanager.dark.png
          └── packagemanager.light.png

3️⃣ Restart PowerToys (15 seconds)

Right-click the PowerToys icon in your system tray
Click "Exit" or "Quit"
Launch PowerToys again from the Start menu
Press Alt + Space to open PowerToys Run
Type pm to verify the plugin is working

🎯 Why Developers Love This Plugin

"Stop opening npmjs.com, nuget.org, or pypi.org for every package search"

❌ Before	✅ With Package Manager
Open browser → Search package → Copy command	`Alt+Space` → `pm react` → Copy
20+ seconds, context switching	2 seconds, zero interruption

🚀 Quick Demo - Try it now:

Alt+Space → pm react              # 🔍 Search all registries
Alt+Space → pm npm express        # 📦 Search only NPM
Alt+Space → pm nuget entity       # 🎯 Search only NuGet
Alt+Space → pm pip django         # 🐍 Search only PyPI

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut	Description
Copy Install Command	`Enter`	Copies `npm install react` to clipboard
Copy Package Name	`Ctrl+C`	Copies just the package name
Open Package Page	`Ctrl+O`	Opens package URL in browser
Copy Package URL	`Ctrl+U`	Copies package URL to clipboard
Context Menu	`Right-Click` or `Ctrl+Shift+Enter`	Shows all available actions

📊 Supported Package Managers

Registry	Packages	Command Examples
NPM	Node.js/JavaScript	`pm npm react` `pm npm @types/node`
NuGet	.NET/C#	`pm nuget newtonsoft` `pm nuget entity`
PyPI	Python	`pm pip django` `pm pip requests`

⚡ Features

⚡ Lightning Fast _{Parallel API searches with intelligent caching}	🔍 Smart Search _{Handles scoped packages, variations, and aliases}	🎨 Theme-Aware _{Beautiful icons for dark and light modes}
📦 Multi-Registry _{Search NPM, NuGet, PyPI simultaneously or filtered}	📋 Quick Actions _{Copy install commands, URLs, or package names}	🌐 Direct Links _{Open package pages with one click}

📸 Gallery

Search All Registries

NPM Package Search

PyPI Package Search

🏃‍♂️ Quick Start

1️⃣ Download & Extract (30 seconds)

Download Plugin:

Go to Releases page
Download PackageManager-1.0.0-x64.zip or PackageManager-1.0.0-ARM64.zip
Extract the ZIP file

2️⃣ Install to PowerToys (30 seconds)

Installation Steps:

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog

Paste the following path and press Enter:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\

Copy the extracted PackageManager folder into the Plugins directory

Your folder structure should look like this:

Plugins\
  └── PackageManager\
      ├── Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager.dll
      ├── plugin.json
      └── Images\
          ├── packagemanager.dark.png
          └── packagemanager.light.png

3️⃣ Restart PowerToys (15 seconds)

Right-click the PowerToys icon in your system tray
Click "Exit" or "Quit"
Launch PowerToys again from the Start menu
Press Alt + Space to open PowerToys Run
Type pm to verify the plugin is working

💡 Usage Examples

Basic Commands

Command	Description	Result
`pm react`	Search all registries for "react"	Shows results from NPM, NuGet, PyPI
`pm npm lodash`	Search only NPM	Shows NPM packages matching "lodash"
`pm nuget entity`	Search only NuGet	Shows NuGet packages matching "entity"
`pm pip requests`	Search only PyPI	Shows PyPI packages matching "requests"

Advanced Examples

# Search for scoped packages
pm npm @types/node           # TypeScript types
pm npm @google/gemini        # Google's Gemini SDK

# Search with variations
pm npm express               # Finds express, @types/express, etc.
pm pip django                # Finds django, django-rest-framework, etc.

# Framework-specific searches
pm nuget automapper          # .NET mapping library
pm npm react-router          # React routing library
pm pip flask                 # Python web framework

🔧 Configuration

Change Trigger Keyword

Open PowerToys Settings
Go to PowerToys Run → Plugins
Find Package Manager
Change Direct activation command from pm to your preference (e.g., pkg, package)

Disable Specific Registries

Currently, all three registries (NPM, NuGet, PyPI) are enabled by default. To search only one registry, use the filter syntax:

pm npm <query> - Only NPM
pm nuget <query> - Only NuGet
pm pip <query> - Only PyPI

🏗️ Technical Details

📋 Architecture Overview

Core Components

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│        PowerToys Run Plugin         │
│              (Main.cs)              │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
              │
              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│      PackageSearchService           │
│   (Orchestrates all searches)       │
└─────────┬───────────────────────────┘
          │
          ├──► NpmRegistryClient ──► NPM API
          │
          ├──► NuGetRegistryClient ──► NuGet API
          │
          └──► PyPIRegistryClient ──► PyPI API

Key Features

Parallel Searches: All registries searched simultaneously for maximum speed
Smart Caching: 10-minute cache with LRU eviction (100 entries max)
Query Variations: Automatically tries package name variations (scoped, CLI suffixes, etc.)
Cancellation Support: Previous searches cancelled when new query starts
Theme-Aware Icons: Automatically switches between dark/light mode icons

🧪 Tech Stack

Framework: .NET 9.0 (Windows 10.0.22621.0)
Language: C# 12 with nullable reference types
UI: WPF integration via PowerToys Run API
HTTP Client: System.Net.Http with JSON extensions
Dependencies:
- Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.Dependencies (v0.93.0)
- System.Net.Http.Json (v9.0.10)
- System.Text.Json (v9.0.10)

APIs Used

NPM: https://registry.npmjs.org/-/v1/search
NuGet: https://api-v2v3search-0.nuget.org/query
PyPI: https://pypi.org/pypi/{package}/json

🏗️ Project Structure

PackageManager/
├── Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager/
│   ├── Main.cs                          # Plugin entry point
│   ├── plugin.json                      # Plugin metadata
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── PackageInfo.cs              # Unified package model
│   │   ├── PackageRegistry.cs          # Registry enum
│   │   ├── QueryParser.cs              # Query parsing logic
│   │   ├── NpmApiModels.cs             # NPM API response models
│   │   ├── NuGetApiModels.cs           # NuGet API response models
│   │   └── PyPIApiModels.cs            # PyPI API response models
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── PackageSearchService.cs     # Search orchestrator
│   │   ├── IRegistryClient.cs          # Registry client interface
│   │   ├── NpmRegistryClient.cs        # NPM API client
│   │   ├── NuGetRegistryClient.cs      # NuGet API client
│   │   ├── PyPIRegistryClient.cs       # PyPI API client
│   │   └── CacheService.cs             # Search results cache
│   └── Images/
│       ├── packagemanager.light.png
│       ├── packagemanager.dark.png
│       ├── npm.light.png
│       ├── npm.dark.png
│       ├── nuget.light.png
│       ├── nuget.dark.png
│       ├── pypi.light.png
│       └── pypi.dark.png
└── Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager.UnitTests/
    └── MainTests.cs                     # Unit tests

🚀 Building from Source

Prerequisites

Windows 10/11
.NET 9.0 SDK
PowerToys installed
Visual Studio 2022 (optional)

Build Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ruslanlap/PowerToysRun-PackageManager.git
cd PowerToysRun-PackageManager/PackageManager

# Build for x64
dotnet build Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager/Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager.csproj -c Release -p:Platform=x64

# Build for ARM64
dotnet build Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager/Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.PackageManager.csproj -c Release -p:Platform=ARM64

# Output will be in:
# bin/x64/Release/net9.0-windows10.0.22621.0/
# bin/ARM64/Release/net9.0-windows10.0.22621.0/

Install Locally

# Windows (PowerShell)
./install-local.bat

# Or manually copy to:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\PackageManager\

🆘 Troubleshooting

❌ Plugin doesn't appear in PowerToys Run

Verify plugin is in correct location:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\PackageManager\

Check that plugin.json and .dll files are present
Restart PowerToys completely (Exit → Relaunch)
Open PowerToys Settings → PowerToys Run → Plugins
Enable "Package Manager" if it's disabled

🔍 Search returns no results

Possible causes:

Network connectivity issues
API rate limiting (rare)
Package doesn't exist in searched registry

Solutions:

Check your internet connection
Try a different package name
Use registry filter: pm npm <package> instead of pm <package>
Clear cache by restarting PowerToys

🐌 Search is slow

First search is always slower (no cache). Subsequent searches are instant.

If consistently slow:

Check your internet speed
Try filtered search (one registry): pm npm react
Restart PowerToys to clear cache and reinitialize

🎨 Icons not showing correctly

Verify Images/ folder exists in plugin directory
Check PowerToys theme settings (Light/Dark/Auto)
Restart PowerToys to reload icons

⚠️ Cached Results - Important Note

To see updated cached results, sometimes you need to press Space or press Backspace to trigger a fresh search and see the updated results.

This happens because the plugin uses intelligent caching (10-minute cache) to speed up searches. If you're seeing stale results, try:

Press Space or Backspace to trigger a fresh search
Or press Backspace to delete and retype the last character
This will force a new search and refresh the cached results

❓ FAQ

Can I search multiple registries at once?

Yes! Just use pm <package> without a registry filter. Example:

pm react    # Searches NPM, NuGet, and PyPI simultaneously

How do I install a package after finding it?

Select the package in PowerToys Run
Press Enter to copy the install command (e.g., npm install react)
Paste in your terminal and run

Does this plugin install packages automatically?

No. This plugin only searches and provides install commands. You still need to run the command in your terminal. This is intentional for safety and control.

Can I use different package manager commands?

The plugin provides standard commands:

NPM: npm install <package>
NuGet: dotnet add package <package>
PyPI: pip install <package>

You can modify these after copying (e.g., change npm install to yarn add).

Why is NPM search showing unexpected results?

NPM has millions of packages with many variations. The plugin:

Tries multiple search variations (scoped packages, CLI suffixes)
Ranks results by relevance score
Shows top 10 results per registry

For better results, be more specific or use exact package names.

🔒 Privacy & Security

Network Requests

This plugin makes HTTP requests to public APIs:

NPM: registry.npmjs.org
NuGet: api-v2v3search-0.nuget.org
PyPI: pypi.org

No tracking, analytics, or telemetry is sent to any third parties.

Data Storage

Search cache: Stored in memory only (cleared on PowerToys restart)
No persistent storage: No files written to disk
No personal data: Only package names are sent to APIs

API Keys

This plugin does not require API keys. All registries provide public search APIs.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

MIT License
Copyright (c) 2025 ruslanlap

🙏 Acknowledgements

Built with ❤️ using:

PowerToys by Microsoft
Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.Templates
NPM Registry API
NuGet API
PyPI JSON API

Special thanks to:

PowerToys team for the amazing plugin framework
Henrik Lau Eriksson for the plugin templates
All contributors and users of this plugin

🚀 Ready to supercharge your package search workflow?

Found this useful? Give it a ⭐ on GitHub!

Have questions? Open an issue or discussion in your repository

Ready to release? Create a tag: git tag v1.0.0 && git push origin v1.0.0

Made with ❤️ by YOU | Build with PowerToys Run API | MIT License

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 33 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
PackageManager		PackageManager
assets		assets
src		src
tests		tests
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.ptrunignore		.ptrunignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
PackageManager-1.0.0-arm64.zip		PackageManager-1.0.0-arm64.zip
PackageManager-1.0.0-x64.zip		PackageManager-1.0.0-x64.zip
README.md		README.md
Templates.sln		Templates.sln
build-and-zip.sh		build-and-zip.sh
dotnet-install.sh		dotnet-install.sh
install-local.bat		install-local.bat
pack.bat		pack.bat
rebuildtag.sh		rebuildtag.sh

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

📦 Package Manager for PowerToys Run

⚡ Search NPM, NuGet & PyPI Instantly ⚡

⚠️ Important Note for Better Performance

1️⃣ Download & Extract (30 seconds)

2️⃣ Install to PowerToys (30 seconds)

3️⃣ Restart PowerToys (15 seconds)

🎯 Why Developers Love This Plugin

🚀 Quick Demo - Try it now:

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

📊 Supported Package Managers

⚡ Features

📸 Gallery

Search All Registries

NPM Package Search

PyPI Package Search

🏃‍♂️ Quick Start

1️⃣ Download & Extract (30 seconds)

2️⃣ Install to PowerToys (30 seconds)

3️⃣ Restart PowerToys (15 seconds)

💡 Usage Examples

Basic Commands

Advanced Examples

🔧 Configuration

Change Trigger Keyword

Disable Specific Registries

🏗️ Technical Details

Core Components

Key Features

APIs Used

🚀 Building from Source

Prerequisites

Build Steps

Install Locally

🆘 Troubleshooting

❓ FAQ

🔒 Privacy & Security

Network Requests

Data Storage

API Keys

📄 License

🙏 Acknowledgements

🚀 Ready to supercharge your package search workflow?

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