Updates and offline use

Rootbeer keeps the versions it installed so your tools don't change unexpectedly. rb use records them in your user profile's generations; Lua configurations save them in rootbeer.lock alongside init.lua. rb run records nothing and uses the index's current default each time.

Update tools installed with use

rb use --update jq ripgrep
rb use --update

rb use --update moves the packages you name, or every package with no names, to what the index has now, keeping your other tools. An exact request such as jq@1.8.2 pins that version, including with --update, though it can move to a rebuild of the same version. Packages built from a local checkout are left alone unless you name them.

These commands do not read or modify your configuration's rootbeer.lock.

Update a Lua configuration

rb apply --update

This refreshes packages declared in your configuration and saves the results in rootbeer.lock. Review and commit that file alongside init.lua. Exact versions in your configuration stay fixed.

Command	Versions and lockfile	Package network access
rb apply	Keep locked entries that still answer their declarations; resolve new or changed ones.	Allowed when needed.
rb apply --update	Resolve every declaration again, respecting explicit version pins.	Allowed.
rb apply --locked	Require a matching lock; never write it.	Allowed to fetch locked outputs.
rb apply --offline	Resolve nothing new; fail if a locked output isn't in the store.	None.
rb apply --locked --offline	Require a matching lock and every locked output in the store.	None.

--locked and --offline are independent. --update conflicts with either. Adding a package during plain apply does not upgrade unrelated packages. Removing packages updates the lock, including when the final package is removed.

A lock from an older rb is replaced on the next apply without --locked. A lock written by a newer rb makes Rootbeer run that newer release instead.

Update Rootbeer

rb self-update (also rb update) installs the latest rootbeer package from the signed index into your user profile. A pinned version stays pinned. If your Lua configuration installs Rootbeer, it directs you to rb apply --update instead and never changes your lock implicitly.

What offline mode covers

--offline never contacts the signed index or GitHub, so a saved lock alone is not enough: package outputs must already be in /opt/rb. Rootbeer reports what's missing instead of downloading it. This includes the 1Password CLI that rb.secret.op installs, so secret providers that need it fail offline.

Offline mode controls package resolution and downloads. A tool launched by rb run, or a command in your Lua configuration, can still access the network.

Using multiple machines

rootbeer.lock keeps separate entries for each platform. Applying on another platform adds that platform's entries and leaves the others alone; --locked fails if this platform has none yet. Profiles can choose packages per machine.