🎯 Who is this for? Manjaro desktop users who want the vast software library of the AUR without risking the stability of their host system. Best for those who prefer a GUI-assisted workflow for containerized package management.
🛑 Who is this NOT for?** Users of any non-Manjaro distribution (including Arch Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora), or those looking for a general-purpose cross-distro package manager.
Tired of AUR packages breaking your Manjaro system? mja is an orchestrator that isolates AUR packages into a Distrobox container, keeping your official host repositories completely untouched.
Manjaro users want system stability but need the vast software library of the AUR. Mixing rolling-release AUR packages with Manjaro's delayed stable branch often leads to dependency hell.
mja acts as a strict routing layer:
- Official Repo Packages: Routed directly to your host's pacman/pamac.
- AUR Packages: Compiled and installed inside an isolated Arch Linux container (mja-arch) via paru.
- Desktop Integration: Automatically exports .desktop files or CLI binaries back to your host.
We provide a minimalist native GUI built with PySide6.
Note: In Arch/Manjaro systems, do not use pip install PySide6 as it may break the externally-managed environment. Install dependencies via the system package manager:
# 1. Install Qt dependency
sudo pacman -S pyside6
# 2. Clone and run the installer
git clone https://github.com/molang163/mja.git
cd mja
bash install.shOnce installed, you can launch it from your desktop application menu or type mja-gui in the terminal.
We respect your system. Clean installation comes with clean uninstallation:
# Run from the source directory:
bash uninstall.sh # Standard removal (keeps state and logs)
bash uninstall.sh --purge # Nuclear option (removes state, configs, and containers)For power users, mja provides a robust command-line interface:
# Smart search (Host and AUR)
mja search obsidian
# Install AUR package and export desktop icon
mja install obsidian --source aur --export auto
# Health diagnostics
mja doctor
# Remove package and clean up exported shortcuts
mja remove obsidian --unexport