Morganamilo/paru · error

--downloadonly can't be used for AUR packages

Error message

--downloadonly can't be used for AUR packages

What it means

prepare_build rejects the --downloadonly (-w) flag when the resolved action set includes AUR packages to build. --downloadonly only downloads repository packages without installing; AUR packages must be built locally, so 'download only' is meaningless for them and paru bails instead of silently ignoring the flag.

Solutions

  1. Drop the -w/--downloadonly flag when the target is an AUR package
  2. Use `paru -G <pkg>` to fetch AUR PKGBUILDs/sources without building
  3. Split the operation: repo packages with -w, AUR packages without it
  4. Check whether your wrapper script unconditionally appends -w

Example fix

// before
$ paru -Sw slack-desktop      # AUR package + downloadonly
// after
$ paru -G slack-desktop       # fetch without building, or
$ paru -S slack-desktop       # normal build/install
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if args.has_arg("w", "downloadonly") && targets.any(is_aur_pkg) {
    eprintln!("--downloadonly is invalid for AUR targets; use paru -G instead");
    std::process::exit(1);
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Running e.g. `paru -Sw <aur-package>` (or `paru -S <aur-pkg> -w`) where split_repo_aur_targets assigns the target to the AUR, actions.build is non-empty, and config.args.has_arg("w", "downloadonly") is true.

Common situations: Users trying to pre-fetch an AUR package's sources with -w; scripts that always pass -w for dry-run-style downloads; confusion of -w with -Sp or `paru -G` (get pkgbuild) workflows.

Understand the failure class

Background: Conflicting config options: "cannot be used together" — configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 162 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Morganamilo/paru@9ac3578807 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f1aa1d71ef46f256. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/install.rs:1080

            return false;
        }
        if ran_pacman {
            return false;
        }
        aur_targets.is_empty() && upgrades.aur_keep.is_empty() && upgrades.pkgbuild_keep.is_empty()
    }

    async fn prepare_build(
        &mut self,
        config: &Config,
        cache: &Cache,
        actions: &mut Actions<'_>,
    ) -> Result<()> {
        if !actions.build.is_empty() && nix::unistd::getuid().is_root() {
            bail!(tr!("can't install AUR package as root"));
        }
        if !actions.build.is_empty() && config.args.has_arg("w", "downloadonly") {
            bail!(tr!("--downloadonly can't be used for AUR packages"));
        }

        let conflicts = check_actions(config, actions, self.install_targets)?;

        self.conflicts = conflicts
            .0
            .iter()
            .map(|c| c.pkg.clone())
            .chain(conflicts.1.iter().map(|c| c.pkg.clone()))
            .collect::<HashSet<_>>();

        let c = config.color;

        print_warnings(config, cache, Some(actions));

        if actions.build.is_empty() && actions.install.is_empty() {
            printtr!(" there is nothing to do");
            return Ok(());

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