Can't install packages hosted on GitHub

[AdmnUnpwnd]

I have been using vim for a while now and decided to try Emacs. I picked Spacemacs since it's easier for a vim user to transition to.

I was able to create a package layer to install packages hosted in MELPA but when I tried installing packages hosted on GitHub using :fetcher github it gave an error: 'Package [package name] is unavailable. Is the package name misspelled?'

I've checked out the develop branch.

A few packages I tried are Emacs Webkit and haxe-complete

How do I install packages hosted on GitHub?

Edit: Here is what I have in my Haxe layer that I created in .emacs.d/contrib/!lang/haxe/packages.el

    ;;; packages.el --- haxe Layer packages File for Spacemacs
    ;;
    ;; Copyright (c) 2012-2014 Sylvain Benner
    ;; Copyright (c) 2014-2015 Sylvain Benner & Contributors
    ;;
    ;; Author: Sylvain Benner <[email protected]>
    ;; URL: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs
    ;;
    ;; This file is not part of GNU Emacs.
    ;;
    ;;; License: GPLv3

    ;; List of all packages to install and/or initialize. Built-in packages
    ;; which require an initialization must be listed explicitly in the list.
     (setq haxe-packages
        '(
          ;; package names go here
          haxe-mode
          (haxe-complete :location (recipe :fetcher github :repo "aharisson/haxe-complete"))

          ))

    ;; List of packages to exclude.
    (setq haxe-excluded-packages '())

    ;; For each package, define a function haxe/init-<package-name>
    ;;
    ;; (defun haxe/init-my-package ()
    ;;   "Initialize my package"
    ;;   )
    ;;
    ;; Often the body of an initialize function uses `use-package'
    ;; For more info on `use-package', see readme:
    ;; https://github.com/jwiegley/use-package
    (defun haxe/init-haxe-mode ()
      (use-package haxe-mode
        :defer t
        :mode ("\\.\\(hx\\|hxml\\)\\'" . haxe-mode)
        ;; :init (add-hook 'haxe-mode-hook 'haxe-mode-init)
        ))

haxe-mode is in MELPA is is working properly. haxe-complete is on GitHub and produces the above error.

[fintelkai]

You don't give an example of the failing code in packages.el of your layer. Here's an example from a private layer of mine, which works to install stuff from github:

;; List of all packages to install and/or initialize. Built-in packages
;; which require an initialization must be listed explicitly in the list.
(setq org-ref-packages
    '(
      ;; package names go here
      (org-ref :location (recipe :fetcher github :repo "jkitchin/org-ref"))
      ))

[mbertheau]

I added this to a FAQ which I hope will grow to become useful: https://github.com/mbertheau/spacemacs-faq/wiki#how-do-i-install-an-emacs-package-from-github

[CestDiego]

@AdmnUnpwnd bear in mind that webkit is dependant on external dependencies..don't even bother with it. It's not worth the time.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@CestDiego Is there an alternate Emacs web browser that you recommend. I hate using lynx and if possible would like to avoid opening Chrome every time I want to view a web page.

[CestDiego]

@AdmnUnpwnd unfortunately there is no true webkit browser :( people try w3m and eww, but I don't find unconvenient to open chrome for everything. You can search in any search engine from within emacs though (check the search-engine layer) this will open a search into chrome though, or firefox

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@CestDiego Thank you. I will try the search-engine layer.

[syl20bnr]

Maybe haxe-complete depends on a package that is it in MELPA ?

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@fintelkai @mbertheau I have tried what you posted in a custom layer but it still doesn't work. However, it works when I use it in .spacemacs's dotspacemacs-additional-packages. Is there some way I can get it working for a custom layer rather than it being in .spacemacs?

[syl20bnr]

haxe-complete is not a valid Elpa package, the source file haxe-complete.el has no header at all. It is likely to be the issue that lead to have no Elpa archive listing the package.

[syl20bnr]

@AdmnUnpwnd can you open an issue on haxe-complete repo to ask the author to add a proper package.el header to the source file ?

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@syl20bnr I will open an issue on the haxe-complete repo. I've also tried installing haxe-eldoc and hx-emacs and they failed as well. From my understanding haxe-eldoc seems to have a proper package.el header however I might be wrong. Can you please confirm this? If the header is the problem then I will open an issue on those repos as well. Thank you.

[syl20bnr]

@AdmnUnpwnd haxe-eldoc has one but I don't know if it is valid. I don't see any other difference that might explain your issue though.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@syl20bnr Another thing I've noticed is that I can only install GitHub hosted packages if I put them in dotspacemacs-additional-packages inside the .spacemacs file. When I tried using my layers it gave me the above error of name being misspelled.

[StreakyCobra]

Does anyone still have this problem? I tried yesterday to use github fetcher for a package in the ranger layer and it worked.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@StreakyCobra I'm still having problems installing the packages I listed above. I can install other packages that are ELPA compliant with no problem however, for some reason req-package installs but whenever I try to use it I get an error suggesting that the package is missing. I was hoping to use that to install the above packages since I tried el-get but was getting an error about el-get-recipe-path being void.

I am using the latest development version.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

I've noticed that this issue has been taken care of in the Autumnal Cleanup 2015 Reporting (#3549) however unfortunately I still have no idea how I can install packages that are not in the correct ELPA compliant format. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

[StreakyCobra]

@AdmnUnpwnd The autumnal cleanup was made to identify old and dead issues. This one is valid so it's still open :-) But I don't think there is an easy way now to install a package that is not in ELPA format, you can try to debug/improve/document it yourself, or wait that someone get interested in this functionality :-/

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@StreakyCobra I'm not experienced in Emacs Lisp beyond the general configuration but I'll keep looking for alternate ways and report if I find anything. Meanwhile, I would appreciate if someone is able to integrate this functionality in spacemacs.

[TheBB]

Download it and load it manually, then. I don't think the burden should be on us to support non-standard packages, particularly when the standard is as accepted as it is.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@TheBB How do I load it manually? Do I edit .spacemacs or init.el? Sorry I am new to Emacs.

[TheBB]

You can use load-file. Put it in ~/.spacemacs.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@TheBB Thank you.

[StreakyCobra]

@AdmnUnpwnd Do you managed to make it work?

@syl20bnr @TheBB So to be clear, there is no plan to support non-elpa packages as it's not a standard right? If this is the case, this issue can be closed once @AdmnUnpwnd will have solved his problem.

[AdmnUnpwnd]

@StreakyCobra Unfortunately the load-file did not work. I am currently trying to use el-get recipes. I found a recipe, filladapt.rcp, that successfully installs filladapt.el even though it is not in the ELPA compliant format. If this works then it would be possible to install any non-ELPA package.

[StreakyCobra]

Ok, let us know if you find a way to make it work :-)

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