NAME

cpanfile - A format for describing CPAN dependencies for Perl applications

SYNOPSIS

requires 'Catalyst', '5.8000'; # 5.8000 or newer
requires 'Catalyst::View::JSON', '>= 0.30, < 0.40';

recommends 'JSON::XS', '2.0';
conflicts 'JSON', '< 1.0';

on 'test' => sub {
  requires 'Test::More', '>= 0.96, < 2.0';
  recommends 'Test::TCP', '1.12';
};

on 'develop' => sub {
  recommends 'Devel::NYTProf';
};

feature 'sqlite', 'SQLite support' => sub {
  recommends 'DBD::SQLite';
};

VERSION

This doucment describes cpanfile format version 1.0.

DESCRIPTION

cpanfile describes CPAN dependencies required to execute associated Perl code.

SYNTAX

requires, recommends, suggests, conflicts

requires $module, $version_requirement;

Describes the requirement for a module. See CPAN::Meta::Spec for the meanings of each requirement type.

When version requirement is omitted, it is assumed that 0 is passed, meaning any version of the module would satisfy the requirement.

Version requirement can either be a version number or a string that satisfies "Version Ranges" in CPAN::Meta::Spec, such as >= 1.0, != 1.1.

Note that, per CPAN::Meta::Spec, when a plain version number is given, it means the version or newer is required. If you want a specific version for a module, use the specific range syntax, i.e. == 2.1 .

on

on $phase => sub { ... };

Describe requirements for a specific phase. Available phases are configure, build, test, runtime and develop.

feature

feature $identifier, $description => sub { ... };

Group requirements with features. Description can be omitted, when it is assumed to be the same as identifier. See "optional_features" in CPAN::Meta::Spec for more details.

configure_requires, build_requires, test_requires, author_requires

configure_requires $module, $version;
# on 'configure' => sub { requires $module, $version }

build_requires $module, $version;
# on 'build' => sub { requires $module, $version };

test_requires $module, $version;
# on 'test' => sub { requires $module, $version };

author_requires $module, $version;
# on 'develop' => sub { requires $module, $version };

Shortcut for requires in specific phase. This is mainly provided for compatibilities with Module::Install DSL.

USAGE

cpanfile is a format to describe dependencies. How to use this file is dependent on the tools reading/writing it.

Usually, you're expected to place the cpanfile in the root of the directory containing the associated code.

Tools supporting cpanfile format (e.g. cpanm and carton) will automatically detect the file and install dependencies for the code to run.

There are also tools to support converting cpanfile to CPAN toolchain compatible formats, such as Module::CPANfile, Dist::Zilla::Plugin::Prereqs::FromCPANfile, Module::Install::CPANfile, so that cpanfile can be used to describe dependencies for a CPAN distribution as well.

AUTHOR

Tatsuhiko Miyagawa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The format (DSL syntax) is inspired by Module::Install and Module::Build::Functions.

cpanfile specification (this document) is based on Ruby's Gemfile specification.

SEE ALSO

CPAN::Meta::Spec Module::Install Carton