DOKK / manpages / debian 13 / debcraft / debcraft.1.en
DEBCRAFT(1) Debcraft usage DEBCRAFT(1)

Debcraft - Easy, fast and secure way to build Debian packages

usage: debcraft <build|validate|test|release|shell|prune> [options] [<path|pkg|srcpkg|dsc|git-url>]

Debcraft is a tool to easily build .deb packages. The 'build' argument accepts as a subargument any of:

* path to directory with program sources including a debian/ subdirectory with * the Debian packaging instructions
* path to a .dsc file and source tarballs that can be built into a .deb
* Debian package name, or source package name, that apt can download
* git http(s) or ssh URL that can be downloaded and built

The commands 'validate' and 'release' are intended to be used to finalize a package build. The command 'test' will run the Debian-specific regression test suite if the package has autopkgtest support, and drop to a shell for investigation if tests failed to pass. The command 'shell' can be used to play around in the container and 'prune' will clean up temporary files by Debcraft.

In addition to parameters below, anything passed in DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS will also be honored. Note that Debcraft builds never runs as root, and thus packages with DEB_RULES_REQUIRES_ROOT are not supported.

Path for writing build files and artifacts (default: parent directory)
Linux distribution to build in (default: debian:sid)
container command to use (default: podman)
host architecture to use when performing a cross build
build only binaries and skip creating a source tarball to make the build slightly faster ('debcraft build' only)
create a release with both source and binaries, for example with intent to upload to NEW ('debcraft release' only)
ensure container base is updated
perform the build on a copy of the package directory
ensure sources are clean before and after build
emit debug information
display this help and exit
display version and exit

To learn more, or to contribute to Debcraft, see project page at https://salsa.debian.org/debian/debcraft

To gain more Debian Developer knowledge, please read https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/developers-reference/ and https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/

May 2025 Debcraft version unknown: neither git version control nor installed package was found