Not installing specific version available on CRAN

[fh-mthomson]

Related to #582, but specific to {package}@{version} not installing as expected, even after running pak::meta_update():

Reprex:

options(repos = "https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest")

# baseline
pak::meta_update()
#> 
#> ✔ Updated metadata database: 3.16 MB in 2 files.
#> 
#> ℹ Updating metadata database
#> ✔ Updating metadata database ... done
#> 
packageVersion('paws')
#> [1] '0.5.0'

pak::pak("paws@0.4.0")
#> 
#> ✔ All system requirements are already installed.
#> 
#> ℹ No downloads are needed
#> ✔ 1 pkg + 28 deps: kept 29 [3.1s]
packageVersion('paws') # wrong
#> [1] '0.5.0'

devtools::install_version('paws', "0.4.0")
#> Downloading package from url: https://packagemanager.posit.co/cran/__linux__/jammy/latest/src/contrib/Archive/paws/paws_0.4.0.tar.gz
#> Installing package into '/home/michael.thomson/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/4.1'
#> (as 'lib' is unspecified)
packageVersion('paws') # correct
#> [1] '0.4.0'

^{Created on 2024-01-16 with reprex v2.0.2}

[emaigne]

You can try

> pak::pak("cran/paws@0.4.0")
                                                                            
✔ All system requirements are already installed.
  
ℹ No downloads are needed
✔ 1 pkg + 28 deps: kept 27 [2.2s]
> packageVersion('paws') 
[1] ‘0.4.0’

[fh-mthomson]

Sure, but, I think that's a workaround, not the expectation, in that you should be able to install via {package}@{version} without specifying it's from CRAN?

[emaigne]

Agreed !

[fh-mthomson]

Also replicated with a different package:

> pak::pak("withr@2.5.2")
                                                                           
  
ℹ No downloads are needed
✔ 1 pkg: kept 1 [3s]

Restarting R session...

> packageVersion('withr')
[1] ‘3.0.0’

[gaborcsardi]

This seems to work now, but please reopen if you still have problems. Thanks!

> pak::pak("withr@2.5.2")
→ Will update 1 package.
→ Will download 1 package with unknown size.
+ withr 3.0.2 → 2.5.2 [bld][dl]

? Do you want to continue (Y/n)
ℹ Getting 1 pkg with unknown size
✔ Got withr 2.5.2 (source) (102.32 kB)
✔ Downloaded 1 package (102.32 kB) in 2.6s
ℹ Building withr 2.5.2
✔ Built withr 2.5.2 (10.6s)
✔ Installed withr 2.5.2  (1.2s)
✔ 1 pkg: upd 1, dld 1 (102.32 kB) [30.6s]

[fh-mthomson]

Unfortunately not fully, even after upgrading to 0.9.0:

packageVersion('withr')
#> [1] '3.0.2'
pak::pak("withr@2.5.2")
#> ℹ Loading metadata database
#> ✔ Loading metadata database ... done
#> 
#> 
#> 
#> ℹ No downloads are needed
#> ✔ 1 pkg: kept 1 [6.7s]
packageVersion('withr')
#> [1] '3.0.2'

^{Created on 2025-06-02 with reprex v2.1.1}

In contrast, using the vctrs example in #724, it does work:

packageVersion('vctrs')
#> [1] '0.6.5'
pak::pak("vctrs@0.6.4")
#> ℹ Loading metadata database
#> ✔ Loading metadata database ... done
#> 
#> 
#> → Will update 1 package.
#> → The package (0 B) is cached.
#> + vctrs 0.6.5 → 0.6.4 [cmp]
#> 
#> ℹ No downloads are needed, 1 pkg is cached
#> ✔ Got vctrs 0.6.4 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu) (1.28 MB)
#> ✔ Installed vctrs 0.6.4  (1.5s)
#> ✔ 1 pkg + 4 deps: kept 1, upd 1, dld 1 (1.28 MB) [9.6s]
packageVersion('vctrs')
#> [1] '0.6.4'

^{Created on 2025-06-02 with reprex v2.1.1}

Any debugging information I can provide to help narrow it down?

PS I don't have perms to Reopen Issue on GitHub, but hoping this comment is sufficient :)

[fh-mthomson]

Also reproduced after:

1. Clearing the cache: rm -rf ~/.cache/R/pkgcache
2. Removing withr: remove.packages("withr", lib="~/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/4.1")

> pak::pak("withr@2.5.2")
✔ Updated metadata database: 2.59 MB in 9 files.                          
✔ Updating metadata database ... done                                     
                                                                           
→ Will install 1 package.
→ Will download 1 CRAN package (103.24 kB).
+ withr   3.0.2 [bld][dl] (103.24 kB)
  
ℹ Getting 1 pkg (103.24 kB)
✔ Got withr 3.0.2 (source) (217.40 kB)                                
✔ Downloaded 1 package (217.40 kB) in 509ms                           
ℹ Building withr 3.0.2
✔ Built withr 3.0.2 (713ms)                                  
✔ Installed withr 3.0.2  (1.2s)                                
✔ 1 dep: added 1, dld 1 (217.40 kB) [20.3s] 

[kkmann]

The documentation still states that version tags for standard:: sources are only parsed, but not used. Would be great if it could be supported.

[DanChaltiel]

Tested on several packages on version 0.9.0 (R 4.4.3), and it seems to be working.

> pak::pak("ggplot2@3.5.2")
→ Will install 1 package.
→ The package (0 B) is cached.
+ ggplot2   3.5.2 [bld]
ℹ No downloads are needed, 1 pkg is cached
✔ Installed ggplot2 3.5.2  (127ms)                               
✔ 1 pkg: added 1 [4.4s]     

[fh-mthomson]

Unfortunately it's still not for me (using the same versions of R / pak; on Posit Workbench running Ubuntu Jammy):

> pak::pak("ggplot2@3.5.2")
✔ Updated metadata database: 2.41 MB in 3 files.                           
✔ Updating metadata database ... done                                      
                                                                            
  
ℹ No downloads are needed
✔ 1 pkg + 15 deps: kept 16 [13.2s]
Restarting R session...
> packageVersion('pak')
[1] ‘0.9.0’
> R.version.string
[1] "R version 4.4.3 (2025-02-28)"
> packageVersion('ggplot2')
[1] ‘4.0.1’
Restarting R session...
> packageVersion('ggplot2')
[1] ‘4.0.1’

same for a fresh install:

> remove.packages("ggplot2", lib="~/R/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-library/4.4")
> packageVersion('ggplot2')
Error in packageVersion("ggplot2") : there is no package called ‘ggplot2’

> pak::pak("ggplot2@3.5.2")
✔ Loading metadata database ... done                                      
                                                                            
→ Will install 1 package.
→ Will download 1 CRAN package (6.34 MB).
+ ggplot2   4.0.1 [bld][dl] (6.34 MB)
  
ℹ Getting 1 pkg (6.34 MB)
✔ Got ggplot2 4.0.1 (source) (8.47 MB)                                  
✔ Downloaded 1 package (8.47 MB) in 1.4s                                
ℹ Building ggplot2 4.0.1
✔ Built ggplot2 4.0.1 (1.7s)                                       
✔ Installed ggplot2 4.0.1  (352ms)                                   
✔ 16 deps: kept 15, added 1, dld 1 (8.47 MB) [10.6s]      

Are there any system information or diagnostics I can provide to help isolate? thank you all!

[kkmann]

See also #837, this seems to be a continued source of confusion (also still for me).
Pak would be so much more useful if the version tags were properly respected.
From the documentation and the comments by Gábor here it is not even clear to me whether this is intended for pak though. If not, why can pkg refs contain version tags in the first place?