PURL Types

Package-URL type definitions

Each package manager, platform, type, or ecosystem has its own conventions and protocols to identify, locate, and provision software packages.

The package type is the component of a Package-URL that is used to capture this information with a short string such as 'maven', 'npm', 'nuget', 'gem', 'pypi', etc.

PURL type definitions are maintained in a set of JSON Schema files with a separate file for each PURL type. Each PURL type has a corresponding file of automatically generated documentation. There is also a simple index of all currently registered PURL types.

Registered PURL Types

Click on a type in the table to see the documentation for that type.

Note: The linked .md documentation pages are auto-generated from the PURL JSON Schema *-definition.json files located in the purl-spec repo. These .md files can be modified only by editing the underlying .json files.

alpm

apk

bazel

bitbucket

bitnami

cargo

chrome-extension

cocoapods

composer

conan

conda

cpan

cran

deb

docker

gem

generic

github

golang

hackage

hex

huggingface

julia

luarocks

maven

mlflow

npm

nuget

oci

opam

otp

pub

pypi

qpkg

rpm

swid

swift

vcpkg

vscode-extension

yocto

Where to find PURL type information

• In individual JSON files, one for each PURL type definition at: https://github.com/package-url/purl-spec/tree/main/types

• As Markdown documentation, generated from each PURL type JSON definition at: https://github.com/package-url/purl-spec/tree/main/docs/types/definitions

• In the JSON Index listing of all registered PURL types at: https://github.com/package-url/purl-spec/tree/main/purl-types-index.json

How PURL Types are maintained

PURL type definitions are maintained as JSON definition files and JSON test files in the PURL specification repository. These JSON files serve as the source of truth and define the structure of each PURL type, including:

• Namespace and name formatting rules
• Supported qualifiers
• Repository requirements
• Mapping of PURL concepts to the native ecosystem concepts

How to Propose a New PURL Type

To propose a new PURL type, please start by creating an issue using the "Register a new PURL type" template in the PURL specification repository.

You may also want to create a draft PR to document the PURL component definitions. Ensure that your PURL component definitions follow the PURL Type Definition Schema. See also the ECMA-427 Core Specification.

Additional instructions to follow.