12  Debug package builds

12.1 Is it possible to customize the package build process with custom options/tools/variables?

No, that is not possible (apart from the next section about third-party system requirements). Think of R-universe more like your own mini-CRAN. The build environment is actually very similar to that of CRAN, if the package can build on CRAN, it will probably work on R-universe.

This is on purpose: we want to make sure that the packages deployed on R-universe are reproducible and will work on the user machine as well, and do not depend on some hidden settings or tools.

12.2 How to request additional third party system requirements

If packages need a Linux library that does not yet exist on the server, either:

• Send a PR to add them to the base image, for reasonably small/common system dependencies.

• Alternatively: send a PR to https://github.com/rstudio/r-system-requirements that resolves the library based on what is in the package DESCRIPTION file under SystemRequirements.

12.3 How to publish vignettes/articles which require custom software/tokens to render?

The best solution is to precompute these vignettes on your local machine, see: How to precompute package vignettes or pkgdown articles.

12.4 Are packages on R-universe required to pass CMD check or meet other criteria?

No.  R-universe is an open publishing system. The system just builds and deploys R packages from git into personal cran-like repositories. The owner of the universe is responsible for their own policies and quality control.