# r-lib/devtools

Tools to make an R developer's life easier

Repository: https://github.com/r-lib/devtools
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/r-lib-devtools
Homepage: https://devtools.r-lib.org
Language: R
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: r, package-creation
Last push: 2026-08-18T23:59:36+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 88/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 69, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5966, "days_push": 15, "days_rel": 125, "gap_med": 31, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2517, forks 760 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:57.718093+00:00)

## What it is
devtools is an R package that streamlines R package development with functions for loading, documenting, testing, building, and installing packages. It wraps common development workflows (like load_all(), document(), test(), and install()) so developers can iterate quickly without leaving the R console.

## Use cases
- develop and iterate on an R package without reinstalling it repeatedly
- run testthat tests and check test coverage for an R package
- generate roxygen2 documentation and update NAMESPACE for a package
- build and install a local R package from source
- install R packages from GitHub, GitLab, or a specific CRAN version
- create a new R package skeleton and manage its development workflow

## When to choose
- you are actively developing an R package and want fast load/test/document cycles
- you want a single entry point to the r-lib package development toolchain (pkgload, roxygen2, testthat, covr)
- you follow the R Packages book workflow and want tooling that matches it

## When to avoid
- you only need to install packages from remote sources - use pak instead, since devtools install_* functions are deprecated
- you are not working on R packages and just use R for data analysis
- you need a CI-only solution - the underlying tools (rcmdcheck, covr) may be more appropriate

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: developer-tools, testing, build-tool, package-manager, documentation
- domain: developer-tools, programming-languages, version-control
- platform: cross-platform, cli
- tags: r-package-development, r-language, load-all, testthat, usethis, roxygen2, cran, r

## Member repositories
- r-lib/devtools (main) score 88

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:57.718093+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:26:08.851518+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/r-lib/devtools (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:57.718093+00:00, sha c5079be7a9df)
  - homepage: https://devtools.r-lib.org (fetched 2026-08-29T10:08:21.852355+00:00, sha 83ca501d7ab1)
  - site_page: https://devtools.r-lib.org/reference/install-deprecated.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:08:21.861704+00:00, sha c57aed176d69)
  - site_page: https://devtools.r-lib.org/reference/install.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:08:21.859975+00:00, sha 626d1cfb8e29)
  - site_page: https://devtools.r-lib.org/news/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:08:21.855328+00:00, sha afb835bf49e4)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.