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usethis

INFRA · APIS
Velocity0.0

Automates repetitive setup tasks in R package and project development

github.com/r-lib/usethis ↗

usethis swaps in the Air formatter and stops assuming RStudio is the editor

developer-toolingquartopositronformattingdeprecation
◆Current state
usethis is the tidyverse's project-scaffolding tool and, unlike much of the r-lib cohort, is still actively developed. Recent work moves it off its own assumptions: the cli package replaced its homegrown UI layer in 3.0.0, and 3.2.0 replaced tidy-style formatting with Air while widening what counts as a project root.
◆Where it's heading
The direction is de-RStudio-ing. Project detection now recognizes a VS Code settings file, a Quarto config, or an renv lockfile; use_course() opens folders in Positron as readily as RStudio; Quarto is a first-class vignette and project format. usethis is being rebuilt around the editor and format plurality that has grown up around R, and the pre-3.0 RStudio-and-styler era is being deprecated out.
◆Prediction
Expect Quarto and Positron support to keep filling in - create_quarto_project() is still flagged experimental - and further deprecation of the RStudio-specific and styler-era helpers.

◆Recent moves

  1. 11mo ago

    create_quarto_project() exits early without the Quarto CLI

    A guard on the experimental Quarto helper so it fails early when the Quarto CLI is absent, with the related tests skipped to match. Follow-up cleanup on the feature 3.2.0 introduced.

    View source ↗
  2. 11mo ago

    use_air() adopts the Air formatter; project detection widens

    ⚡ SPARK

    The clearest statement yet of the de-RStudio direction: formatting moves to Air with use_tidy_style() deprecated, and a project can now be recognized by a VS Code settings file, a Quarto config, or an renv lockfile. Both changes assume a world where R work happens outside RStudio.

    View source ↗
  3. 1y ago

    use_vignette() and use_article() support Quarto

    Quarto reaches the vignette scaffolding: use_vignette() and use_article() accept a qmd extension, though Rmd stays the default for now. An early step in the format-plurality thread that 3.2.0 later extends to project detection itself.

    View source ↗
  4. 2y ago

    UI moves to cli; Travis and AppVeyor helpers removed

    A large cleanup rather than a new direction: the homegrown ui_*() functions are superseded by cli, and functions deprecated back in 2020 - the Travis and AppVeyor helpers, the git2r-era credential functions - are finally removed. It clears the ground the 3.x work builds on.

    View source ↗
  5. 2y ago

    CRAN-requested documentation fixes

    A patch release containing only the documentation changes CRAN asked for. Nothing user-facing, and typical of the compliance releases that punctuate this cohort.

    View source ↗
  6. 3y ago

    Version comparisons always pass character input

    An internal change to how version comparisons are constructed, made at CRAN's request ahead of a possible change in R itself. No effect on how the package is used.

    View source ↗