Shelly 3.0 GUI Package Manager for Arch Linux Released as a Major Update

Shelly 3.0 has officially landed as a major update for the popular free and open-source Pacman alternative. This release completely revamps both the GUI and CLI experiences while introducing a massive under-the-hood engine overhaul.

Modernized Codebase Built with Zig

The primary highlight of Shelly 3.0 is a complete codebase rewrite. The team shifted from C#/.NET to Zig across the core package manager, CLI, GUI, and keyring helper.

"The rewrite gives Shelly a much cleaner base to build on, removes the managed .NET runtime from the main application, and makes the connection between Shelly and native Arch Linux libraries far simpler," said developer Zoey Erin Bauer.

This architectural transition delivers significant technical benefits:

• Fast, ahead-of-time compiled native executables.
• Predictable memory usage and resource lifetimes.
• Stronger compile-time safety at the C library boundary.
• Size-optimized CLI tools alongside release-safe GUI builds.
• A single, unified native build workflow—even for the optional Flatpak backend.

Rebuilt GTK4 GUI and Command-Line Power

The GTK4-based graphical interface features an upgraded first-run welcome screen, autosaving settings, and flexible list or grid browsing layouts. Additional GUI improvements include refined Flatpak integration, safer AppImage installation routines, and richer AUR details.

The CLI ecosystem was also rebuilt from the ground up. Power users gain native package backup export and import, automatically generated Bash completions, clear transaction previews, and expanded subcommands for keyring management, package marking, and version downgrades.

Better Network Behavior and Optional Flatpak Support

Shelly 3.0 makes Flatpak integration fully optional while sharpening its core package management functions. The app now executes parallel repository database synchronization, handles ignored package groups more reliably, and tightens network performance using Happy Eyeballs-style behavior.

How to Get Shelly 3.0

The familiar shelly and shelly-ui terminal commands remain identical, keeping your established terminal workflows intact. You can download the latest standalone binaries or source tarballs directly from the official project GitHub page. If you are running CachyOS, simply update your system or install it via the terminal.