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On the recordRead 15 Oct 202646 facts
GNU ELPA
Plans and prices
GNU ELPA
Free
GNU Emacs packages · GPL-compatible licensing · FSF copyright assignment for significant contributors
Read 15 Oct 2026 · elpa.gnu.org
On the record
- Archive format
- An archive is a web-accessible directory containing single-file Lisp packages or tar files with multiple files.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Build and releases
- The build server regularly synchronizes package repositories and releases a new version when a commit changes the package’s Version header.elpa.gnu.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Build extensibility
- Package specifications support custom documentation files, NEWS files, build targets, shell commands, version maps and branch selection.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Completion integrations
- The cape package provides completion-at-point backends and adapters for Company, Corfu and Emacs's default completion UI.elpa.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Contribution channel
- Prospective contributors are asked to email emacs-devel with a package description, public repository link and preferred GNU or NonGNU archive.elpa.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Contributor requirement
- All significant past and present contributors to GNU ELPA packages must sign the FSF copyright assignment.elpa.gnu.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Copyright assignment
- Significant past and present contributors to GNU ELPA packages must assign copyright to the Free Software Foundation.elpa.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Dependency handling
- Emacs automatically downloads required dependencies when installing a package, stopping if a required dependency is unavailable.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Development archive
- GNU ELPA publishes a separate GNU-devel ELPA archive for development or bleeding-edge package versions.elpa.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Free software criterion
- A package’s core functionality must work on a system using only free software, subject to case-by-case exceptions.elpa.gnu.org · read 4 Oct 2026
- Independent praise: built-in ecosystem
- Emacs Redux highlights that GNU ELPA packages such as cl-lib, eldoc and xref originated with Emacs development and integrate closely with the editor.emacsredux.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Independent praise: official status
- Emacs Redux describes GNU ELPA as the official Emacs package repository and notes that some packages are bundled with Emacs.emacsredux.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Independent security observation
- The Emacs manual says archive packages should be trusted because installing them can run code with the user's permissions, and recommends cryptographic signing to improve security.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Installation command
- Users can browse and install packages from inside Emacs with M-x list-packages.elpa.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Install location
- Installed packages are placed under the package-user-dir directory, which defaults to ~/.emacs.d/elpa/.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- License policy
- Submitted packages must use a GPL-compatible license, with GPLv3 or later preferred.elpa.gnu.org · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: contributor burden
- Emacs Redux reports that copyright paperwork, the ELPA repository workflow and the Emacs bug tracker discourage many outside contributors.emacsredux.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: outages
- Reddit users reported GNU ELPA and related GNU sites being unreachable for hours during a June 2024 incident, with packet loss and 443 errors.reddit.com · read 15 Oct 2026
