Dependency Auto-Detection

Scan your project's dependency files and auto-pin matching docs. Detection runs automatically during project init when you use chub init --from-deps, or you can run it standalone at any time.

Usage

# Show detected dependencies with matching docs
chub detect

# Auto-pin all detected docs
chub detect --pin

Supported files

File	Language
package.json	JavaScript/TypeScript
Cargo.toml	Rust
requirements.txt	Python
pyproject.toml	Python
Pipfile	Python
go.mod	Go
Gemfile	Ruby
pom.xml	Java (Maven)
build.gradle / build.gradle.kts	Java/Kotlin (Gradle)

Example output

Detected 6 dependencies with available docs:

  openai (python)     → openai/chat [pinnable]
  stripe (python)     → stripe/api [pinnable]
  fastapi (python)    → fastapi/app [pinnable]
  ✗ custom-lib        → no match

Pin all? chub detect --pin

How matching works

Detection uses name-based matching against the Chub registry:

1. Exact match — dependency name matches the first segment of an entry ID (e.g. openai matches openai/chat) — confidence 1.0
2. Full ID match — dependency name matches the full entry ID
3. Partial match — substring match (minimum 4 characters to avoid false positives) — confidence 0.5

Detection does not resolve versions — it identifies which docs are available for your dependencies. Use --pin to pin them, then set specific versions with chub pin add ... --version.

Unmatched dependencies

Not every dependency has a matching doc in the registry. This is normal:

Detected 12 dependencies:
  openai (python)     → openai/chat [pinnable]
  stripe (python)     → stripe/api [pinnable]
  fastapi (python)    → fastapi/app [pinnable]
  ✗ python-dotenv     → no match
  ✗ custom-lib        → no match

Unmatched dependencies are skipped silently with --pin. You can author docs for internal libraries and host them on a private registry.

Workspace and monorepo support

Detection scans dependency files at the project root. Specific ecosystem support:

Ecosystem	Workspace support
Cargo	Reads [workspace.dependencies] from root Cargo.toml
npm / pnpm	Reads root package.json only
Python	Reads root requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, Pipfile
Go	Reads root go.mod
Ruby	Reads root Gemfile
Java	Reads root pom.xml, build.gradle, build.gradle.kts

For monorepos with per-package dependency files, run chub detect from each package directory, or consolidate shared dependencies in the root manifest.

Version matching with --match-env

Use chub get --match-env to auto-detect the version of a dependency from your project's dep files and fetch the matching doc version:

# Reads openai version from requirements.txt / pyproject.toml
# and fetches the closest matching doc version
chub get openai/chat --lang python --match-env

This is especially useful when upgrading a library — you get the doc that matches what's actually installed, not what's pinned.

Combining with other features

# Detect and pin in one step
chub detect --pin

# Then check freshness as dependencies are updated
chub check
chub check --fix

# Or install a bundle for deps that detection misses
chub bundle install project-extras

See Snapshots & Freshness for the full freshness and auditing workflow.