Matlab Use Package Manager

Use the MATLAB Package Manager (mpm)

Manage MATLAB packages from inside a running MATLAB session with the in-product MATLAB Package Manager — the mpm* command family and the matlab.mpm.* classes. Targets MATLAB R2026b or later (declared in manifest.yaml) and encodes the non-obvious behavior that trips up agents: the interactive-prompt trap, project provisioning, destructive flags, and safe package-property inspection.

Run all code through the MATLAB MCP tools. For project structure, matlab.toml schema, and reference projects, use the matlab-configure-toml-project skill.

This is in-product mpm — mpm* commands run inside a MATLAB session. The identically-named OS-level mpm shell executable that installs MATLAB, Simulink, and toolboxes is a different tool (→ matlab-install-products).

When to Use

• Install, uninstall, update, search, or list any MATLAB package
• Ask "what packages are installed?", "what does X depend on?", "where does X live?", or "what versions exist?"
• Resolve a known package name or check the installation status of a package declared in a matlab.toml project
• Install a shareable .mltbx package
• Add, remove, or list a repository, or diagnose "Unable to locate dependency" errors

When NOT to Use

• Installing MATLAB, Simulink, or toolboxes from a shell (mpm install --products …) — use matlab-install-products. Same acronym, different binary.
• The full .mltbx authoring pipeline (define API → analyze deps → project → document → build → publish) — use matlab-package-toolbox.
• Editing project configuration or using reference projects — use matlab-configure-toml-project. A { path, absolute } dependency makes another project's source available; it does not install a package.
• Code-file / product dependency analysis via requiredFilesAndProducts — a different concern from declared package dependencies.
• MATLAB namespaces (+folder) with no mpm involvement, or licensed toolboxes (use ver).
• MATLAB older than R2026b — the in-product mpm* workflow isn't the intended path; suggest the Add-On Manager GUI.

Critical Rules

These apply to EVERY workflow below; violating any one causes a failure.

1. Always pass Prompt=false to mpminstall, mpmuninstall, mpmupdate, and openProject. The interactive confirmation can't be answered in a non-interactive session (MCP / -batch) and hangs — surfacing as a misleading "Array indices must be positive integers" error, not a question.
2. Only mpmsearch(Name=…) is case-sensitive. Everything else (mpminstall/mpmuninstall/mpmupdate, mpmsearch(PackageSpecifier=…)) matches names case-insensitively.
3. Use mpmsearch only to search indexed repositories. File Exchange and custom/service-backed (Artifactory/MPRS) repos are not indexed, so an empty result never means "not found". Discover a File Exchange submission by keyword through the MathWorks search endpoint and install its package_name (Recipe C); enumerate a custom/service-backed repo through its REST API (Recipe C) or try package names with mpminstall(..., DryRun=true, Prompt=false).
4. Use mpminstall(..., DryRun=true, Prompt=false) to resolve package names. It searches every configured repository and reports the selected repository without installing anything. Prefer this command over mpmsearch to confirm a package name or version.
5. Use projects and matlab.toml for reproducibility. A -batch install does not persist because of MATLAB settings, and a long-lived MCP session can cache its registry at startup. In R2026b, opening a TOML project with Prompt=false additively installs missing declared packages, so declare the project environment instead of relying on an earlier session's install.
6. Package files and the MATLAB path are separate. Packages typically live under %APPDATA%\MathWorks\MATLAB Add-Ons\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/MathWorks/MATLAB Add-Ons/ on macOS, and ~/MATLAB Add-Ons/ on Linux. Installing makes their folders available on the MATLAB path. mpmuninstall removes that package exposure but leaves files on disk unless Delete=true is supplied. Temporary=true is not ephemeral and has no queryable property.
7. All package installs are global. There is no project-scoped package store. A project's [dependencies] declaration is provisioned when the TOML project opens; use mpmlist to inspect the installed global package.
8. Keep packages separate from reference projects. Use the project package form { version = "…", id = "…" } for packages. Use matlab-configure-toml-project for { path, absolute } reference projects.
9. Force=true is destructive. On install it can remove other installed packages; on uninstall it cascades to dependents. Confirm with the user and say what will be removed first.

Router

Load references/api-and-gotchas.md when a recipe points there or an unexpected error appears.

A. Consume a Package

In a project (recommended for R2026b and later):

Declare the package in the project's matlab.toml, then open the project with Prompt=false. MATLAB additively installs missing declared packages. See E and use matlab-configure-toml-project for the full project schema.

Without a project:

matlabCopy code
mpminstall("Battery", DryRun=true, Prompt=false)   % probe the name resolves
mpminstall("Battery@1.1.0", Prompt=false)          % install a specific version
mpmlist("Battery")                                  % confirm it landed

InstallDependencies=true is the default (transitive deps come along). Specify as much as reproducibility needs: "Name", "Name@Version", or "Name@Version@id" for an exact match.

B. Inspect Package Info

Answer "what packages / what does X depend on" via mpmlist and matlab.mpm.Package — never matlab.addons.installedAddons, installedToolboxes. Package properties are authoritative. Only the Package object surfaces the source Repository, resolved dependency versions, and the DirectlyInstalled / Installed flags.

matlabCopy code
pkgs = mpmlist;                 % all installed -> matlab.mpm.Package array
pkg  = mpmlist("Battery");      % filter to one

Read properties directly, for example pkg.Name, pkg.Version, pkg.ID, and pkg.PackageRoot. For dependency values, index pkg.Dependencies and read the needed properties such as .Name, .VersionRange, .ResolvedVersion, and .ID. Displaying is the trap: string(pkg) / fprintf("%s",…) on a Package, or on an object-valued property (Provider, Dependencies, Repository, Folders), throws — read the scalar leaf field instead (pkg.Folders(1).Path, not string(pkg.Folders)). Scalar disp(pkg) works; converting a whole object array does not. pkg.MissingDependencies empty ⇒ all resolved. Don't use proj.Dependencies for packages — that's the file-dependency digraph (empty until Dependency Analyzer runs). The property list and display caveats are in references/api-and-gotchas.md.

C. Search & Enumerate Versions

In MATLAB (mpmsearch)

mpmsearch has three query forms — pick by what you have:

matlabCopy code
found = mpmsearch("battery");                                      % 1. free-text KEYWORD search (positional)
found = mpmsearch(Name="Battery", VersionSelectionPolicy="all");   % 2. exact name — every version
found = mpmsearch(PackageSpecifier="Battery@1.1.0");               % 3. a name@version specifier
% loop found(k): .Name, .Version, .Repository.Name (as in Recipe B — don't disp the array)

• Keyword (positional) when you don't know the name; PackageSpecifier= (or Name= + VersionRange=) for a name+version — never a composite Name="Battery@1.1.0" (throws).
• VersionSelectionPolicy="all" is required to list every version (default "highestByRepository" hides older ones). Filter by repo with Repository= (singular — Repositories= errors); other filters: VersionRange=, ID=, Provider=, CompatibleWithRelease=.
• FX and custom/service-backed repos aren't indexed — empty ≠ "not found" (Rule 3). Resolve a known package with mpminstall(..., DryRun=true, Prompt=false) before concluding it is unavailable.

File Exchange keyword discovery (the search endpoint)

mpmsearch never returns File Exchange results. Discover an FX submission by keyword through the MathWorks search endpoint (.../searchresults/results?…&request_handler=select) and read its package_name — that is the identifier mpminstall needs. A submission's page title, the URL's numeric id, and its slug are not installable specifiers, and uuid only disambiguates same-titled submissions. File Exchange is a default repository in R2026b, so once you have the name:

matlabCopy code
mpminstall("knownPackageName", DryRun=true, Prompt=false)   % confirm it resolves
mpminstall("knownPackageName", Prompt=false)                % or "knownPackageName@1.2.0" for a version

FX versions can't be enumerated programmatically; DryRun reports the version the registry resolves, which can lag the FX web page (the result url is the current source). For the curl, the fl= field list, and the response schema, see references/api-and-gotchas.md § Finding a File Exchange submission.

Custom / service-backed repositories (REST)

A custom or Artifactory-backed (MPRS) repository isn't indexed either, so mpmsearch returns empty with no error — that is by design, not a missing package. Query the service's REST API directly: /v1/packages/by-name/<name>.json for a candidate name, /v1/packages/index.json to enumerate everything, with an Authorization: Bearer header whose token comes from the environment and never a literal. Discovery only — install still goes through mpminstall once the repo is registered (Recipe G). The endpoints, the in-MATLAB webread form, the manifest fields, and the by-name-vs-index rule are in references/api-and-gotchas.md § Searching a custom repository.

D. MATLAB Package Authoring

Build shareable MATLAB packages as .mltbx files through matlab-package-toolbox. It owns the authoring pipeline, including package metadata, declared package dependencies, documentation, and build validation.

Use this skill after authoring to install a resulting .mltbx with mpminstall and verify it with mpmlist.

E. Project (matlab.toml) Dependencies

Declare a package dependency, then open the project with Prompt=false so MATLAB additively installs any missing packages.

tomlCopy code
[dependencies]
Battery = { version = ">=1.1.0", id = "c1438758-4eaf-438f-b04f-6a7279735de5" }

Use the inline { version, id } package form. For reference projects ({ path, absolute }) and the full matlab.toml schema, use matlab-configure-toml-project.

matlabCopy code
proj = openProject("/path/to/proj", Prompt=false);   % auto-installs declared deps
reload(proj)                                          % re-resolve after editing matlab.toml
runChecks(proj)                                       % treat any Missing/Unresolved as failure

To read declared package dependencies, parse the [dependencies] section directly, then cross-reference mpmlist for install status — do not open the project just to list them. After editing, proj.ProjectDependencies should show resolved package identity and version. A stale open project silently suppresses auto-install — if another project is already open, openProject is a no-op for provisioning; close(currentProject) first.

F. Update a Package

Update an installed package with mpmupdate:

matlabCopy code
mpmupdate("Edge", DryRun=true, Prompt=false)    % preview first — changes nothing on disk
mpmupdate("Edge", Prompt=false)                 % newest available version
mpmupdate("Edge", "3.2.10", Prompt=false)       % specify exact version (plain string, not ">=")

The version range defaults to "*" (any version newer than installed — no within-major ceiling). Dependency handling is conservative: UpdateDependencies defaults to "necessary", so transitive deps move only when required. Update won't cross package identity — a version with a different ID/provider is a different package sharing the name; swap it deliberately with mpminstall("Edge@3.2.10", AllowVersionReplacement=true, Prompt=false).

G. Repository Setup

matlabCopy code
repos = mpmListRepositories;                               % loop repos to read Name + Location
mpmAddRepository("File Exchange", matlab.mpm.FileExchange) % not configured by default everywhere
mpmAddRepository("myRepo", "/path/to/repo")                % folder repo (UNC on Windows)
mpmRemoveRepository("myRepo")

Custom/authenticated repository (Artifactory, etc.): register it from a repo-config.json via matlab.mpm.RepositoryConfiguration:

matlabCopy code
% Consumer: set the token env var first (ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN), then:
jsonFile = "/path/to/repo-config.json";
cfg = matlab.mpm.RepositoryConfiguration(jsonFile);
mpmAddRepository(cfg)

Each entry in the file's repository_configuration array (schema_version "1.0.0") has name, url (the Package Repository Service base URL — not raw Artifactory), type "custom", and an auth.access_token that is an env-var placeholder "${ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN}", never a literal token (resolved at runtime, or from a setSecret secret) — safe to share. See references/api-and-gotchas.md § repo-config.json schema for the annotated JSON.

Unable to locate dependency '…' almost always means the hosting repository isn't registered — check mpmListRepositories first. mpminstall has no Repository argument (it resolves across all registered repos); scope by repo only on mpmsearch.

H. Uninstall & Cleanup

matlabCopy code
mpmuninstall("Pkg", Prompt=false)                          % remove package from the MATLAB path; leave files on disk
mpmuninstall("Pkg", Prompt=false, Delete=true)             % explicitly remove package files from disk
installed = mpmlist;
mpmuninstall(installed([installed.Name] ~= "mpmUtilities"), Prompt=false, Delete=true)  % filtered batch

mpmuninstall accepts a matlab.mpm.Package array — filter and pass it, do not loop. KeepUnusedDependencies defaults to false (orphaned dependencies are auto-removed); Delete=true is what actually reclaims disk. Never use matlab.addons.uninstall.

Key Functions

All available in the baseline, MATLAB R2026b or later.

Conventions

Beyond the Critical Rules: preview package installation and updates with DryRun=true, then re-check with a fresh mpmlist / runChecks(proj); use VersionSelectionPolicy="all" to list every version; keep Verbosity to "quiet"/"normal"/"detailed". Ask first before adding/removing a repository or installing a package the user did not name (supply-chain risk).

For the complete gotcha list (Repositories= plural, Temporary without cleanup, and more), see references/api-and-gotchas.md.

References

• references/api-and-gotchas.md — exact MPM syntax, package-property display caveats, the File Exchange search endpoint, the custom-repository REST API, and the full package-manager gotcha catalog. Load for a lookup or unexpected error.
• matlab-configure-toml-project skill — for TOML schema, project references, project paths, and conversion between project definition formats.
• matlab-read-documentation skill — for exact mpm* / matlab.mpm.* syntax.

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