bug#73932: [PATCH] Add noconfirm to 'package-autoremove'

[Sean Devlin <spd@toadstyle.org>]

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Hello,

> On Oct 21, 2024, at 12:35 PM, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:
> 
>> From: Sean Devlin <spd@toadstyle.org>
>> Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:58:34 -0400
>> 
>> Attached is a patch adding an optional NOCONFIRM argument to package-autoremove to skip user confirmation before removing packages.
>> 
>> I want to call package-autoremove in my init file to ensure there are no packages installed except those I configured explicitly via package-selected-packages.
>> 
>> For example, in one session I might install package XYZ interactively via the package menu to try it out. If I decide I like it, I’ll add it to package-selected-packages in my init file to keep it around. Otherwise, I want to make sure it gets blown away the next time I start Emacs.
>> 
>> This workflow is cumbersome in the current implementation of package-autoremove, which prompts the user before removing any packages. This patch adds an optional NOCONFIRM argument similar to what is implemented in package-install-selected-packages.
>> 
>> Please let me know if any changes are needed.
> 
> Thanks.  I'll let our package.el experts review and comment, but if
> this is accepted, please add a NEWS entry for the new optional
> behavior.

Sounds good. Here is a patch with an attempt at a NEWS entry:


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From a7574170716feb153016685a99f2537a27979627 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sean Devlin <spd@toadstyle.org>
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:28:06 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Add noconfirm to 'package-autoremove'

* lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el (package-autoremove):
Add optional argument NOCONFIRM to skip user confirmation when removing
packages.
* etc/NEWS: Announce the new argument.
---
 etc/NEWS                   |  8 ++++++++
 lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el | 19 ++++++++++++-------
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index cfc5a8e1785..a709a9ee6db 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -587,6 +587,14 @@ When non-nil, MPC will crossfade between songs for the specified number
 of seconds.  Crossfading can be toggled using the command
 'mpc-toggle-crossfade' or from the MPC menu.
 
+** Package
+
+---
+*** New optional argument to 'package-autoremove'.
+An optional argument NOCONFIRM has been added to 'package-autoremove'.
+If it is non-nil, 'package-autoremove' will not prompt the user for
+confirmation before removing packages.
+
 \f
 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 31.1
 
diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el
index 90d6150ed0b..6c23dcd68ff 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/package.el
@@ -2616,26 +2616,31 @@ are invalid due to changed byte-code, macros or the like."
       (package-recompile pkg-desc))))
 
 ;;;###autoload
-(defun package-autoremove ()
+(defun package-autoremove (&optional noconfirm)
   "Remove packages that are no longer needed.
 
 Packages that are no more needed by other packages in
 `package-selected-packages' and their dependencies
-will be deleted."
+will be deleted.
+
+If optional argument NOCONFIRM is non-nil, don't ask for
+confirmation to install packages."
   (interactive)
   ;; If `package-selected-packages' is nil, it would make no sense to
   ;; try to populate it here, because then `package-autoremove' will
   ;; do absolutely nothing.
-  (when (or package-selected-packages
+  (when (or noconfirm
+            package-selected-packages
             (yes-or-no-p
              (format-message
               "`package-selected-packages' is empty! Really remove ALL packages? ")))
     (let ((removable (package--removable-packages)))
       (if removable
-          (when (y-or-n-p
-                 (format "Packages to delete: %d (%s), proceed? "
-                   (length removable)
-                   (mapconcat #'symbol-name removable " ")))
+          (when (or noconfirm
+                    (y-or-n-p
+                     (format "Packages to delete: %d (%s), proceed? "
+                             (length removable)
+                             (mapconcat #'symbol-name removable " "))))
             (mapc (lambda (p)
                     (package-delete (cadr (assq p package-alist)) t))
                   removable))
-- 
2.39.5 (Apple Git-154)


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Please let me know if any changes are needed.

> 
> Also, would it make sense to turn NOCONFIRM on if the command is
> invoked with a prefix argument?

Sure, that might make sense. If we do that, should we do the same in package-install-selected-packages? It uses its NOCONFIRM argument in a similar way.