DelphiBlocks

Early preview — work in progress.

A command-line package manager for Delphi / RAD Studio. DelphiBlocks automates downloading, compiling, and registering third-party Delphi packages sourced from a GitHub-hosted registry.

How it works

1. Reads a JSON manifest from the blocks-repository.
2. Downloads the package source as a ZIP from GitHub.
3. Compiles it with MSBuild against the selected Delphi version.
4. Registers the library paths in the Delphi registry and records the installation in a local database (.blocks/).
5. Supports multiple Delphi IDE profiles via the registrykey workspace setting. Delphi allows launching with an alternative registry profile using the -r flag (e.g. bds.exe -r MyProfile).
6. Supports custom package repositories. In addition to the default registry, you can add your own GitHub-hosted repositories as package sources.

Requirements

• Windows
• Delphi / RAD Studio XE6 or later (BDS 14.0 – 37.0)
• MSBuild (bundled with RAD Studio)

Usage

Commands:
  install <source>       Install a package from a file path, URL, or registry ID.
  uninstall <source>     Remove a package from the workspace and database.
  init                   Initialise the workspace and download the package repository.
  list                   List packages installed in the current workspace.
  listproducts           List detected Delphi installations.
  config                 Read or write workspace or system configuration values.
  view <id@version>      Show details of a package from the repository.
  version                Print the version of the blocks executable.
  upgrade                Check for a newer release and download the setup if available.
  help [command]         Show this message, or detailed help for a specific command.

Quick start

REM Install DelphiBlocks
winget install DelphiBlocks.Blocks

REM Initialise the workspace in the current directory (prompts for Delphi version)
blocks init

REM Install a package
blocks install owner.package

REM Install a specific version
blocks install owner.package@1.2.0

REM Uninstall
blocks uninstall owner.package

REM List installed packages
blocks list

REM View package info
blocks view owner.package@1.2.0
blocks view owner.package /versions

REM Manage repository sources
blocks config sources
blocks config /add sources=https://github.com/owner/my-repo

Version constraints

Append @<constraint> to a package ID to pin or restrict the version:

Syntax	Meaning
@1.2.0	Exact version
@^1.2.0	Same major (>=1.2.0 <2.0.0)
@~1.2.0	Same minor (>=1.2.0 <1.3.0)
@>=1.0.0	At least 1.0.0
@>=1.0.0 <2.0.0	Explicit range

Note: In cmd.exe the ^ character must be escaped as ^^ (e.g. owner.package@^^1.2.0). In PowerShell no escaping is needed.

Output layout

When blocks install compiles a package it overrides the MSBuild output paths so that artefacts live under predictable locations.

Artefact	Output path
BPL files	.blocks\bpl\ (release) and .blocks\bpl\debug\ (debug)
DCP files	.blocks\dcp\ (release) and .blocks\dcp\debug\ (debug)
DCU files	<project>\lib\<Platform>\ (release) and <project>\lib\<Platform>\debug\ (debug)

The fixed BPL/DCP location makes installations under different IDE registry profiles (created with bds.exe -r <key>) safe: each workspace gets its own .blocks\ tree, so artefacts from different profiles never collide.

DCU output can be left to the package's own .dproj by setting packageOptions.keepProjectDcuPaths to true in the manifest. This should not be used unless preserving the DCU layout declared by the .dproj is strictly necessary.

Both debug and release configurations are compiled for every package. After the build, Blocks registers the DCU search paths under HKCU\Software\Embarcadero\<profile>\<BdsVersion>\Library\<Platform> together with the manifest's sourcePath.

Package manifest

Each package in the repository is described by a JSON manifest file (<vendor>.<name>.manifest.json). Below is an annotated example.

{
  "$schema": "https://delphi-blocks.dev/schema/package.v1.json",
  "id": "delphi-blocks.wirl",       // vendor.name identifier
  "name": "WiRL",                    // human-readable name
  "version": "4.6.0",
  "description": "RESTful Library for Delphi",
  "license": "Apache-2.0",
  "homepage": "https://wirl.delphi-blocks.dev",
  "author": "Paolo Rossi, Luca Minuti <info@lucaminuti.it>",
  "keywords": ["rest", "http", "api"],

  "repository": {
    "type": "github",
    "url": "https://github.com/delphi-blocks/WiRL/tree/v4.6.0"
  },

  // "sourcePath" entries are registered in the Delphi library "Browsing Path".
  // DCU output locations come from the .dproj itself; Blocks does not override them.
  "platforms": {
    "Win32": {
      "sourcePath":     ["Source\\Core", "Source\\Client"],
      "releaseDCUPath": ["lib\\Win32\\release"],
      "debugDCUPath":   ["lib\\Win32\\debug"]
    }
  },

  // Each entry maps to a .dproj file under packages\<folder>\
  "packages": [
    { "name": "WiRL",       "type": ["runtime"] },
    { "name": "WiRLDesign", "type": ["designtime"] }
  ],

  // Maps Delphi version names to the subfolder under packages\ that contains
  // the .dproj files for that version. A trailing + means "this version or newer".
  "packageOptions": {
    "folders": {
      "delphi11":  "11.0Alexandria",
      "delphi12+": "12.0Athens"
    }
  },

  // version constraints follow semver syntax (@^x.y.z, @>=x.y.z, etc.)
  "dependencies": {
    "paolo-rossi.delphi-neon": "^3.1.0"
  }
}

Field	Description
id	Unique package identifier in vendor.name form.
repository.url	GitHub tree URL pinned to a tag or commit; Blocks downloads the ZIP from this ref.
platforms	Per-platform source and DCU paths added to the Delphi library registry.
packages	List of .dproj files to compile; type can be runtime, designtime, or both.
packageOptions.folders	Maps Delphi version keys to the subfolder under packages\ containing the .dproj files. A + suffix means "this version or newer".
packageOptions.keepProjectDcuPaths	Optional; defaults to false. When true, DCU output paths are taken from the .dproj instead of Blocks' default <project>\lib\<Platform>\. Should not be used unless preserving the DCU layout declared by the .dproj is strictly necessary.
dependencies	Other packages that must be installed first, with their version constraints.

Application manifest

The executable embeds Source\blocks.manifest, which declares:

• Execution level — asInvoker (no UAC elevation required).
• Supported OS — Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Building from source

All source files are under Source/. The project has no external dependencies: open Source\Blocks.dproj in Delphi / RAD Studio and compile. The compiled executable (Blocks.exe) is placed in the project root.

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.