pslrm

pslrm (PowerShell Local Resource Manager) is a thin wrapper for Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet.

pslrm saves PSResourceGet resources into a directory in your project. This gives you project-local (directory-based) dependency management. It also keeps the requirements format compatible with PSResourceGet.

What it does

• Installs/updates required resources from PowerShell Gallery into a project-local directory
• Writes a lockfile that records the resolved versions
• Restores the project-local directory to match the lockfile
• Uninstalls resources from the project-local directory

Project files

• psreq.psd1 Requirements file (compatible with PSResourceGet -RequiredResourceFile format)
• psreq.lock.psd1 Lockfile (versions that PSResourceGet saved)

In psreq.psd1, each entry is a hashtable keyed by module name. The following keys are commonly used by PSResourceGet.

• version A version string. It can be a range expression like [0.0.1,1.3.0].
• repository The repository name. pslrm supports PSGallery.
• prerelease Set to $true to allow prerelease versions.

The project root is the directory that contains psreq.psd1.

In psreq.lock.psd1, each entry is a hashtable keyed by module name. pslrm writes the following keys:

• Version The resolved exact version string. PSResourceGet may report prerelease versions as separate Version and Prerelease values, but pslrm folds them into this field. For example, Version = 6.0.0 and Prerelease = alpha5 are stored as 6.0.0-alpha5.
• Repository The repository that provided the resource. pslrm currently writes PSGallery.

Local directory (default)

By default, pslrm saves resources under the project root at ./.pslrm/.

PSResourceGet decides the on-disk layout under ./.pslrm/. pslrm does not impose a directory structure.

Repository support

• Supported repository: PowerShell Gallery (PSGallery). If you set repository in psreq.psd1, it must resolve to PSGallery. Otherwise, pslrm errors.

State model

• psreq.psd1 Desired state for direct dependencies and version constraints.
• psreq.lock.psd1 Resolved state for reproducible installs.
• ./.pslrm/ Materialized local resources for the current project.

pslrm treats these files differently depending on the command.

• Update-PSLResource resolves from requirements and refreshes the lockfile.
• Restore-PSLResource restores from the lockfile.
• Install-PSLResource is the convenience entry point:
  • If psreq.lock.psd1 exists, install uses the lockfile to reproduce the saved versions.
  • If psreq.lock.psd1 does not exist, install resolves from psreq.psd1 and creates the lockfile.

Use restore when you want a lockfile-driven restore. Use update when you want to apply changes from requirements.

Commands

• Install-PSLResource Install project-local resources. If psreq.lock.psd1 exists, it restores the saved versions from the lockfile. If psreq.lock.psd1 does not exist, it resolves from psreq.psd1 and writes a new lockfile. By default, it outputs direct resources. Use -IncludeDependencies to output all saved resources.
• Update-PSLResource Re-resolve project-local resources from psreq.psd1. Rewrite psreq.lock.psd1 and refresh ./.pslrm/. By default, it outputs direct resources. Use -IncludeDependencies to output all saved resources.
• Get-InstalledPSLResource Read psreq.lock.psd1 and list installed resources for the project.
• Uninstall-PSLResource Remove selected resources from the project by name. It updates psreq.psd1 (and may normalize it) and rewrites psreq.lock.psd1. If it removes all resources, it writes an empty lockfile.
• Restore-PSLResource Restore project-local resources to match psreq.lock.psd1. This is the explicit lockfile-driven restore command. If psreq.lock.psd1 is missing, it errors. If ./.pslrm/ exists, it clears the directory before restore.

Command comparison

Command	Primary input	Updates psreq.lock.psd1	Updates ./.pslrm/	Intended use
Install-PSLResource	Lockfile if present, otherwise requirements	Only when lockfile is missing	Yes	Convenience command for local setup
Update-PSLResource	Requirements	Yes	Yes	Re-resolve dependencies after changing requirements
Restore-PSLResource	Lockfile	No	Yes	Explicit reproducible restore, especially for CI
Uninstall-PSLResource	Requirements after removal	Yes	Yes	Remove direct dependencies from the project

Development

pslrm uses psreq.psd1 and psreq.lock.psd1 for its own development tooling. The project-local resources include:

• InvokeBuild for build tasks
• Pester for tests
• PSScriptAnalyzer for linting
• PSKeepAChangelogTools for release notes and release metadata tasks

They are build/release tooling dependencies, not runtime dependencies of the pslrm module.

Notes / limitations

• pslrm does not include its own dependency solver. PSResourceGet resolves dependencies.
• pslrm does not attempt strict transitive dependency management. It records what PSResourceGet saved into the lockfile.
• Invoke-PSLResource runs commands in an isolated runspace. The outermost invocation shares the caller host. This keeps host-aware output alive through the async isolated-runspace forwarding path. Nested Invoke-PSLResource calls use the default nested runspace host. This avoids propagating child hosts across nested isolated invocations.