https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs
Search the Maven Central Repository from your command line!
https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs
cli hacktoberfest java maven search
Last synced: 4 days ago
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Search the Maven Central Repository from your command line!
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs
- Owner: mthmulders
- License: mit
- Created: 2021-09-27T19:33:37.000Z (over 4 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-01-16T20:39:13.000Z (5 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-01-17T04:40:56.604Z (4 days ago)
- Topics: cli, hacktoberfest, java, maven, search
- Language: Java
- Homepage: https://maarten.mulders.it/projects/mcs/
- Size: 791 KB
- Stars: 201
- Watchers: 4
- Forks: 26
- Open Issues: 17
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Maven Central Search
[](https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs/actions/workflows/build.yml)
[](https://dashboard.stryker-mutator.io/reports/github.com/mthmulders/mcs/main)
[](https://snapcraft.io/maven-central-search)
[](https://jitpack.io/#mthmulders/mcs)
> Use [Maven Central Repository Search](https://search.maven.org/) from your command line!
Use `mcs` to quickly lookup dependency coordinates in Maven Central, without having to switch to your browser.
## Usage
This tool supports the following modes of searching:
1. **Wildcard search**
```console
mcs search plexus-utils
```
This will give you all artifacts in Maven Central that have "plexus-utils" in their name.
The output is in a tabular form, showing the exact coordinate of each artifact and the moment when its latest version was deployed.
2. **Coordinate search**
```console
mcs search org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-utils
mcs search org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-utils:3.4.1
```
If there are multiple hits, you will get the same table output as above.
But if there's only one hit, this will give you by default a pom.xml snippet for the artifact you searched for.
Ready for copy & paste in your favourite IDE!
If you require snippet in different format, use `-f ` or `--format=`.
Supported types are: `maven`, `gradle`, `gradle-short`, `gradle-kotlin`, `sbt`, `ivy`, `grape`, `leiningen`, `buildr`, `jbang`, `gav`.
3. **Class-name search**
```console
mcs class-search CommandLine
mcs class-search -f picocli.CommandLine
```
This will give you all artifacts in Maven Central that contain a particular class.
If you set the `-f` flag, the search term is considered a "fully classified" class name, so including the package name.
## Flags
* All modes recognise the `-l ` switch, which lets you specify how many results you want to see _at most_.
* In **Wildcard sarch** and **Coordinate search**, you can pass along the `-s` (or `--show-vulnerabilities`) flag.
It will cause MCS to show a summary of reported security vulnerabilities against each result.
If there is only one search result, it will display the CVE numbers reported against that result.
**Note** that this feature will probably soon hit the API limits for the Sonatype OSS Index.
See [their documentation](https://ossindex.sonatype.org) for details on how this may impact your usage.
You can specify your credentials using the system properties `ossindex.username` and `ossindex.password`.
See under "Configuring MCS" on how to do this in the most convenient way.
## Installation
You can install mcs using the package manager of your choice:
| Package manager | Platform | Installation | Remarks |
|-----------------|----------|-------------------------------------|---------|
| **Homebrew** | 🍎 🐧 | `brew install mthmulders/tap/mcs` | ⚠️ 1,2 |
| **Snap** | 🐧 | `snap install maven-central-search` | ⚠️ 1 |
| **SDKMAN!** | 🍎 🐧 | `sdk install mcs` | ⚠️ 1,2 |
| **Chocolatey** | 🪟 | `choco install mcs` | |
| **Scoop** | 🪟 | `scoop install mthmulders/mcs` | |
| **JBang** | 🪟 🍎 🐧 | `jbang mcs@mthmulders` | ⚠️ 3 |
1. The Linux binary only works on an x86_64 CPU.
2. There are Apple binaries for both x86_64 and Apple Silicon, so you don't need Rosetta.
3. You can try snapshots by running `jbang mcs-snapshot@mthmulders`.
### Usage with custom trust store
In certain situations, such as when you work behind a TLS-intercepting (corporate) firewall, MCS may fail with
> PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
In layman's speak: the default, built-in trust store (the set of trusted X.509 certificates) does not contain anything that allows to trust the certificate(s) presented by the server.
Maven Central uses a certificate that would've been trusted, but the culprit here is the TLS-intercepting (corporate) firewall that presents an internal certificate.
The solution is to create a trust store that has the "highest" certificate in the certificate chain, e.g. that of the (internal) certificate authority.
You can use a tool like [Portecle](https://portecle.sourceforge.net/) to create such a trust store.
Next, point MCS to that trust store like so
```
mcs -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=/path/to/keystore search something
```
### Usage Behind a Proxy
If you are running behind a proxy, MCS will respect the `HTTP_PROXY` and `HTTPS_PROXY` environment variables.
## Configuring MCS
Some configuration for MCS is passed through system properties.
You can do this every time you invoke MCS by adding `-Dxxx=yyy`.
To make it more conveniently, you can create a configuration file that will automatically be read by MCS and interpreted as configuration settings.
To do so, create a directory **.mcs** in your user directory (typically **C:\Users\** on 🪟, **/home/** on 🐧 or **/Users/** on 🍎).
Inside that folder, create a file **mcs.config** and write the following line in it:
```
javax.net.ssl.trustStore=/path/to/keystore
ossindex.username=xxx
ossindex.password=yyy
```
This way, you don't have to remember passing the `-D`.
## Contributing
Probably the easiest way to get a working development environment is to use Gitpod:
[](https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs)
It will configure a workspace in your browser and show that everything works as expected by running `mvn verify`.
This setup does not touch your computer - as soon as you close your browser tab, it's gone.
Checkout the [issues](https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs/issues) if you're looking for something to work on.
If you have a new idea, feel free to bring it up using the [discussions](https://github.com/mthmulders/mcs/discussions).
## Acknowledgements
MCS would not have been possible without the contributions of wonderful people around the globe.
The full list is in [CONTRIBUTORS.md](./CONTRIBUTORS.md).