scoop shim priority manage helper

README.md

By default, in scoop, later installed software will overwrite the shims of previously installed software.

There is no way to change the priority except scoop shim alter or scoop reset.

This is troublesome when you have many packages. So I wrote this script to make it more user friendly.

Just copy and run it in Python. Enjoy!

Known issue:

• If there are spaces in the 'Name', may causing unexpected error

ModifyScoopShims.py

import os
import subprocess


def get_shim_list():
    result = subprocess.run(
        ["pwsh", "-Command", "scoop shim list"],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True,
        encoding="utf-8",
        errors="replace",
    )
    return result.stdout.strip()


def parse_shim_list(output):
    lines = output.strip().split("\n")[3:]  # Skip header lines
    shims = {}
    for line in lines:
        parts = line.split()[:-2]
        if len(parts) < 3:
            continue
        name = parts[0]
        source = parts[1]
        alternatives = parts[2:]
        print(f"{name}\t from {source}\t have alternatives: {", ".join(alternatives)}")
        shims[name] = {"source": source, "alternatives": alternatives}
    return shims


def modify_shim_priority(name, source, alternatives):
    if len(alternatives) > 1 and alternatives[0] == source:
        for alternative in alternatives:
            choice = (
                input(f"Do you want to use '{name}' from '{alternative}'? (Y/n): ")
                .strip()
                .lower()
                or "y"
            )
            if choice in ["y", "yes"]:
                cur_shim_path = os.path.join(
                    os.environ["SCOOP"], "shims", f"{name}.shim"
                )
                bak_shim_path = os.path.join(
                    os.environ["SCOOP"], "shims", f"{name}.shim.{source}"
                )
                new_shim_path = os.path.join(
                    os.environ["SCOOP"], "shims", f"{name}.shim.{alternative}"
                )

                os.rename(cur_shim_path, bak_shim_path)
                os.rename(new_shim_path, cur_shim_path)
                print(f"Modified shim priority for '{name}' to use '{alternative}'.")
                break
        else:
            print("No changes made.")
    else:
        print(f"No modification needed for '{name}'.")


def main():
    print("Scanning for shims, it may take a while...")
    print("-" * 80)
    output = get_shim_list()
    shims = parse_shim_list(output)
    print("-" * 80)
    for name, details in shims.items():
        choice = (
            input(
                f"Do you want to modify shim priority for '{name}'? (Currently using '{details['source']}') (y/N): "
            )
            .strip()
            .lower()
            or "n"
        )
        if choice in ["y", "yes"]:
            modify_shim_priority(name, details["source"], details["alternatives"])


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()