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name: matlab-use-package-manager description: > Manage MATLAB packages with the in-product MATLAB Package Manager (mpm) on MATLAB R2026b or later: install, uninstall, update, search, or inspect packages; declare package dependencies in a matlab.toml project; install a shareable .mltbx package; or manage repositories. Covers dependency-resolution errors and anything involving mpminstall / mpmuninstall / mpmupdate / mpmlist / mpmsearch / mpmAddRepository / matlab.mpm.*. MATLAB packages are distinct from MathWorks products, toolboxes, and support packages: a bare "what packages are installed?" means MPM packages (mpmlist / matlab.mpm.Package) — this skill — unless the user explicitly says products, toolboxes, or support packages. NOT for installing MATLAB, Simulink, or toolboxes from a shell via the standalone mpm executable (the OS-level product installer), nor for listing installed products / toolboxes (ver, installedAddons) — use matlab-install-products for those. license: https://www.mathworks.com/content/dam/mathworks/license/pmrl/license.md metadata: author: MathWorks version: "1.0"

Use the MATLAB Package Manager (mpm)

Manage MATLAB packages from inside a running MATLAB session with the in-product MATLAB Package Manager — the mpm* command family and the matlab.mpm.* classes. Targets MATLAB R2026b or later (declared in manifest.yaml) and encodes the non-obvious behavior that trips up agents: the interactive-prompt trap, project provisioning, destructive flags, and safe package-property inspection.

Run all code through the MATLAB MCP tools. For project structure, matlab.toml schema, and reference projects, use the matlab-configure-toml-project skill.

This is in-product mpm — mpm* commands run inside a MATLAB session. The identically-named OS-level mpm shell executable that installs MATLAB, Simulink, and toolboxes is a different tool (→ matlab-install-products).

When to Use

• Install, uninstall, update, search, or list any MATLAB package
• Ask "what packages are installed?", "what does X depend on?", "where does X live?", or "what versions exist?"
• Resolve a known package name or check the installation status of a package declared in a matlab.toml project
• Install a shareable .mltbx package
• Add, remove, or list a repository, or diagnose "Unable to locate dependency" errors

When NOT to Use

• Installing MATLAB, Simulink, or toolboxes from a shell (mpm install --products …) — use matlab-install-products. Same acronym, different binary.
• The full .mltbx authoring pipeline (define API → analyze deps → project → document → build → publish) — use matlab-package-toolbox.
• Editing project configuration or using reference projects — use matlab-configure-toml-project. A { path, absolute } dependency makes another project's source available; it does not install a package.
• Code-file / product dependency analysis via requiredFilesAndProducts — a different concern from declared package dependencies.
• MATLAB namespaces (+folder) with no mpm involvement, or licensed toolboxes (use ver).
• MATLAB older than R2026b — the in-product mpm* workflow isn't the intended path; suggest the Add-On Manager GUI.

Critical Rules

These apply to EVERY workflow below; violating any one causes a failure.

1. Always pass Prompt=false to mpminstall, mpmuninstall, mpmupdate, and openProject. The interactive confirmation can't be answered in a non-interactive session (MCP / -batch) and hangs — surfacing as a misleading "Array indices must be positive integers" error, not a question.
2. Only mpmsearch(Name=…) is case-sensitive. Everything else (mpminstall/mpmuninstall/mpmupdate, mpmsearch(PackageSpecifier=…)) matches names case-insensitively.
3. Use mpmsearch only to search indexed repositories. File Exchange and custom/service-backed (Artifactory/MPRS) repos are not indexed, so an empty result never means "not found". Discover a File Exchange submission by keyword through the MathWorks search endpoint and install its package_name (Recipe C); enumerate a custom/service-backed repo through its REST API (Recipe C) or try package names with mpminstall(..., DryRun=true, Prompt=false).
4. Use mpminstall(..., DryRun=true, Prompt=false) to resolve package names. It searches every configured repository and reports the selected repository without installing anything. Prefer this command over mpmsearch to confirm a package name or version.
5. Use projects and matlab.toml for reproducibility. A -batch install does not persist because of MATLAB settings, and a long-lived MCP session can cache its registry at startup. In R2026b, opening a TOML project with Prompt=false additively installs missing declared packages, so declare the project environment instead of relying on an earlier session's install.
6. Package files and the MATLAB path are separate. Packages typically live under %APPDATA%\MathWorks\MATLAB Add-Ons\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/MathWorks/MATLAB Add-Ons/ on macOS, and ~/MATLAB Add-Ons/ on Linux. Installing makes their folders available on the MATLAB path. mpmuninstall removes that package exposure but leaves files on disk unless Delete=true is supplied. Temporary=true is not ephemeral and has no queryable property.
7. All package installs are global. There is no project-scoped package store. A project's [dependencies] declaration is provisioned when the TOML project opens; use mpmlist to inspect the installed global package.
8. Keep packages separate from reference projects. Use the project package form { version = "…", id = "…" } for packages. Use matlab-configure-toml-project for { path, absolute } reference projects.
9. Force=true is destructive. On install it can remove other installed packages; on uninstall it cascades to dependents. Confirm with the user and say what will be removed first.

Router

| The user wants to… | Recipe | |--------------------|--------| | Install / acquire a package to use it | A. Consume a package | | Know what's installed / what a package is / what it depends on | B. Inspect package info | | Search indexed repositories / find a File Exchange submission / enumerate a custom repo / list every available version | C. Search & enumerate versions | | Build a shareable MATLAB package (.mltbx) | D. MATLAB package authoring | | Declare / edit / read dependencies in matlab.toml | E. Project (matlab.toml) dependencies | | Upgrade an installed package | F. Update a package | | Fix "Unable to locate dependency" / add a repository | G. Repository setup | | Work on cloned package code | Use a reference project through matlab-configure-toml-project | | Remove packages / reclaim disk | H. Uninstall & cleanup |

Load references/api-and-gotchas.md when a recipe points there or an unexpected error appears.

A. Consume a Package

In a project (recommended for R2026b and later):

Declare the package in the project's matlab.toml, then open the project with Prompt=false. MATLAB additively installs missing declared packages. See E and use matlab-configure-toml-project for the full project schema.

Without a project:

mpminstall("Battery", DryRun=true, Prompt=false)   % probe the name resolves
mpminstall("Battery@1.1.0", Prompt=false)          % install a specific version
mpmlist("Battery")                                  % confirm it landed

InstallDependencies=true is the default (transitive deps come along). Specify as much as reproducibility needs: "Name", "Name@Version", or "Name@Version@id" for an exact match.

B. Inspect Package Info

Answer "what packages / what does X depend on" via mpmlist and matlab.mpm.Package — never matlab.addons.installedAddons, installedToolboxes. Package properties are authoritative. Only the Package object surfaces the source Repository, resolved dependency versions, and the DirectlyInstalled / Installed flags.

pkgs = mpmlist;                 % all installed -> matlab.mpm.Package array
pkg  = mpmlist("Battery");      % filter to one

Read properties directly, for example pkg.Name, pkg.Version, pkg.ID, and pkg.PackageRoot. For dependency values, index pkg.Dependencies and read the needed properties such as .Name, .VersionRange, .ResolvedVersion, and .ID. Displaying is the trap: string(pkg) / fprintf("%s",…) on a Package, or on an object-valued property (Provider, Dependencies, Repository, Folders), throws — read the scalar leaf field instead (pkg.Folders(1).Path, not string(pkg.Folders)). Scalar disp(pkg) works; converting a whole object array does not. pkg.MissingDependencies empty ⇒ all resolved. Don't use proj.Dependencies for packages — that's the file-dependency digraph (empty until Dependency Analyzer runs). The property list and display caveats are in references/api-and-gotchas.md.

C. Search & Enumerate Versions

In MATLAB (mpmsearch)

mpmsearch has three query forms — pick by what you have:

found = mpmsearch("battery");                                      % 1. free-text KEYWORD search (positional)
found = mpmsearch(Name="Battery", VersionSelectionPolicy="all");   % 2. exact name — every version
found = mpmsearch(PackageSpecifier="Battery@1.1.0");               % 3. a name@version specifier
% loop found(k): .Name, .Version, .Repository.Name (as in Recipe B — don't disp the array)

• Keyword (positional) when you don't know the name; PackageSpecifier= (or Name= + VersionRange=) for a name+version — never a composite Name="Battery@1.1.0" (throws).
• VersionSelectionPolicy="all" is required to list every version (default "highestByRepository" hides older ones). Filter by repo with Repository= (singular — Repositories= errors); other filters: VersionRange=, ID=, Provider=, CompatibleWithRelease=.
• FX and custom/service-backed repos aren't indexed — empty ≠ "not found" (Rule 3). Resolve a known package with mpminstall(..., DryRun=true, Prompt=false) before concluding it is unavailable.

File Exchange keyword discovery (the search endpoint)

mpmsearch never returns File Exchange results. Discover an FX submission by keyword through the MathWorks search endpoint (.../searchresults/results?…&request_handler=select) and read its package_name — that is the identifier mpminstall needs. A submission's page title, the URL's numeric id, and its slug are not installable specifiers, and uuid only disambiguates same-titled submissions. File Exchange is a default repository in R2026b, so once you have the name:

mpminstall("knownPackageName", DryRun=true, Prompt=false)   % confirm it resolves
mpminstall("knownPackageName", Prompt=false)                % or "knownPackageName@1.2.0" for a version

FX versions can't be enumerated programmatically; DryRun reports the version the registry resolves, which can lag the FX web page (the result url is the current source). For the curl, the fl= field list, and the response schema, see references/api-and-gotchas.md § Finding a File Exchange submission.

Custom / service-backed repositories (REST)

A custom or Artifactory-backed (MPRS) repository isn't indexed either, so mpmsearch returns empty with no error — that is by design, not a missing package. Query the service's REST API directly: /v1/packages/by-name/<name>.json for a candidate name, /v1/packages/index.json to enumerate everything, with an Authorization: Bearer header whose token comes from the environment and never a literal. Discovery only — install still goes through mpminstall once the repo is registered (Recipe G). The endpoints, the in-MATLAB webread form, the manifest fields, and the by-name-vs-index rule are in `r