Packageinpackage

Packageinpackage is a packaging pattern in software distribution in which a single artifact contains one or more subpackages or components, effectively nesting packages within a top-level package. The goal is to deliver a complete, self-contained unit that can be installed without pulling in separate dependencies from external repositories.

In practice, a packageinpackage artifact includes a manifest that lists the inner packages, along with scripts or tooling to extract and install each component into its designated location. This approach is used to simplify deployment in restricted environments, offline installations, or where dependency resolution must be tightly controlled.

Implementation typically involves bundling strategies such as vendorizing dependencies, creating a multi-package bundle, or packaging components as a nested archive. It must balance reproducibility, license compliance, and compatibility with existing package managers, build systems, and filesystem layouts. Versioning schemes may apply at both the outer and inner package levels.

Advantages include reduced external fetches, consistent deployments, and easier rollback of a bundle. Drawbacks include increased artifact size, potential duplication of dependencies, complex updates, and greater risk of license obligations becoming tangled among bundled components.

Packageinpackage shares concepts with related patterns such as vendored dependencies, fat or shaded packages, and bundle packaging. It also echoes ideas from monorepos and container images, where a single artifact carries multiple components for simplicity of distribution.

See also: vendoring, bundle packaging, fat binary, monorepo, container image.