# Free dev-ed path…?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Created:** [September 23, 2019, 9:45am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065 "2019-09-23T09:45:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mlhetland](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mlhetland/32/283_2.png) [@mlhetland](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mlhetland)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 9:45am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/1 "2019-09-23T09:45:51Z")

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According to the docs, `free` is the command to undo `develop` – but if a package is developed by supplying a path, `free` balks at that path, as it can’t be parsed as a package; and it won’t accept the package, as it’s not in a registry. So … what to do?-)

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**Author:** ![kristoffer.carlsson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/kristoffer.carlsson/32/22_2.png) [@kristoffer.carlsson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/kristoffer.carlsson)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 9:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/2 "2019-09-23T09:51:17Z")

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> [@mlhetland](#):
>
> `free` balks at that path, as it can’t be parsed as a package; and it won’t accept the package, as it’s not in a registry. So … what to do?-)

I don’t understand what this means. Can you provide your inputs and the output from the package manager?

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**Author:** ![mlhetland](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mlhetland/32/283_2.png) [@mlhetland](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mlhetland)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/3 "2019-09-23T09:55:12Z")

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Well, I’m sure I’m just using it wrong, but …

```nohighlight
(v1.2) pkg> develop /path/to/package
…
(v1.2) pkg> free /path/to/package
ERROR: `/path/to/package` cannot be parsed as a package
(v1.2) pkg> free PackageName
ERROR: cannot free a `dev`ed package that does not exist in a registry

```

I just want it to stop tracking the package 🙂

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**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/4 "2019-09-23T10:08:48Z")

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`free` takes the package name; `free Example` for example.

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**Author:** ![mlhetland](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mlhetland/32/283_2.png) [@mlhetland](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mlhetland)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:09am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/5 "2019-09-23T10:09:49Z")

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Right – but as you can see from the example above, that doesn’t work in this case. Or so it seems to me, at least?

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**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:12am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/6 "2019-09-23T10:12:18Z")

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Ah, sorry, missed the second part. Is `PackageName` in the registry? That is needed in order to free it to a released version. If it is an unregistered package you can’t do that. Maybe you are trying to get back to tracking `master`? Then just re-add it instead of using `free`.

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**Author:** ![mlhetland](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mlhetland/32/283_2.png) [@mlhetland](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mlhetland)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/7 "2019-09-23T10:15:06Z")

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🙂

No, it’s not in the registry. It’s a package I’m working on locally, and I’d like to have Julia stop tracking it. Sure, it doesn’t hurt to have it in there, I guess, but if it can’t be removed, that’ll clutter things up.

So it sounds like things are as I feared. That (1) you can track an unregistered package, but (2) you cannot stop tracking it. Or?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:16am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/8 "2019-09-23T10:16:03Z")

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Oh, you just want to remove it? Then use `rm PackageName`.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mlhetland](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mlhetland/32/283_2.png) [@mlhetland](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mlhetland)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:17am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/9 "2019-09-23T10:17:14Z")

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Aha! I guess I was just confused by `free` being listed as the inverse of `dev` – which I guess it’s not, in this case. Thanks!

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**Author:** ![mzaffalon](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mzaffalon/32/214168_2.png) [@mzaffalon](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mzaffalon)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 1:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/free-dev-ed-path/29065/10 "2022-06-13T13:14:15Z")

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Thank you! I banged my head for a while until I found your comment. I think it is a good idea to warn the unaware user about it: [Suggest user to re-add unregistered package instead of free by mzaffalon · Pull Request #3108 · JuliaLang/Pkg.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/JuliaLang/Pkg.jl/pull/3108)