My devtools cheatsheet

Summary

Quick-reference for the {devtools} workflow when developing R packages: load, document, test, check, build, install, and publish a pkgdown site.

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Commands

Task	Command
Load all functions without installing	devtools::load_all()
Generate .Rd docs from roxygen2 comments	devtools::document()
Run tests interactively	devtools::test()
Run R CMD check	devtools::check()
Build the package tarball	devtools::build()
Install the package locally	devtools::install()
Set up a pkgdown site (one-off)	usethis::use_pkgdown()
Build the pkgdown site	pkgdown::build_site()

Typical inner-loop order

1. Edit code or roxygen comments.
2. devtools::document() — regenerate .Rd files and NAMESPACE.
3. devtools::load_all() — pick up changes without reinstalling.
4. devtools::test() — run the test suite.
5. devtools::check() — full R CMD check before committing.

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LINKS

• devtools — https://devtools.r-lib.org/
• pkgdown — https://pkgdown.r-lib.org/
• R Packages (Wickham & Bryan) — https://r-pkgs.org/