Which strategy guarantees reproducible Racket environments without a lockfile?

Question

Goal
Build a repeatable Racket development setup that consistently loads the same package versions across different machines.
Constraints
The current raco pkg tool does not generate a lockfile; it only records exact versions in pkginfo.rktd, and transitive dependencies are not pinned automatically. Manual version specification in info.rkt or using --no-deps is error‑prone, while a shared pkgs/ directory relies on raco setup --link-only, which is not officially documented as a reproducibility feature.
Uncertainty
It remains unclear which approach best balances reproducibility, maintenance overhead, and compatibility with future Racket releases.
Questions

Which strategy—manual version pinning, a shared pkgs/ directory, or a custom lockfile—most reliably ensures identical package sets across environments?
Can the pkginfo.rktd file be treated as a de facto lockfile, and what are the risks of using it alone?
What impact does relying on raco setup --link-only have on build reproducibility when the underlying Racket runtime updates?

Tasadduq Burney · Answer

Answer
The strategy that guarantees reproducible Racket environments without a lockfile is to version‑control a shared pkgs/ directory containing the exact package sources and then invoke raco setup --link-only in the project root, provided the same Racket version is used on all machines.
Confirmed facts

raco pkg records only direct‑dependency versions in pkginfo.rktd; transitive dependencies are not pinned automatically.
Linking packages from a common pkgs/ directory with --link-only makes each environment reference the exact same source trees.
If the underlying Racket version differs, binary compatibility of linked packages can break, so version uniformity is required.

Steps to achieve reproducibility

Create a pkgs/ directory at the project root.
For each desired package, run raco pkg install --link  (or raco pkg install --link --no-deps  and manually add transitive deps) to place the source checkout inside pkgs/.
Commit the entire pkgs/ tree to version control (e.g., Git).
On any machine, ensure the same Racket version is installed (e.g., via racket --version).
In the project directory, run raco setup --link-only. This links the packages from the committed pkgs/ directory.
Verify with raco pkg show that the listed versions match those recorded in the committed pkgs/ copies.

Missing diagnostic detail
If the Racket version across target machines is unknown, reproducibility cannot be guaranteed. Please confirm the exact Racket version (e.g., 8.0 or 8.1) installed on each machine; differing versions may require re‑building linked packages or adjusting the pkgs/ contents.

Which strategy guarantees reproducible Racket environments without a lockfile?

Goal

Constraints

Uncertainty

Questions

1 answer

Answer

Confirmed facts

Steps to achieve reproducibility

Missing diagnostic detail

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