CRAN Submission and Package Maintenance

The CRAN Submission Process

devtools::check() — Zero Errors and Warnings

# devtools::check()  # or Ctrl+Shift+E
#
# Target output:
# -- R CMD check results -------------------------
# Duration: 45.3s
# 0 errors v | 0 warnings v | 1 note x
# NOTE: New submission.
#
# 'New submission' is an expected NOTE for first-time packages.
# All actual ERRORs and WARNINGs must be fixed before submitting.

CRAN Policies — Key Rules

# Correct: examples that write to tempdir
# #' @examples
# #' tmp <- tempfile()
# #' write.csv(mtcars, tmp)
# #' read.csv(tmp)
# #' unlink(tmp)
#
# Correct: skip slow or network examples
# #' @examples
# #' \dontrun{
# #'   # slow operation
# #'   fit_big_model(huge_dataset)
# #' }

devtools::build() — Creating the Package Bundle

# devtools::build()
# => mypackage_0.1.0.tar.gz
#
# What build does:
# 1. Runs devtools::document() to regenerate man/ and NAMESPACE
# 2. Compiles vignettes (if any)
# 3. Bundles R/, man/, DESCRIPTION, NAMESPACE, tests/ etc.
# 4. Excludes files listed in .Rbuildignore
#
# Inspect the bundle:
# tar -tzf mypackage_0.1.0.tar.gz | head -20

devtools::release() — Interactive Submission

# devtools::release()
#
# Interactive questions include:
# - Have you checked on R-devel?
# - Have you checked on Windows with win-builder?
# - Is there a single top-level .R file in tests/?
# - Have you removed donttest{} for essential examples?
# - Is the package correctly versioned?
#
# After answering, it submits and emails the CRAN team.

Checking on Multiple Platforms

# Check on Windows R-devel (submits to win-builder, results emailed):
# devtools::check_win_devel()
#
# Check on multiple platforms via R-hub:
# rhub::check_for_cran()   # requires rhub package and account
#
# Minimum: check locally + win-builder before every CRAN submission
cat('CRAN checks on Windows, macOS, and multiple Linux distros
')

NEWS.md — Communicating Changes

# NEWS.md format:
#
# # mypackage 0.2.0
# * Added subtract() function for element-wise subtraction.
# * add() now accepts complex numbers.
# * Fixed bug where add(NA, x) returned 0 instead of NA.
#
# # mypackage 0.1.0
# * Initial CRAN release.
# * Core add() function for numeric addition.
cat('usethis::use_news_md() creates NEWS.md with the right format
')

usethis::use_version() for Version Bumps

# Version bump commands:
# usethis::use_version('patch')   # 0.1.0 -> 0.1.1  (bug fixes)
# usethis::use_version('minor')   # 0.1.0 -> 0.2.0  (new features)
# usethis::use_version('major')   # 0.1.0 -> 1.0.0  (breaking changes)
# usethis::use_version('dev')     # 0.1.0 -> 0.1.0.9000 (dev suffix)
#
# CRAN packages should NOT have a dev suffix (e.g., 0.9000)
# Dev suffix signals work-in-progress on GitHub between releases

GitHub Actions for Continuous Integration

# usethis::use_github_action('check-standard')
# Creates .github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
#
# The workflow:
# - triggers on push and pull_request
# - runs on ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest
# - tests on R release, R devel, and R oldrel
# - caches installed packages for faster runs
# - reports check results as GitHub status checks

Handling CRAN Reviewer Feedback

# Spell check DESCRIPTION and man/ pages:
# usethis::use_spell_check()
# spelling::spell_check_package()  # run the check
#
# Add words to WORDLIST to ignore false positives:
# spelling::update_wordlist()
#
# After making all changes:
# devtools::check()  # confirm 0 errors/warnings
# devtools::release()  # resubmit

Package Maintenance After Release

# Mark a function as deprecated:
# library(lifecycle)
#
# old_add <- function(x, y) {
#   lifecycle::deprecate_warn('0.2.0', 'old_add()', 'add()')
#   add(x, y)
# }
#
# Users see: 'old_add()' was deprecated in mypackage 0.2.0.
# Please use 'add()' instead.

Quick Check: CRAN Example Policy

CRAN Submission and Maintenance Recap