MELPA

Spec sheet

Purpose

MELPA is a collection of package.el-compatible Emacs Lisp packages built automatically from upstream source using recipes.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Automatic updates

The MELPA homepage says new upstream commits result in new packages.Read 4 Oct 2026 · melpa.org

Build process

MELPA builds packages on its servers from upstream source code using simple recipes.Read 4 Oct 2026 · melpa.org

Contributing

People can propose packages by submitting a new recipe as a pull request.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Curation

The MELPA homepage describes the archive as curated to exclude obsolete, renamed, forked, or randomly hacked packages.Read 4 Oct 2026 · melpa.org

Installation

Users can browse and install packages through Emacs package.el after adding the MELPA archive URL to package-archives.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Mirrors

The README lists official mirrors for package downloads and says they do not mirror the website frontend.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Naming

MELPA expands to “Milkypostman's ELPA” or “Milkypostman's Experimental Lisp Package Archive.”Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Package updates

Packages are updated at intervals throughout the day.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Product audience

MELPA is for Emacs users installing Emacs Lisp packages through package.el.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Requirements

MELPA requires Emacs with package.el, specifically Emacs 24.1 or greater.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Security boundary

MELPA says it is not responsible for the contents of unofficial mirrors of its packages.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Source integrations

Recipes support Git and Mercurial repositories and dedicated fetchers for GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, and SourceHut.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Stable archive

MELPA Stable publishes packages built from the latest tagged upstream code when version tags exist.Read 4 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Every MELPA plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Package Registries#18 of 287.6