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Composer Protocol

Cargoman implements the Composer Repository Protocol v2 for seamless integration with the Composer client.

Endpoints​

Package Index​

GET /packages.json

Returns the repository metadata:

{
  "packages": {},
  "metadata-url": "/p2/%package%.json",
  "providers-lazy-url": "/p/%package%.json"
}

Package Metadata (v2)​

GET /p2/{vendor}/{package}.json

Returns package metadata for a specific package:

{
  "packages": {
    "vendor/package": [
      {
        "name": "vendor/package",
        "version": "2.0.0",
        "version_normalized": "2.0.0.0",
        "dist": {
          "type": "zip",
          "url": "https://packages.example.com/dist/vendor/package/2.0.0.zip",
          "shasum": "abc123..."
        },
        "require": {
          "php": ">=8.1"
        },
        "autoload": {
          "psr-4": {
            "Vendor\\Package\\": "src/"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Package Archive​

GET /dist/{vendor}/{package}/{version}.zip

Returns the package archive (zip file).

Authentication​

Composer uses HTTP Basic Auth. Configure your credentials:

composer config http-basic.packages.example.com token YOUR_TOKEN

Or in auth.json:

{
  "http-basic": {
    "packages.example.com": {
      "username": "token",
      "password": "YOUR_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Repository Configuration​

Add Cargoman as a Composer repository:

{
  "repositories": [
    {
      "type": "composer",
      "url": "https://packages.example.com"
    }
  ]
}

Or via CLI:

composer config repositories.cargoman composer https://packages.example.com

Priority​

To prefer your private packages over Packagist:

{
  "repositories": [
    {
      "type": "composer",
      "url": "https://packages.example.com"
    },
    {
      "packagist.org": false
    }
  ]
}

Access Control​

The Composer endpoints enforce customer access:

  • Only packages granted to the customer are visible
  • Version constraints are enforced (e.g., ^2.0 only shows 2.x versions)
  • Frozen customers only see their frozen versions
  • Suspended/expired customers receive 403 errors

Error Responses​

401 Unauthorized​

composer install

[Composer\Downloader\TransportException]
The "https://packages.example.com/packages.json" URL could not be
accessed: HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized

Solution: Configure authentication credentials.

403 Forbidden​

[Composer\Downloader\TransportException]
Access denied to package vendor/package

Solution: Customer doesn't have access to this package.

404 Not Found​

[Composer\Downloader\TransportException]
Package vendor/package not found

Solution: Package doesn't exist in the registry.

Caching​

Composer caches package metadata. To force a refresh:

composer clear-cache
composer update --prefer-dist

CI/CD Integration​

GitHub Actions​

- name: Configure Composer
  run: |
    composer config http-basic.packages.example.com token ${{ secrets.COMPOSER_TOKEN }}

- name: Install dependencies
  run: composer install --no-dev --prefer-dist

GitLab CI​

before_script:
  - composer config http-basic.packages.example.com token $COMPOSER_TOKEN

install:
  script:
    - composer install --no-dev --prefer-dist

Next Steps​