[R] Install a package from OSF

[Shu Fai Cheung]

The file I uploaded to OSF is a source package. However, it seems that OSF
does not have a link of this form

"https://osf.io/...../pkg.tar.gz".

Instead, it is something like this:

"https://osf.io/abcde/download?view_only=abcdefg"

This link will prompt the browser to download the file. However, it is not
a direct URL to the file, as in "https://osf.io/...../pkg.tar.gz".

Regards,
Shu Fai


On Mon, Sep 29, 2025 at 12:10 AM Uwe Ligges <ligges using statistik.tu-dortmund.de>
wrote:

> You have to create a soiurce package via R CMD build (which has file
> ending tar.gz, by the wa), to make that work.
>
> Best,
> Uwe Ligges
>
>
> On 28.09.2025 14:53, Shu Fai Cheung wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I would like to let reviewers download and install a package from OSF. It
> > is for double-blind review, and so I need to create an anonymized version
> > at OSF. I can ask reviewers to download the file and install it locally.
> > However, the reviewers may not be familiar with this. Is it possible to
> do
> > this in one function call? For example, something like this, from the
> help
> > of remotes::install_url():
> >
> > remotes::install_url("https://github.com/hadley/stringr/archive/HEAD.zip
> ")
> >
> > I tried the following (the link is a fake one, just for illustration):
> >
> > remotes::install_url("https://osf.io/abcde/download?view_only=abcdefg")
> >
> > I confirmed in a browser that the link with "/download" added is a
> > direct link to download the file created by R CMD build.
> >
> > However, I got the following error:
> >
> > Error: Failed to install 'unknown package' from URL:
> >    Don't know how to decompress files with extension
> >
> > Is there another way to install a package directly from OSF?
> >
> > Regards,
> > Shu Fai
> >
> >       [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
> >
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>
>

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