---
title: Collections
description: Bundle and share multiple libraries together
section: Guides
order: 4
---
Collections let you bundle multiple libraries into a single installable package. They're useful for sharing curated sets of documentation with your team or organizing related libraries together.
## Creating a Collection
### 1. Build your libraries
First, create the individual libraries you want to include:
```bash
libragen build ./api-docs --name internal-api
libragen build ./guides --name internal-guides
libragen build ./onboarding --name onboarding-docs
```
### 2. Create a collection file
Use the `collection create` command to bundle libraries together:
```bash
# Create with libraries specified
libragen collection create my-team-docs \
--library ./internal-api.libragen \
--library ./internal-guides.libragen \
--library ./onboarding-docs.libragen \
--description "Internal documentation for the team"
# Or create a template to edit manually
libragen collection create my-team-docs
```
This creates a `my-team-docs.json` collection file. If no libraries are specified, a template is created that you can edit manually.
### 3. Collection file format
Collections are JSON files that reference library locations:
```json
{
"name": "my-team-docs",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Internal documentation for the team",
"libraries": [
{
"name": "internal-api",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Internal API documentation",
"url": "./internal-api.libragen"
},
{
"name": "internal-guides",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "Internal engineering guides",
"url": "./internal-guides.libragen"
}
]
}
```
Library URLs can be:
- **Relative paths** - `./libs/my-lib.libragen`
- **Absolute paths** - `/shared/libs/my-lib.libragen`
- **HTTP URLs** - `https://internal.example.com/libs/my-lib.libragen`
## Installing from a Collection
Install all libraries from a collection at once:
```bash
# From a local collection file
libragen install --from ./my-team-docs.json
# From a URL
libragen install --from https://internal.example.com/collections/team-docs.json
```
## Hosting Collections
For team sharing, host your collection and libraries on any file server:
### Simple file share
```
/shared/libragen/
├── collections/
│ └── team-docs.json
└── libraries/
├── internal-api-1.0.0.libragen
├── internal-guides-1.0.0.libragen
└── onboarding-docs-1.0.0.libragen
```
### HTTP server or S3
Upload files to any HTTP-accessible location and reference them by URL in your collection.
## Managing Libraries
### List installed libraries
```bash
libragen list
```
### Install a single library
```bash
# From a local file
libragen install ./path/to/library.libragen
# From a URL
libragen install https://example.com/my-lib.libragen
```
### Remove a library
```bash
libragen uninstall my-library
```
## Packing Collections for Sharing
Bundle a collection and all its libraries into a single `.libragen-collection` file for easy distribution:
```bash
# Pack a collection into a single file
libragen collection pack ./my-team-docs.json
# Creates: my-team-docs.libragen-collection
```
Recipients can inspect, unpack, or install directly:
```bash
# Inspect contents without extracting
libragen inspect my-team-docs.libragen-collection
# Unpack to current directory
libragen collection unpack my-team-docs.libragen-collection
# Or install directly (extracts to temp and installs)
libragen install my-team-docs.libragen-collection
# Or unpack and install in one step
libragen collection unpack my-team-docs.libragen-collection --install
```
This is ideal for:
- Sharing collections via email or chat
- Distributing to air-gapped environments
- Bundling documentation with project releases
## Best Practices
1. **Version your collections** - Include version numbers in collection files for reproducibility
2. **Use relative paths for portability** - When distributing collections with libraries, use relative paths
3. **Pack for offline sharing** - Use `collection pack` when recipients don't have network access to your library URLs
4. **Cache in CI** - Store `.libragen` files in your CI cache to speed up builds
5. **Keep libraries updated** - Rebuild libraries when source documentation changes
