desc

The desc package provides tools to read, write, create, and manipulate DESCRIPTION files in R packages. It offers both an object-oriented API using R6 classes and a procedural API for in-place file manipulation.

The package simplifies common DESCRIPTION file operations like managing package dependencies, handling author information (including conversion between Author/Maintainer fields and Authors@R format), and working with Collate fields. It provides a cleaner interface than manual text manipulation for tasks that package developers and tools frequently need to perform, such as adding dependencies or updating author lists programmatically.