ql:update-dist

(ql:update-dist name &rest options)

Drops a dist's cached indexes, so the next ql:quickload re-reads that distribution's systems.txt and releases.txt and sees the releases published since the cache was written. The argument is an installed dist's name ("quicklisp", "ultralisp", ...) as a string, keyword or symbol, and the return value is that name; naming a dist that is not installed is an error. Keyword options are accepted and ignored.

Without it a dist index is cached forever, which is what makes a repeated quickload free — but a distribution rebuilt every few minutes (Ultralisp) publishes releases the cached index cannot name. Already-extracted sources are kept: a release directory is named after its version, so a newer release extracts beside the old one rather than replacing it.

Same timing as ql:quickload: interpret time, or compile time for a literal, top-level call (which is then consumed — the compiled program downloads nothing at run time). A nested or computed call is a compile error on the JVM/WASM backends.

$ rontolisp
CL-USER> (ql:update-dist "ultralisp")
"ultralisp"
CL-USER> (ql:quickload "split-sequence")
(split-sequence)

See the Systems guide and ql-dist:install-dist.