"API rate limit exceeded" when trying to install local R package using devtools::install()

Question

Package development beginner here!

I'm trying to turn some code into a local R package for the very first time. I made a package using usethis::create_package(), added documentation using devtools::document().

Now, after playing around with it for a while, I ran into the following error when trying to install the newest version using devtools::install():

Error: HTTP error 403.
  API rate limit exceeded for [my IP]. (But here's the good news: Authenticated requests get a higher rate limit. Check out the documentation for more details.)

  Rate limit remaining: 0/60
  Rate limit reset at: 2019-03-18 16:32:05 UTC

  To increase your GitHub API rate limit
  - Use `usethis::browse_github_pat()` to create a Personal Access Token.
  - Use `usethis::edit_r_environ()` and add the token as `GITHUB_PAT`.

The problem still exists if I use devtools:install_local("my_folder_name"). What genuinely confuses me here is that I am hitting a GitHub rate limit by trying to install a package sitting in a local folder.

Did I make a mistake in the package setup, or does using devtools::install() always involve the GitHub API? Is there anything I can change to keep the installation process of my package local and thus avoid the rate limit issue?

Edit: My DESCRIPTION file refers to other packages:

Depends: 
    R (>= 3.4.3),
    dplyr
Imports:
    RMariaDB,
    dbplyr,
    DBI,
    reshape2,
    RColorBrewer,
    knitr,
    kableExtra,
    scales,
    magrittr,
    DT,
    formattable,
    testthat,
    ggplot2,
    rmarkdown

Waters

do you have dependencies? can you maybe show the DESCRIPTION file of your package? – Charleycharlie

and you don't have anything under Remotes:, correct? – Charleycharlie

Yeah, that's right, nothing under Remotes. – Waters

@Charleycharlie Thanks a lot for the pointer, it seems like the default dependencies behaviour of install() was in fact the problem! – Waters

Answer 1

It seems that by default, devtools::install() checks for all packages listed as dependencies under Depends, Imports and LinkingTo in the DESCRIPTION file (see explanation of dependencies = NA option in devtools reference manual here). This is also true for remotes::install_local(), which devtools::install_local() links to.

A solution to this is to explicitly disable checking package dependencies: If you use devtools::install("my_local_package", dependencies = FALSE) instead, you no longer need to connect to api.github.com. Doing this makes sense when you know you already have the necessary dependencies installed, which is the case when you're R-packaging your own code.

(Also worth noting: The default options in devtools::install() require an internet connection for installation of any packages but by setting dependencies = FALSE, it's also possible to install a local package offline!)

Waters