brew(1) – The Missing Package Manager for macOS (or Linux)

SYNOPSIS

brew --version
brew command [--verbose|-v] [options] [formula] …

DESCRIPTION

Homebrew is the easiest and most flexible way to install the UNIX tools Apple didn’t include with macOS. It can also install software not packaged for your Linux distribution to your home directory without requiring sudo.

ESSENTIAL COMMANDS

For the full command list, see the COMMANDS section.

With --verbose or --debug, many commands print extra debugging information. Note that these options should only appear after a command.

install formula

Install formula.

formula is usually the name of the formula to install, but it has other syntaxes which are listed in the SPECIFYING FORMULAE section.

uninstall formula

Uninstall formula.

list

List all installed formulae.

search [text|/text/]

Perform a substring search of cask tokens and formula names for text. If text is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression. The search for text is extended online to homebrew/core and homebrew/cask. If no search term is provided, all locally available formulae are listed.

COMMANDS

analytics [subcommand]

Control Homebrew’s anonymous aggregate user behaviour analytics. Read more at https://docs.brew.sh/Analytics.

brew analytics [state]
Display the current state of Homebrew’s analytics.

brew analytics (on|off)
Turn Homebrew’s analytics on or off respectively.

brew analytics regenerate-uuid
Regenerate the UUID used for Homebrew’s analytics.

autoremove [--dry-run]

Uninstall formulae that were only installed as a dependency of another formula and are now no longer needed.

  • -n, --dry-run: List what would be uninstalled, but do not actually uninstall anything.

casks

List all locally installable casks including short names.

cleanup [options] [formula|cask …]

Remove stale lock files and outdated downloads for all formulae and casks, and remove old versions of installed formulae. If arguments are specified, only do this for the given formulae and casks. Removes all downloads more than 120 days old. This can be adjusted with HOMEBREW_CLEANUP_MAX_AGE_DAYS.

  • --prune: Remove all cache files older than specified days. If you want to remove everything, use --prune=all.
  • -n, --dry-run: Show what would be removed, but do not actually remove anything.
  • -s: Scrub the cache, including downloads for even the latest versions. Note downloads for any installed formulae or casks will still not be deleted. If you want to delete those too: rm -rf "$(brew --cache)"
  • --prune-prefix: Only prune the symlinks and directories from the prefix and remove no other files.

commands [--quiet] [--include-aliases]

Show lists of built-in and external commands.

  • -q, --quiet: List only the names of commands without category headers.
  • --include-aliases: Include aliases of internal commands.

completions [subcommand]

Control whether Homebrew automatically links external tap shell completion files. Read more at https://docs.brew.sh/Shell-Completion.

brew completions [state]
Display the current state of Homebrew’s completions.

brew completions (link|unlink)
Link or unlink Homebrew’s completions.

config, --config

Show Homebrew and system configuration info useful for debugging. If you file a bug report, you will be required to provide this information.

deps [options] [formula|cask …]

Show dependencies for formula. Additional options specific to formula may be appended to the command. When given multiple formula arguments, show the intersection of dependencies for each formula.

  • -n: Sort dependencies in topological order.
  • --1: Only show dependencies one level down, instead of recursing.
  • --union: Show the union of dependencies for multiple formula, instead of the intersection.
  • --full-name: List dependencies by their full name.
  • --include-build: Include :build dependencies for formula.
  • --include-optional: Include :optional dependencies for formula.
  • --include-test: Include :test dependencies for formula (non-recursive).
  • --skip-recommended: Skip :recommended dependencies for formula.
  • --include-requirements: Include requirements in addition to dependencies for formula.
  • --tree: Show dependencies as a tree. When given multiple formula arguments, show individual trees for each formula.
  • --annotate: Mark any build, test, optional, or recommended dependencies as such in the output.
  • --installed: List dependencies for formulae that are currently installed. If formula is specified, list only its dependencies that are currently installed.
  • --all: List dependencies for all available formulae.
  • --for-each: Switch into the mode used by the --all option, but only list dependencies for each provided formula, one formula per line. This is used for debugging the --installed/--all display mode.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

desc [options] formula|text|/regex/ […]

Display formula’s name and one-line description. Formula descriptions are cached; the cache is created on the first search, making that search slower than subsequent ones.

  • -s, --search: Search both names and descriptions for text. If text is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression.
  • -n, --name: Search just names for text. If text is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression.
  • -d, --description: Search just descriptions for text. If text is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression.

doctor, dr [--list-checks] [--audit-debug] [diagnostic_check …]

Check your system for potential problems. Will exit with a non-zero status if any potential problems are found. Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is working fine: please don’t worry or file an issue; just ignore this.

  • --list-checks: List all audit methods, which can be run individually if provided as arguments.
  • -D, --audit-debug: Enable debugging and profiling of audit methods.

fetch [options] formula|cask […]

Download a bottle (if available) or source packages for formulae and binaries for casks. For files, also print SHA-256 checksums.

  • --HEAD: Fetch HEAD version instead of stable version.
  • -f, --force: Remove a previously cached version and re-fetch.
  • -v, --verbose: Do a verbose VCS checkout, if the URL represents a VCS. This is useful for seeing if an existing VCS cache has been updated.
  • --retry: Retry if downloading fails or re-download if the checksum of a previously cached version no longer matches.
  • --deps: Also download dependencies for any listed formula.
  • -s, --build-from-source: Download source packages rather than a bottle.
  • --build-bottle: Download source packages (for eventual bottling) rather than a bottle.
  • --force-bottle: Download a bottle if it exists for the current or newest version of macOS, even if it would not be used during installation.
  • --[no-]quarantine: Disable/enable quarantining of downloads (default: enabled).
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

formulae

List all locally installable formulae including short names.

gist-logs [options] formula

Upload logs for a failed build of formula to a new Gist. Presents an error message if no logs are found.

  • --with-hostname: Include the hostname in the Gist.
  • -n, --new-issue: Automatically create a new issue in the appropriate GitHub repository after creating the Gist.
  • -p, --private: The Gist will be marked private and will not appear in listings but will be accessible with its link.

home, homepage [--formula] [--cask] [formula|cask …]

Open a formula or cask’s homepage in a browser, or open Homebrew’s own homepage if no argument is provided.

  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

info, abv [options] [formula|cask …]

Display brief statistics for your Homebrew installation.

If a formula or cask is provided, show summary of information about it.

  • --analytics: List global Homebrew analytics data or, if specified, installation and build error data for formula (provided neither HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS nor HOMEBREW_NO_GITHUB_API are set).
  • --days: How many days of analytics data to retrieve. The value for days must be 30, 90 or 365. The default is 30.
  • --category: Which type of analytics data to retrieve. The value for category must be install, install-on-request or build-error; cask-install or os-version may be specified if formula is not. The default is install.
  • --github: Open the GitHub source page for formula in a browser. To view formula history locally: brew log -p formula
  • --json: Print a JSON representation. Currently the default value for version is v1 for formula. For formula and cask use v2. See the docs for examples of using the JSON output: https://docs.brew.sh/Querying-Brew
  • --installed: Print JSON of formulae that are currently installed.
  • --all: Print JSON of all available formulae.
  • -v, --verbose: Show more verbose analytics data for formula.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

install [options] formula|cask […]

Install a formula or cask. Additional options specific to a formula may be appended to the command.

Unless HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP is set, brew cleanup will then be run for the installed formulae or, every 30 days, for all formulae.

  • -d, --debug: If brewing fails, open an interactive debugging session with access to IRB or a shell inside the temporary build directory.
  • -f, --force: Install formulae without checking for previously installed keg-only or non-migrated versions. When installing casks, overwrite existing files (binaries and symlinks are excluded, unless originally from the same cask).
  • -v, --verbose: Print the verification and postinstall steps.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --env: Disabled other than for internal Homebrew use.
  • --ignore-dependencies: An unsupported Homebrew development flag to skip installing any dependencies of any kind. If the dependencies are not already present, the formula will have issues. If you’re not developing Homebrew, consider adjusting your PATH rather than using this flag.
  • --only-dependencies: Install the dependencies with specified options but do not install the formula itself.
  • --cc: Attempt to compile using the specified compiler, which should be the name of the compiler’s executable, e.g. gcc-7 for GCC 7. In order to use LLVM’s clang, specify llvm_clang. To use the Apple-provided clang, specify clang. This option will only accept compilers that are provided by Homebrew or bundled with macOS. Please do not file issues if you encounter errors while using this option.
  • -s, --build-from-source: Compile formula from source even if a bottle is provided. Dependencies will still be installed from bottles if they are available.
  • --force-bottle: Install from a bottle if it exists for the current or newest version of macOS, even if it would not normally be used for installation.
  • --include-test: Install testing dependencies required to run brew test formula.
  • --HEAD: If formula defines it, install the HEAD version, aka. master, trunk, unstable.
  • --fetch-HEAD: Fetch the upstream repository to detect if the HEAD installation of the formula is outdated. Otherwise, the repository’s HEAD will only be checked for updates when a new stable or development version has been released.
  • --keep-tmp: Retain the temporary files created during installation.
  • --build-bottle: Prepare the formula for eventual bottling during installation, skipping any post-install steps.
  • --bottle-arch: Optimise bottles for the specified architecture rather than the oldest architecture supported by the version of macOS the bottles are built on.
  • --display-times: Print install times for each formula at the end of the run.
  • -i, --interactive: Download and patch formula, then open a shell. This allows the user to run ./configure --help and otherwise determine how to turn the software package into a Homebrew package.
  • -g, --git: Create a Git repository, useful for creating patches to the software.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.
  • --[no-]binaries: Disable/enable linking of helper executables (default: enabled).
  • --require-sha: Require all casks to have a checksum.
  • --[no-]quarantine: Disable/enable quarantining of downloads (default: enabled).
  • --skip-cask-deps: Skip installing cask dependencies.

leaves

List installed formulae that are not dependencies of another installed formula.

link, ln [options] installed_formula […]

Symlink all of formula’s installed files into Homebrew’s prefix. This is done automatically when you install formulae but can be useful for DIY installations.

  • --overwrite: Delete files that already exist in the prefix while linking.
  • -n, --dry-run: List files which would be linked or deleted by brew link --overwrite without actually linking or deleting any files.
  • -f, --force: Allow keg-only formulae to be linked.

list, ls [options] [installed_formula|installed_cask …]

List all installed formulae and casks.

If formula is provided, summarise the paths within its current keg. If cask is provided, list its artifacts.

  • --formula: List only formulae, or treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: List only casks, or treat all named arguments as casks.
  • --full-name: Print formulae with fully-qualified names. Unless --full-name, --versions or --pinned are passed, other options (i.e. -1, -l, -r and -t) are passed to ls(1) which produces the actual output.
  • --versions: Show the version number for installed formulae, or only the specified formulae if formula are provided.
  • --multiple: Only show formulae with multiple versions installed.
  • --pinned: List only pinned formulae, or only the specified (pinned) formulae if formula are provided. See also pin, unpin.
  • -1: Force output to be one entry per line. This is the default when output is not to a terminal.
  • -l: List formulae and/or casks in long format. Has no effect when a formula or cask name is passed as an argument.
  • -r: Reverse the order of the formulae and/or casks sort to list the oldest entries first. Has no effect when a formula or cask name is passed as an argument.
  • -t: Sort formulae and/or casks by time modified, listing most recently modified first. Has no effect when a formula or cask name is passed as an argument.

log [options] [formula]

Show the git log for formula, or show the log for the Homebrew repository if no formula is provided.

  • -p, --patch: Also print patch from commit.
  • --stat: Also print diffstat from commit.
  • --oneline: Print only one line per commit.
  • -1: Print only one commit.
  • -n, --max-count: Print only a specified number of commits.

migrate [--force] installed_formula […]

Migrate renamed packages to new names, where formula are old names of packages.

  • -f, --force: Treat installed formula and provided formula as if they are from the same taps and migrate them anyway.

missing [--hide=] [formula …]

Check the given formula kegs for missing dependencies. If no formula are provided, check all kegs. Will exit with a non-zero status if any kegs are found to be missing dependencies.

  • --hide: Act as if none of the specified hidden are installed. hidden should be a comma-separated list of formulae.

options [options] [formula …]

Show install options specific to formula.

  • --compact: Show all options on a single line separated by spaces.
  • --installed: Show options for formulae that are currently installed.
  • --all: Show options for all available formulae.
  • --command: Show options for the specified command.

outdated [options] [formula|cask …]

List installed casks and formulae that have an updated version available. By default, version information is displayed in interactive shells, and suppressed otherwise.

  • -q, --quiet: List only the names of outdated kegs (takes precedence over --verbose).
  • -v, --verbose: Include detailed version information.
  • --formula: List only outdated formulae.
  • --cask: List only outdated casks.
  • --json: Print output in JSON format. There are two versions: v1 and v2. v1 is deprecated and is currently the default if no version is specified. v2 prints outdated formulae and casks.
  • --fetch-HEAD: Fetch the upstream repository to detect if the HEAD installation of the formula is outdated. Otherwise, the repository’s HEAD will only be checked for updates when a new stable or development version has been released.
  • --greedy: Print outdated casks with auto_updates or version :latest.

pin installed_formula […]

Pin the specified formula, preventing them from being upgraded when issuing the brew upgrade formula command. See also unpin.

postinstall installed_formula […]

Rerun the post-install steps for formula.

readall [--aliases] [--syntax] [tap …]

Import all items from the specified tap, or from all installed taps if none is provided. This can be useful for debugging issues across all items when making significant changes to formula.rb, testing the performance of loading all items or checking if any current formulae/casks have Ruby issues.

  • --aliases: Verify any alias symlinks in each tap.
  • --syntax: Syntax-check all of Homebrew’s Ruby files (if no *tap* is passed).

reinstall [options] formula|cask […]

Uninstall and then reinstall a formula or cask using the same options it was originally installed with, plus any appended options specific to a formula.

Unless HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP is set, brew cleanup will then be run for the reinstalled formulae or, every 30 days, for all formulae.

  • -d, --debug: If brewing fails, open an interactive debugging session with access to IRB or a shell inside the temporary build directory.
  • -f, --force: Install without checking for previously installed keg-only or non-migrated versions.
  • -v, --verbose: Print the verification and postinstall steps.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • -s, --build-from-source: Compile formula from source even if a bottle is available.
  • -i, --interactive: Download and patch formula, then open a shell. This allows the user to run ./configure --help and otherwise determine how to turn the software package into a Homebrew package.
  • --force-bottle: Install from a bottle if it exists for the current or newest version of macOS, even if it would not normally be used for installation.
  • --keep-tmp: Retain the temporary files created during installation.
  • --display-times: Print install times for each formula at the end of the run.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.
  • --[no-]binaries: Disable/enable linking of helper executables (default: enabled).
  • --require-sha: Require all casks to have a checksum.
  • --[no-]quarantine: Disable/enable quarantining of downloads (default: enabled).
  • --skip-cask-deps: Skip installing cask dependencies.

search, -S [options] text|/regex/ […]

Perform a substring search of cask tokens and formula names for text. If text is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression. The search for text is extended online to homebrew/core and homebrew/cask.

  • --formula: Search online and locally for formulae.
  • --cask: Search online and locally for casks.
  • --desc: Search for formulae with a description matching text and casks with a name matching text.
  • --pull-request: Search for GitHub pull requests containing text.
  • --open: Search for only open GitHub pull requests.
  • --closed: Search for only closed GitHub pull requests.
  • --macports: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.
  • --fink: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.
  • --opensuse: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.
  • --fedora: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.
  • --debian: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.
  • --ubuntu: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.

shellenv

Print export statements. When run in a shell, this installation of Homebrew will be added to your PATH, MANPATH, and INFOPATH.

The variables HOMEBREW_PREFIX, HOMEBREW_CELLAR and HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY are also exported to avoid querying them multiple times. Consider adding evaluation of this command’s output to your dotfiles (e.g. ~/.profile, ~/.bash_profile, or ~/.zprofile) with: eval $(brew shellenv)

tap [options] [user/repo] [URL]

Tap a formula repository.

If no arguments are provided, list all installed taps.

With URL unspecified, tap a formula repository from GitHub using HTTPS. Since so many taps are hosted on GitHub, this command is a shortcut for brew tap user/repo https://github.com/user/homebrew-repo.

With URL specified, tap a formula repository from anywhere, using any transport protocol that git(1) handles. The one-argument form of tap simplifies but also limits. This two-argument command makes no assumptions, so taps can be cloned from places other than GitHub and using protocols other than HTTPS, e.g. SSH, git, HTTP, FTP(S), rsync.

  • --full: Convert a shallow clone to a full clone without untapping. Taps are only cloned as shallow clones if --shallow was originally passed.
  • --shallow: Fetch tap as a shallow clone rather than a full clone. Useful for continuous integration.
  • --force-auto-update: Auto-update tap even if it is not hosted on GitHub. By default, only taps hosted on GitHub are auto-updated (for performance reasons).
  • --repair: Migrate tapped formulae from symlink-based to directory-based structure.
  • --list-pinned: List all pinned taps.

tap-info [--installed] [--json] [tap …]

Show detailed information about one or more taps.

If no tap names are provided, display brief statistics for all installed taps.

  • --installed: Show information on each installed tap.
  • --json: Print a JSON representation of tap. Currently the default and only accepted value for version is v1. See the docs for examples of using the JSON output: https://docs.brew.sh/Querying-Brew

uninstall, remove, rm [options] installed_formula|installed_cask […]

Uninstall a formula or cask.

  • -f, --force: Delete all installed versions of formula. Uninstall even if cask is not installed, overwrite existing files and ignore errors when removing files.
  • --zap: Remove all files associated with a cask. May remove files which are shared between applications.
  • --ignore-dependencies: Don’t fail uninstall, even if formula is a dependency of any installed formulae.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

unlink [--dry-run] installed_formula […]

Remove symlinks for formula from Homebrew’s prefix. This can be useful for temporarily disabling a formula: brew unlink formula && commands && brew link formula

  • -n, --dry-run: List files which would be unlinked without actually unlinking or deleting any files.

unpin installed_formula […]

Unpin formula, allowing them to be upgraded by brew upgrade formula. See also pin.

untap [--force] tap […]

Remove a tapped formula repository.

  • -f, --force: Untap even if formulae or casks from this tap are currently installed.

update [options]

Fetch the newest version of Homebrew and all formulae from GitHub using git(1) and perform any necessary migrations.

  • --merge: Use git merge to apply updates (rather than git rebase).
  • --preinstall: Run on auto-updates (e.g. before brew install). Skips some slower steps.
  • -f, --force: Always do a slower, full update check (even if unnecessary).

update-reset [repository …]

Fetch and reset Homebrew and all tap repositories (or any specified repository) using git(1) to their latest origin/HEAD.

Note: this will destroy all your uncommitted or committed changes.

upgrade [options] [outdated_formula|outdated_cask …]

Upgrade outdated casks and outdated, unpinned formulae using the same options they were originally installed with, plus any appended brew formula options. If cask or formula are specified, upgrade only the given cask or formula kegs (unless they are pinned; see pin, unpin).

Unless HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP is set, brew cleanup will then be run for the upgraded formulae or, every 30 days, for all formulae.

  • -d, --debug: If brewing fails, open an interactive debugging session with access to IRB or a shell inside the temporary build directory.
  • -f, --force: Install formulae without checking for previously installed keg-only or non-migrated versions. When installing casks, overwrite existing files (binaries and symlinks are excluded, unless originally from the same cask).
  • -v, --verbose: Print the verification and postinstall steps.
  • -n, --dry-run: Show what would be upgraded, but do not actually upgrade anything.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae. If no named arguments are specified, upgrade only outdated formulae.
  • -s, --build-from-source: Compile formula from source even if a bottle is available.
  • -i, --interactive: Download and patch formula, then open a shell. This allows the user to run ./configure --help and otherwise determine how to turn the software package into a Homebrew package.
  • --force-bottle: Install from a bottle if it exists for the current or newest version of macOS, even if it would not normally be used for installation.
  • --fetch-HEAD: Fetch the upstream repository to detect if the HEAD installation of the formula is outdated. Otherwise, the repository’s HEAD will only be checked for updates when a new stable or development version has been released.
  • --ignore-pinned: Set a successful exit status even if pinned formulae are not upgraded.
  • --keep-tmp: Retain the temporary files created during installation.
  • --display-times: Print install times for each formula at the end of the run.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks. If no named arguments are specified, upgrade only outdated casks.
  • --[no-]binaries: Disable/enable linking of helper executables (default: enabled).
  • --require-sha: Require all casks to have a checksum.
  • --[no-]quarantine: Disable/enable quarantining of downloads (default: enabled).
  • --skip-cask-deps: Skip installing cask dependencies.
  • --greedy: Also include casks with auto_updates true or version :latest.

uses [options] formula […]

Show formulae and casks that specify formula as a dependency; that is, show dependents of formula. When given multiple formula arguments, show the intersection of formulae that use formula. By default, uses shows all formulae and casks that specify formula as a required or recommended dependency for their stable builds.

  • --recursive: Resolve more than one level of dependencies.
  • --installed: Only list formulae and casks that are currently installed.
  • --include-build: Include all formulae that specify formula as :build type dependency.
  • --include-test: Include all formulae that specify formula as :test type dependency.
  • --include-optional: Include all formulae that specify formula as :optional type dependency.
  • --skip-recommended: Skip all formulae that specify formula as :recommended type dependency.
  • --formula: Include only formulae.
  • --cask: Include only casks.

--cache [options] [formula|cask …]

Display Homebrew’s download cache. See also HOMEBREW_CACHE.

If formula is provided, display the file or directory used to cache formula.

  • -s, --build-from-source: Show the cache file used when building from source.
  • --force-bottle: Show the cache file used when pouring a bottle.
  • --formula: Only show cache files for formulae.
  • --cask: Only show cache files for casks.

--caskroom [cask …]

Display Homebrew’s Caskroom path.

If cask is provided, display the location in the Caskroom where cask would be installed, without any sort of versioned directory as the last path.

--cellar [formula …]

Display Homebrew’s Cellar path. Default: $(brew --prefix)/Cellar, or if that directory doesn’t exist, $(brew --repository)/Cellar.

If formula is provided, display the location in the Cellar where formula would be installed, without any sort of versioned directory as the last path.

--env, environment [--shell=] [--plain] [formula …]

Summarise Homebrew’s build environment as a plain list.

If the command’s output is sent through a pipe and no shell is specified, the list is formatted for export to bash(1) unless --plain is passed.

  • --shell: Generate a list of environment variables for the specified shell, or --shell=auto to detect the current shell.
  • --plain: Generate plain output even when piped.

--prefix [--unbrewed] [--installed] [formula …]

Display Homebrew’s install path. Default:

  • macOS Intel: /usr/local
  • macOS ARM: /opt/homebrew
  • Linux: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew

If formula is provided, display the location where formula is or would be installed.

  • --unbrewed: List files in Homebrew’s prefix not installed by Homebrew.
  • --installed: Outputs nothing and returns a failing status code if formula is not installed.

--repository, --repo [tap …]

Display where Homebrew’s git repository is located.

If user/repo are provided, display where tap user/repo’s directory is located.

--version, -v

Print the version numbers of Homebrew, Homebrew/homebrew-core and Homebrew/homebrew-cask (if tapped) to standard output.

DEVELOPER COMMANDS

audit [options] [formula|cask …]

Check formula for Homebrew coding style violations. This should be run before submitting a new formula or cask. If no formula|cask are provided, check all locally available formulae and casks and skip style checks. Will exit with a non-zero status if any errors are found.

  • --strict: Run additional, stricter style checks.
  • --git: Run additional, slower style checks that navigate the Git repository.
  • --online: Run additional, slower style checks that require a network connection.
  • --new: Run various additional style checks to determine if a new formula or cask is eligible for Homebrew. This should be used when creating new formula and implies --strict and --online.
  • --[no-]appcast: Audit the appcast.
  • --token-conflicts: Audit for token conflicts.
  • --tap: Check the formulae within the given tap, specified as user/repo.
  • --fix: Fix style violations automatically using RuboCop’s auto-correct feature.
  • --display-cop-names: Include the RuboCop cop name for each violation in the output.
  • --display-filename: Prefix every line of output with the file or formula name being audited, to make output easy to grep.
  • --display-failures-only: Only display casks that fail the audit. This is the default for formulae.
  • --skip-style: Skip running non-RuboCop style checks. Useful if you plan on running brew style separately. Enabled by default unless a formula is specified by name.
  • -D, --audit-debug: Enable debugging and profiling of audit methods.
  • --only: Specify a comma-separated method list to only run the methods named audit_method.
  • --except: Specify a comma-separated method list to skip running the methods named audit_method.
  • --only-cops: Specify a comma-separated cops list to check for violations of only the listed RuboCop cops.
  • --except-cops: Specify a comma-separated cops list to skip checking for violations of the listed RuboCop cops.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

bottle [options] installed_formula|file […]

Generate a bottle (binary package) from a formula that was installed with --build-bottle. If the formula specifies a rebuild version, it will be incremented in the generated DSL. Passing --keep-old will attempt to keep it at its original value, while --no-rebuild will remove it.

  • --skip-relocation: Do not check if the bottle can be marked as relocatable.
  • --force-core-tap: Build a bottle even if formula is not in homebrew/core or any installed taps.
  • --no-rebuild: If the formula specifies a rebuild version, remove it from the generated DSL.
  • --keep-old: If the formula specifies a rebuild version, attempt to preserve its value in the generated DSL.
  • --json: Write bottle information to a JSON file, which can be used as the value for --merge.
  • --merge: Generate an updated bottle block for a formula and optionally merge it into the formula file. Instead of a formula name, requires the path to a JSON file generated with brew bottle --json formula.
  • --write: Write changes to the formula file. A new commit will be generated unless --no-commit is passed.
  • --no-commit: When passed with --write, a new commit will not generated after writing changes to the formula file.
  • --only-json-tab: When passed with --json, the tab will be written to the JSON file but not the bottle.
  • --committer: Specify a committer name and email in git’s standard author format.
  • --root-url: Use the specified URL as the root of the bottle’s URL instead of Homebrew’s default.

bump [options] [formula|cask …]

Display out-of-date brew formulae and the latest version available. Also displays whether a pull request has been opened with the URL.

  • --full-name: Print formulae/casks with fully-qualified names.
  • --no-pull-requests: Do not retrieve pull requests from GitHub.
  • --formula: Check only formulae.
  • --cask: Check only casks.
  • --limit: Limit number of package results returned.

bump-cask-pr [options] cask

Create a pull request to update cask with a new version.

A best effort to determine the SHA-256 will be made if the value is not supplied by the user.

  • -n, --dry-run: Print what would be done rather than doing it.
  • --write: Make the expected file modifications without taking any Git actions.
  • --commit: When passed with --write, generate a new commit after writing changes to the cask file.
  • --no-audit: Don’t run brew audit before opening the PR.
  • --online: Run brew audit --online before opening the PR.
  • --no-style: Don’t run brew style --fix before opening the PR.
  • --no-browse: Print the pull request URL instead of opening in a browser.
  • --no-fork: Don’t try to fork the repository.
  • --version: Specify the new version for the cask.
  • --message: Append message to the default pull request message.
  • --url: Specify the URL for the new download.
  • --sha256: Specify the SHA-256 checksum of the new download.
  • -f, --force: Ignore duplicate open PRs.

bump-formula-pr [options] [formula]

Create a pull request to update formula with a new URL or a new tag.

If a URL is specified, the SHA-256 checksum of the new download should also be specified. A best effort to determine the SHA-256 and formula name will be made if either or both values are not supplied by the user.

If a tag is specified, the Git commit revision corresponding to that tag should also be specified. A best effort to determine the revision will be made if the value is not supplied by the user.

If a version is specified, a best effort to determine the URL and SHA-256 or the tag and revision will be made if both values are not supplied by the user.

Note: this command cannot be used to transition a formula from a URL-and-SHA-256 style specification into a tag-and-revision style specification, nor vice versa. It must use whichever style specification the formula already uses.

  • -n, --dry-run: Print what would be done rather than doing it.
  • --write: Make the expected file modifications without taking any Git actions.
  • --commit: When passed with --write, generate a new commit after writing changes to the formula file.
  • --no-audit: Don’t run brew audit before opening the PR.
  • --strict: Run brew audit --strict before opening the PR.
  • --online: Run brew audit --online before opening the PR.
  • --no-browse: Print the pull request URL instead of opening in a browser.
  • --no-fork: Don’t try to fork the repository.
  • --mirror: Use the specified URL as a mirror URL. If URL is a comma-separated list of URLs, multiple mirrors will be added.
  • --version: Use the specified version to override the value parsed from the URL or tag. Note that --version=0 can be used to delete an existing version override from a formula if it has become redundant.
  • --message: Append message to the default pull request message.
  • --url: Specify the URL for the new download. If a URL is specified, the SHA-256 checksum of the new download should also be specified.
  • --sha256: Specify the SHA-256 checksum of the new download.
  • --tag: Specify the new git commit tag for the formula.
  • --revision: Specify the new commit revision corresponding to the specified git tag or specified version.
  • -f, --force: Ignore duplicate open PRs. Remove all mirrors if --mirror was not specified.

bump-revision [--dry-run] [--message=] formula […]

Create a commit to increment the revision of formula. If no revision is present, “revision 1” will be added.

  • -n, --dry-run: Print what would be done rather than doing it.
  • --message: Append message to the default commit message.

bump-unversioned-casks [options] cask|tap […]

Check all casks with unversioned URLs in a given tap for updates.

  • -n, --dry-run: Do everything except caching state and opening pull requests.
  • --limit: Maximum runtime in minutes.
  • --state-file: File for caching state.

cat [--formula] [--cask] formula|cask

Display the source of a formula or cask.

  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

command command […]

Display the path to the file being used when invoking brew cmd.

create [options] URL

Generate a formula or, with --cask, a cask for the downloadable file at URL and open it in the editor. Homebrew will attempt to automatically derive the formula name and version, but if it fails, you’ll have to make your own template. The wget formula serves as a simple example. For the complete API, see: https://rubydoc.brew.sh/Formula

  • --autotools: Create a basic template for an Autotools-style build.
  • --cask: Create a basic template for a cask.
  • --cmake: Create a basic template for a CMake-style build.
  • --crystal: Create a basic template for a Crystal build.
  • --go: Create a basic template for a Go build.
  • --meson: Create a basic template for a Meson-style build.
  • --node: Create a basic template for a Node build.
  • --perl: Create a basic template for a Perl build.
  • --python: Create a basic template for a Python build.
  • --ruby: Create a basic template for a Ruby build.
  • --rust: Create a basic template for a Rust build.
  • --no-fetch: Homebrew will not download URL to the cache and will thus not add its SHA-256 to the formula for you, nor will it check the GitHub API for GitHub projects (to fill out its description and homepage).
  • --HEAD: Indicate that URL points to the package’s repository rather than a file.
  • --set-name: Explicitly set the name of the new formula or cask.
  • --set-version: Explicitly set the version of the new formula or cask.
  • --set-license: Explicitly set the license of the new formula.
  • --tap: Generate the new formula within the given tap, specified as user/repo.
  • -f, --force: Ignore errors for disallowed formula names and names that shadow aliases.

dispatch-build-bottle [options] formula […]

Build bottles for these formulae with GitHub Actions.

  • --tap: Target tap repository (default: homebrew/core).
  • --issue: If specified, post a comment to this issue number if the job fails.
  • --macos: Version of macOS the bottle should be built for.
  • --workflow: Dispatch specified workflow (default: dispatch-build-bottle.yml).
  • --upload: Upload built bottles to Bintray.
  • --linux: Dispatch bottle for Linux (using GitHub runners).

edit [--formula] [--cask] [formula|cask …]

Open a formula or cask in the editor set by EDITOR or HOMEBREW_EDITOR, or open the Homebrew repository for editing if no formula is provided.

  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.

extract [--version=] [--force] formula tap

Look through repository history to find the most recent version of formula and create a copy in tap. Specifically, the command will create the new formula file at tap/Formula/formula@version.rb. If the tap is not installed yet, attempt to install/clone the tap before continuing. To extract a formula from a tap that is not homebrew/core use its fully-qualified form of user/repo/formula.

  • --version: Extract the specified version of formula instead of the most recent.
  • -f, --force: Overwrite the destination formula if it already exists.

formula formula […]

Display the path where formula is located.

install-bundler-gems

Install Homebrew’s Bundler gems.

irb [--examples] [--pry]

Enter the interactive Homebrew Ruby shell.

  • --examples: Show several examples.
  • --pry: Use Pry instead of IRB. Implied if HOMEBREW_PRY is set.

linkage [options] [installed_formula …]

Check the library links from the given formula kegs. If no formula are provided, check all kegs. Raises an error if run on uninstalled formulae.

  • --test: Show only missing libraries and exit with a non-zero status if any missing libraries are found.
  • --reverse: For every library that a keg references, print its dylib path followed by the binaries that link to it.
  • --cached: Print the cached linkage values stored in HOMEBREW_CACHE, set by a previous brew linkage run.

livecheck [options] [formula|cask …]

Check for newer versions of formulae and/or casks from upstream.

If no formula or cask argument is passed, the list of formulae and casks to check is taken from HOMEBREW_LIVECHECK_WATCHLIST or ~/.brew_livecheck_watchlist.

  • --full-name: Print formulae/casks with fully-qualified names.
  • --tap: Check formulae/casks within the given tap, specified as user/repo.
  • --all: Check all available formulae/casks.
  • --installed: Check formulae/casks that are currently installed.
  • --newer-only: Show the latest version only if it’s newer than the formula/cask.
  • --json: Output information in JSON format.
  • -q, --quiet: Suppress warnings, don’t print a progress bar for JSON output.
  • --formula: Only check formulae.
  • --cask: Only check casks.

man [--fail-if-not-changed]

Generate Homebrew’s manpages.

Note: Not (yet) working on Apple Silicon.

  • --fail-if-not-changed: Return a failing status code if no changes are detected in the manpage outputs. This can be used to notify CI when the manpages are out of date. Additionally, the date used in new manpages will match those in the existing manpages (to allow comparison without factoring in the date).

pr-automerge [options]

Find pull requests that can be automatically merged using brew pr-publish.

  • --tap: Target tap repository (default: homebrew/core).
  • --with-label: Pull requests must have this label.
  • --without-labels: Pull requests must not have these labels (default: do not merge, new formula, automerge-skip, linux-only, linux to homebrew-core).
  • --without-approval: Pull requests do not require approval to be merged.
  • --publish: Run brew pr-publish on matching pull requests.
  • --autosquash: Instruct brew pr-publish to automatically reformat and reword commits in the pull request to our preferred format.
  • --ignore-failures: Include pull requests that have failing status checks.

pr-publish [options] pull_request […]

Publish bottles for a pull request with GitHub Actions. Requires write access to the repository.

  • --autosquash: If supported on the target tap, automatically reformat and reword commits in the pull request to our preferred format.
  • --message: Message to include when autosquashing revision bumps, deletions, and rebuilds.
  • --tap: Target tap repository (default: homebrew/core).
  • --workflow: Target workflow filename (default: publish-commit-bottles.yml).

pr-pull [options] pull_request […]

Download and publish bottles, and apply the bottle commit from a pull request with artifacts generated by GitHub Actions. Requires write access to the repository.

  • --no-publish: Download the bottles, apply the bottle commit and upload the bottles, but don’t publish them.
  • --no-upload: Download the bottles and apply the bottle commit, but don’t upload.
  • --no-commit: Do not generate a new commit before uploading.
  • -n, --dry-run: Print what would be done rather than doing it.
  • --clean: Do not amend the commits from pull requests.
  • --keep-old: If the formula specifies a rebuild version, attempt to preserve its value in the generated DSL.
  • --autosquash: Automatically reformat and reword commits in the pull request to our preferred format.
  • --branch-okay: Do not warn if pulling to a branch besides the repository default (useful for testing).
  • --resolve: When a patch fails to apply, leave in progress and allow user to resolve, instead of aborting.
  • --warn-on-upload-failure: Warn instead of raising an error if the bottle upload fails. Useful for repairing bottle uploads that previously failed.
  • --committer: Specify a committer name and email in git’s standard author format.
  • --message: Message to include when autosquashing revision bumps, deletions, and rebuilds.
  • --artifact: Download artifacts with the specified name (default: bottles).
  • --archive-item: Upload to the specified Internet Archive item (default: homebrew).
  • --bintray-org: Upload to the specified Bintray organisation (default: homebrew).
  • --tap: Target tap repository (default: homebrew/core).
  • --root-url: Use the specified URL as the root of the bottle’s URL instead of Homebrew’s default.
  • --bintray-mirror: Use the specified Bintray repository to automatically mirror stable URLs defined in the formulae (default: mirror).
  • --workflows: Retrieve artifacts from the specified workflow (default: tests.yml). Can be a comma-separated list to include multiple workflows.
  • --ignore-missing-artifacts: Comma-separated list of workflows which can be ignored if they have not been run.

pr-upload [options]

Apply the bottle commit and publish bottles to a host.

  • --no-publish: Apply the bottle commit and upload the bottles, but don’t publish them.
  • --keep-old: If the formula specifies a rebuild version, attempt to preserve its value in the generated DSL.
  • -n, --dry-run: Print what would be done rather than doing it.
  • --no-commit: Do not generate a new commit before uploading.
  • --warn-on-upload-failure: Warn instead of raising an error if the bottle upload fails. Useful for repairing bottle uploads that previously failed.
  • --committer: Specify a committer name and email in git’s standard author format.
  • --archive-item: Upload to the specified Internet Archive item (default: homebrew).
  • --bintray-org: Upload to the specified Bintray organisation (default: homebrew).
  • --github-org: Upload to the specified GitHub organisation’s GitHub Packages (default: homebrew).
  • --root-url: Use the specified URL as the root of the bottle’s URL instead of Homebrew’s default.

prof [--stackprof] command […]

Run Homebrew with a Ruby profiler. For example, brew prof readall.

Note: Not (yet) working on Apple Silicon.

  • --stackprof: Use stackprof instead of ruby-prof (the default).

release [--major] [--minor]

Create a new draft Homebrew/brew release with the appropriate version number and release notes.

By default, brew release will bump the patch version number. Pass --major or --minor to bump the major or minor version numbers, respectively. The command will fail if the previous major or minor release was made less than one month ago.

Requires write access to the Homebrew/brew repository.

  • --major: Create a major release.
  • --minor: Create a minor release.

rubocop

Installs, configures and runs Homebrew’s rubocop.

ruby [options] (-e text|file)

Run a Ruby instance with Homebrew’s libraries loaded. For example, brew ruby -e "puts :gcc.f.deps" or brew ruby script.rb.

  • -r: Load a library using require.
  • -e: Execute the given text string as a script.

sh [--env=] [--cmd=] [file]

Enter an interactive shell for Homebrew’s build environment. Use years-battle-hardened build logic to help your ./configure && make && make install and even your gem install succeed. Especially handy if you run Homebrew in an Xcode-only configuration since it adds tools like make to your PATH which build systems would not find otherwise.

  • --env: Use the standard PATH instead of superenv’s when std is passed.
  • -c, --cmd: Execute commands in a non-interactive shell.

sponsors

Update the list of GitHub Sponsors in the Homebrew/brew README.

style [options] [file|tap|formula|cask …]

Check formulae or files for conformance to Homebrew style guidelines.

Lists of file, tap and formula may not be combined. If none are provided, style will run style checks on the whole Homebrew library, including core code and all formulae.

  • --fix: Fix style violations automatically using RuboCop’s auto-correct feature.
  • --display-cop-names: Include the RuboCop cop name for each violation in the output.
  • --reset-cache: Reset the RuboCop cache.
  • --formula: Treat all named arguments as formulae.
  • --cask: Treat all named arguments as casks.
  • --only-cops: Specify a comma-separated cops list to check for violations of only the listed RuboCop cops.
  • --except-cops: Specify a comma-separated cops list to skip checking for violations of the listed RuboCop cops.

tap-new [options] user/repo

Generate the template files for a new tap.

  • --no-git: Don’t initialize a Git repository for the tap.
  • --pull-label: Label name for pull requests ready to be pulled (default: pr-pull).
  • --branch: Initialize Git repository and setup GitHub Actions workflows with the specified branch name (default: main).

test [options] installed_formula […]

Run the test method provided by an installed formula. There is no standard output or return code, but generally it should notify the user if something is wrong with the installed formula.

Example: brew install jruby && brew test jruby

  • -f, --force: Test formulae even if they are unlinked.
  • --HEAD: Test the head version of a formula.
  • --keep-tmp: Retain the temporary files created for the test.
  • --retry: Retry if a testing fails.

tests [options]

Run Homebrew’s unit and integration tests.

  • --coverage: Generate code coverage reports.
  • --generic: Run only OS-agnostic tests.
  • --no-compat: Do not load the compatibility layer when running tests.
  • --online: Include tests that use the GitHub API and tests that use any of the taps for official external commands.
  • --byebug: Enable debugging using byebug.
  • --only: Run only test_script_spec.rb. Appending :line_number will start at a specific line.
  • --seed: Randomise tests with the specified value instead of a random seed.

typecheck, tc [options]

Check for typechecking errors using Sorbet.

Not (yet) working on Apple Silicon.

  • --fix: Automatically fix type errors.
  • -q, --quiet: Silence all non-critical errors.
  • --update: Update RBI files.
  • --suggest-typed: Try upgrading typed sigils.
  • --fail-if-not-changed: Return a failing status code if all gems are up to date and gem definitions do not need a tapioca update.
  • --dir: Typecheck all files in a specific directory.
  • --file: Typecheck a single file.
  • --ignore: Ignores input files that contain the given string in their paths (relative to the input path passed to Sorbet).

unbottled [options] [formula …]

Show the unbottled dependents of formulae.

  • --tag: Use the specified bottle tag (e.g. big_sur) instead of the current OS.
  • --dependents: Skip getting analytics data and sort by number of dependents instead.
  • --total: Print the number of unbottled and total formulae.

unpack [options] formula […]

Unpack the source files for formula into subdirectories of the current working directory.

  • --destdir: Create subdirectories in the directory named by path instead.
  • --patch: Patches for formula will be applied to the unpacked source.
  • -g, --git: Initialise a Git repository in the unpacked source. This is useful for creating patches for the software.
  • -f, --force: Overwrite the destination directory if it already exists.

update-license-data [--fail-if-not-changed]

Update SPDX license data in the Homebrew repository.

  • --fail-if-not-changed: Return a failing status code if current license data’s version is the same as the upstream. This can be used to notify CI when the SPDX license data is out of date.

update-maintainers

Update the list of maintainers in the Homebrew/brew README.

update-python-resources [options] formula […]

Update versions for PyPI resource blocks in formula.

  • -p, --print-only: Print the updated resource blocks instead of changing formula.
  • -s, --silent: Suppress any output.
  • --ignore-non-pypi-packages: Don’t fail if formula is not a PyPI package.
  • --version: Use the specified version when finding resources for formula. If no version is specified, the current version for formula will be used.
  • --package-name: Use the specified package-name when finding resources for formula. If no package name is specified, it will be inferred from the formula’s stable URL.
  • --extra-packages: Include these additional packages when finding resources.
  • --exclude-packages: Exclude these packages when finding resources.

update-test [options]

Run a test of brew update with a new repository clone. If no options are passed, use origin/master as the start commit.

  • --to-tag: Set HOMEBREW_UPDATE_TO_TAG to test updating between tags.
  • --keep-tmp: Retain the temporary directory containing the new repository clone.
  • --commit: Use the specified commit as the start commit.
  • --before: Use the commit at the specified date as the start commit.

vendor-gems [--update=]

Install and commit Homebrew’s vendored gems.

  • --update: Update all vendored Gems to the latest version.

GLOBAL CASK OPTIONS

These options are applicable to the install, reinstall, and upgrade subcommands with the --cask flag.

  • --appdir: Target location for Applications (default: /Applications).

  • --colorpickerdir: Target location for Color Pickers (default: ~/Library/ColorPickers).

  • --prefpanedir: Target location for Preference Panes (default: ~/Library/PreferencePanes).

  • --qlplugindir: Target location for QuickLook Plugins (default: ~/Library/QuickLook).

  • --mdimporterdir: Target location for Spotlight Plugins (default: ~/Library/Spotlight).

  • --dictionarydir: Target location for Dictionaries (default: ~/Library/Dictionaries).

  • --fontdir: Target location for Fonts (default: ~/Library/Fonts).

  • --servicedir: Target location for Services (default: ~/Library/Services).

  • --input-methoddir: Target location for Input Methods (default: ~/Library/Input Methods).

  • --internet-plugindir: Target location for Internet Plugins (default: ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins).

  • --audio-unit-plugindir: Target location for Audio Unit Plugins (default: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components).

  • --vst-plugindir: Target location for VST Plugins (default: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST).

  • --vst3-plugindir: Target location for VST3 Plugins (default: ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3).

  • --screen-saverdir: Target location for Screen Savers (default: ~/Library/Screen Savers).

  • --language: Comma-separated list of language codes to prefer for cask installation. The first matching language is used, otherwise it reverts to the cask’s default language. The default value is the language of your system.

GLOBAL OPTIONS

These options are applicable across multiple subcommands.

  • -d, --debug: Display any debugging information.

  • -q, --quiet: Make some output more quiet.

  • -v, --verbose: Make some output more verbose.

  • -h, --help: Show this message.

OFFICIAL EXTERNAL COMMANDS

bundle [subcommand]

Bundler for non-Ruby dependencies from Homebrew, Homebrew Cask, Mac App Store and Whalebrew.

brew bundle [install]
Install and upgrade (by default) all dependencies from the Brewfile.

You can specify the Brewfile location using --file or by setting the HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_FILE environment variable.

You can skip the installation of dependencies by adding space-separated values to one or more of the following environment variables: HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_BREW_SKIP, HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_CASK_SKIP, HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_MAS_SKIP, HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_WHALEBREW_SKIP, HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_TAP_SKIP.

brew bundle will output a Brewfile.lock.json in the same directory as the Brewfile if all dependencies are installed successfully. This contains dependency and system status information which can be useful in debugging brew bundle failures and replicating a “last known good build” state. You can opt-out of this behaviour by setting the HOMEBREW_BUNDLE_NO_LOCK environment variable or passing the --no-lock option. You may wish to check this file into the same version control system as your Brewfile (or ensure your version control system ignores it if you’d prefer to rely on debugging information from a local machine).

brew bundle dump
Write all installed casks/formulae/images/taps into a Brewfile in the current directory.

brew bundle cleanup
Uninstall all dependencies not listed from the Brewfile.

This workflow is useful for maintainers or testers who regularly install lots of formulae.

brew bundle check
Check if all dependencies are installed from the Brewfile.

This provides a successful exit code if everything is up-to-date, making it useful for scripting.

brew bundle list
List all dependencies present in the Brewfile.

By default, only Homebrew dependencies are listed.

brew bundle exec command
Run an external command in an isolated build environment based on the Brewfile dependencies.

This sanitized build environment ignores unrequested dependencies, which makes sure that things you didn’t specify in your Brewfile won’t get picked up by commands like bundle install, npm install, etc. It will also add compiler flags which will help find keg-only dependencies like openssl, icu4c, etc.

  • --file: Read the Brewfile from this location. Use --file=- to pipe to stdin/stdout.
  • --global: Read the Brewfile from ~/.Brewfile.
  • -v, --verbose: install prints output from commands as they are run. check lists all missing dependencies.
  • --no-upgrade: install won’t run brew upgrade on outdated dependencies. Note they may still be upgraded by brew install if needed.
  • -f, --force: dump overwrites an existing Brewfile. cleanup actually performs its cleanup operations.
  • --cleanup: install performs cleanup operation, same as running cleanup --force.
  • --no-lock: install won’t output a Brewfile.lock.json.
  • --all: list all dependencies.
  • --formula: list Homebrew dependencies.
  • --cask: list Homebrew Cask dependencies.
  • --tap: list tap dependencies.
  • --mas: list Mac App Store dependencies.
  • --whalebrew: list Whalebrew dependencies.
  • --describe: dump adds a description comment above each line, unless the dependency does not have a description.
  • --no-restart: dump does not add restart_service to formula lines.
  • --zap: cleanup casks using the zap command instead of uninstall.

services [subcommand]

Manage background services with macOS’ launchctl(1) daemon manager.

If sudo is passed, operate on /Library/LaunchDaemons (started at boot). Otherwise, operate on ~/Library/LaunchAgents (started at login).

[sudo] brew services [list]
List all managed services for the current user (or root).

[sudo] brew services run (formula|--all)
Run the service formula without registering to launch at login (or boot).

[sudo] brew services start (formula|--all)
Start the service formula immediately and register it to launch at login (or boot).

[sudo] brew services stop (formula|--all)
Stop the service formula immediately and unregister it from launching at login (or boot).

[sudo] brew services restart (formula|--all)
Stop (if necessary) and start the service formula immediately and register it to launch at login (or boot).

[sudo] brew services cleanup
Remove all unused services.

  • --all: Run subcommand on all services.

test-bot [options] [formula]

Tests the full lifecycle of a Homebrew change to a tap (Git repository). For example, for a GitHub Actions pull request that changes a formula brew test-bot will ensure the system is cleaned and set up to test the formula, install the formula, run various tests and checks on it, bottle (package) the binaries and test formulae that depend on it to ensure they aren’t broken by these changes.

Only supports GitHub Actions as a CI provider. This is because Homebrew uses GitHub Actions and it’s freely available for public and private use with macOS and Linux workers.

  • --dry-run: Print what would be done rather than doing it.
  • --cleanup: Clean all state from the Homebrew directory. Use with care!
  • --skip-setup: Don’t check if the local system is set up correctly.
  • --build-from-source: Build from source rather than building bottles.
  • --keep-old: Run brew bottle --keep-old to build new bottles for a single platform.
  • --skip-relocation: Run brew bottle --skip-relocation to build new bottles that don’t require relocation.
  • --only-json-tab: Run brew bottle --only-json-tab to build new bottles that do not contain a tab.
  • --local: Ask Homebrew to write verbose logs under ./logs/ and set $HOME to ./home/
  • --tap: Use the Git repository of the given tap. Defaults to the core tap for syntax checking.
  • --fail-fast: Immediately exit on a failing step.
  • -v, --verbose: Print test step output in real time. Has the side effect of passing output as raw bytes instead of re-encoding in UTF-8.
  • --test-default-formula: Use a default testing formula when not building a tap and no other formulae are specified.
  • --bintray-org: Upload bottles to the given Bintray organisation.
  • --root-url: Use the specified URL as the root of the bottle’s URL instead of Homebrew’s default.
  • --git-name: Set the Git author/committer names to the given name.
  • --git-email: Set the Git author/committer email to the given email.
  • --ci-upload: Use the Homebrew CI bottle upload options.
  • --publish: Publish the uploaded bottles.
  • --skip-recursive-dependents: Only test the direct dependents.
  • --only-cleanup-before: Only run the pre-cleanup step. Needs --cleanup.
  • --only-setup: Only run the local system setup check step.
  • --only-tap-syntax: Only run the tap syntax check step.
  • --only-formulae: Only run the formulae steps.
  • --only-cleanup-after: Only run the post-cleanup step. Needs --cleanup.

CUSTOM EXTERNAL COMMANDS

Homebrew, like git(1), supports external commands. These are executable scripts that reside somewhere in the PATH, named brew-cmdname or brew-cmdname.rb, which can be invoked like brew cmdname. This allows you to create your own commands without modifying Homebrew’s internals.

Instructions for creating your own commands can be found in the docs: https://docs.brew.sh/External-Commands

SPECIFYING FORMULAE

Many Homebrew commands accept one or more formula arguments. These arguments can take several different forms:

  • The name of a formula: e.g. git, node, wget.

  • The fully-qualified name of a tapped formula: Sometimes a formula from a tapped repository may conflict with one in homebrew/core. You can still access these formulae by using a special syntax, e.g. homebrew/dupes/vim or homebrew/versions/node4.

  • An arbitrary file: Homebrew can install formulae from a local path. It can point to either a formula file or a bottle. Prefix relative paths with ./ to prevent them from being interpreted as a formula or tap name.

SPECIFYING CASKS

Many Homebrew Cask commands accept one or more cask arguments. These can be specified the same way as the formula arguments described in SPECIFYING FORMULAE above.

ENVIRONMENT

Note that environment variables must have a value set to be detected. For example, run export HOMEBREW_NO_INSECURE_REDIRECT=1 rather than just export HOMEBREW_NO_INSECURE_REDIRECT.

  • HOMEBREW_ARCH
    Linux only: Pass this value to a type name representing the compiler’s -march option.

    Default: native.

  • HOMEBREW_ARTIFACT_DOMAIN
    Prefix all download URLs, including those for bottles, with this value. For example, HOMEBREW_ARTIFACT_DOMAIN=http://localhost:8080 will cause a formula with the URL https://example.com/foo.tar.gz to instead download from http://localhost:8080/example.com/foo.tar.gz.

  • HOMEBREW_AUTO_UPDATE_SECS
    Automatically check for updates once per this seconds interval.

    Default: 300.

  • HOMEBREW_BAT
    If set, use bat for the brew cat command.

  • HOMEBREW_BAT_CONFIG_PATH
    Use this as the bat configuration file.

    Default: $HOME/.bat/config.

  • HOMEBREW_BINTRAY_KEY
    Use this API key when accessing the Bintray API (where bottles are stored).

  • HOMEBREW_BINTRAY_USER
    Use this username when accessing the Bintray API (where bottles are stored).

  • HOMEBREW_BOOTSNAP
    If set, use Bootsnap to speed up repeated brew calls. A no-op when using Homebrew’s vendored, relocatable Ruby on macOS (as it doesn’t work).

  • HOMEBREW_BOTTLE_DOMAIN
    Use this URL as the download mirror for bottles. If bottles at that URL are temporarily unavailable, the default bottle domain will be used as a fallback mirror. For example, HOMEBREW_BOTTLE_DOMAIN=http://localhost:8080 will cause all bottles to download from the prefix http://localhost:8080/. If bottles are not available at HOMEBREW_BOTTLE_DOMAIN they will be downloaded from the default bottle domain.

    Default: macOS: https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core, Linux: https://ghcr.io/v2/linuxbrew/core.

  • HOMEBREW_BREW_GIT_REMOTE
    Use this URL as the Homebrew/brew git(1) remote.

    Default: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew.

  • HOMEBREW_BROWSER
    Use this as the browser when opening project homepages.

    Default: $BROWSER or the OS’s default browser.

  • HOMEBREW_CACHE
    Use this directory as the download cache.

    Default: macOS: $HOME/Library/Caches/Homebrew, Linux: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/Homebrew or $HOME/.cache/Homebrew.

  • HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS
    Append these options to all cask commands. All --*dir options, --language, --require-sha, --no-quarantine and --no-binaries are supported. For example, you might add something like the following to your ~/.profile, ~/.bash_profile, or ~/.zshenv:

    export HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS="--appdir=~/Applications --fontdir=/Library/Fonts"

  • HOMEBREW_CLEANUP_PERIODIC_FULL_DAYS
    If set, brew install, brew upgrade and brew reinstall will cleanup all formulae when this number of days has passed.

    Default: 30.

  • HOMEBREW_CLEANUP_MAX_AGE_DAYS
    Cleanup all cached files older than this many days.

    Default: 120.

  • HOMEBREW_COLOR
    If set, force colour output on non-TTY outputs.

  • HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE
    Use this URL as the Homebrew/homebrew-core git(1) remote.

    Default: macOS: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core, Linux: https://github.com/Homebrew/linuxbrew-core.

  • HOMEBREW_CURLRC
    If set, do not pass --disable when invoking curl(1), which disables the use of curlrc.

  • HOMEBREW_CURL_RETRIES
    Pass the given retry count to --retry when invoking curl(1).

    Default: 3.

  • HOMEBREW_CURL_VERBOSE
    If set, pass --verbose when invoking curl(1).

  • HOMEBREW_DEVELOPER
    If set, tweak behaviour to be more relevant for Homebrew developers (active or budding) by e.g. turning warnings into errors.

  • HOMEBREW_DISABLE_LOAD_FORMULA
    If set, refuse to load formulae. This is useful when formulae are not trusted (such as in pull requests).

  • HOMEBREW_DISPLAY
    Use this X11 display when opening a page in a browser, for example with brew home. Primarily useful on Linux.

    Default: $DISPLAY.

  • HOMEBREW_DISPLAY_INSTALL_TIMES
    If set, print install times for each formula at the end of the run.

  • HOMEBREW_EDITOR
    Use this editor when editing a single formula, or several formulae in the same directory.

    Note: brew edit will open all of Homebrew as discontinuous files and directories. Visual Studio Code can handle this correctly in project mode, but many editors will do strange things in this case.

    Default: $EDITOR or $VISUAL.

  • HOMEBREW_FAIL_LOG_LINES
    Output this many lines of output on formula system failures.

    Default: 15.

  • HOMEBREW_FORBIDDEN_LICENSES
    A space-separated list of licenses. Homebrew will refuse to install a formula if it or any of its dependencies has a license on this list.

  • HOMEBREW_FORCE_BREWED_CURL
    If set, always use a Homebrew-installed curl(1) rather than the system version. Automatically set if the system version of curl is too old.

  • HOMEBREW_FORCE_BREWED_GIT
    If set, always use a Homebrew-installed git(1) rather than the system version. Automatically set if the system version of git is too old.

  • HOMEBREW_FORCE_HOMEBREW_ON_LINUX
    If set, running Homebrew on Linux will use URLs for macOS. This is useful when merging pull requests for macOS while on Linux.

  • HOMEBREW_FORCE_VENDOR_RUBY
    If set, always use Homebrew’s vendored, relocatable Ruby version even if the system version of Ruby is new enough.

  • HOMEBREW_GITHUB_API_TOKEN
    Use this personal access token for the GitHub API, for features such as brew search. You can create one at https://github.com/settings/tokens. If set, GitHub will allow you a greater number of API requests. For more information, see: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api#rate-limiting

    Note: Homebrew doesn’t require permissions for any of the scopes, but some developer commands may require additional permissions.

  • HOMEBREW_GITHUB_PACKAGES_TOKEN
    Use this GitHub personal access token when accessing the GitHub Packages Registry (where bottles may be stored).

  • HOMEBREW_GITHUB_PACKAGES_USER
    Use this username when accessing the GitHub Packages Registry (where bottles may be stored).

  • HOMEBREW_GIT_EMAIL
    Set the Git author and committer email to this value.

  • HOMEBREW_GIT_NAME
    Set the Git author and committer name to this value.

  • HOMEBREW_INSTALL_BADGE
    Print this text before the installation summary of each successful build.

    Default: The “Beer Mug” emoji.

  • HOMEBREW_INTERNET_ARCHIVE_KEY
    Use this API key when accessing the Internet Archive S3 API, where bottles are stored. The format is access:secret. See https://archive.org/account/s3.php

  • HOMEBREW_LIVECHECK_WATCHLIST
    Consult this file for the list of formulae to check by default when no formula argument is passed to brew livecheck.

    Default: $HOME/.brew_livecheck_watchlist.

  • HOMEBREW_LOGS
    Use this directory to store log files.

    Default: macOS: $HOME/Library/Logs/Homebrew, Linux: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/Homebrew/Logs or $HOME/.cache/Homebrew/Logs.

  • HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS
    Use this value as the number of parallel jobs to run when building with make(1).

    Default: The number of available CPU cores.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS
    If set, do not send analytics. For more information, see: https://docs.brew.sh/Analytics

  • HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE
    If set, do not automatically update before running some commands e.g. brew install, brew upgrade and brew tap.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_BOOTSNAP
    If set, do not use Bootsnap to speed up repeated brew calls.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALLED_DEPENDENTS_CHECK
    If set, do not check for broken dependents after installing, upgrading or reinstalling formulae.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_COLOR
    If set, do not print text with colour added.

    Default: $NO_COLOR.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_COMPAT
    If set, disable all use of legacy compatibility code.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_EMOJI
    If set, do not print HOMEBREW_INSTALL_BADGE on a successful build.

    Note: Will only try to print emoji on OS X Lion or newer.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_GITHUB_API
    If set, do not use the GitHub API, e.g. for searches or fetching relevant issues after a failed install.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_INSECURE_REDIRECT
    If set, forbid redirects from secure HTTPS to insecure HTTP.

    Note: While ensuring your downloads are fully secure, this is likely to cause from-source SourceForge, some GNU & GNOME-hosted formulae to fail to download.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP
    If set, brew install, brew upgrade and brew reinstall will never automatically cleanup installed/upgraded/reinstalled formulae or all formulae every HOMEBREW_CLEANUP_PERIODIC_FULL_DAYS days.

  • HOMEBREW_PRY
    If set, use Pry for the brew irb command.

  • HOMEBREW_SIMULATE_MACOS_ON_LINUX
    If set, running Homebrew on Linux will simulate certain macOS code paths. This is useful when auditing macOS formulae while on Linux. Implies HOMEBREW_FORCE_HOMEBREW_ON_LINUX.

  • HOMEBREW_SKIP_OR_LATER_BOTTLES
    If set along with HOMEBREW_DEVELOPER, do not use bottles from older versions of macOS. This is useful in development on new macOS versions.

  • HOMEBREW_SORBET_RUNTIME
    If set, enable runtime typechecking using Sorbet.

  • HOMEBREW_SVN
    Use this as the svn(1) binary.

    Default: A Homebrew-built Subversion (if installed), or the system-provided binary.

  • HOMEBREW_TEMP
    Use this path as the temporary directory for building packages. Changing this may be needed if your system temporary directory and Homebrew prefix are on different volumes, as macOS has trouble moving symlinks across volumes when the target does not yet exist. This issue typically occurs when using FileVault or custom SSD configurations.

    Default: macOS: /private/tmp, Linux: /tmp.

  • HOMEBREW_UPDATE_REPORT_ONLY_INSTALLED
    If set, brew update only lists updates to installed software.

  • HOMEBREW_UPDATE_TO_TAG
    If set, always use the latest stable tag (even if developer commands have been run).

  • HOMEBREW_VERBOSE
    If set, always assume --verbose when running commands.

  • HOMEBREW_DEBUG
    If set, always assume --debug when running commands.

  • HOMEBREW_VERBOSE_USING_DOTS
    If set, verbose output will print a . no more than once a minute. This can be useful to avoid long-running Homebrew commands being killed due to no output.

  • all_proxy
    Use this SOCKS5 proxy for curl(1), git(1) and svn(1) when downloading through Homebrew.

  • ftp_proxy
    Use this FTP proxy for curl(1), git(1) and svn(1) when downloading through Homebrew.

  • http_proxy
    Use this HTTP proxy for curl(1), git(1) and svn(1) when downloading through Homebrew.

  • https_proxy
    Use this HTTPS proxy for curl(1), git(1) and svn(1) when downloading through Homebrew.

  • no_proxy
    A comma-separated list of hostnames and domain names excluded from proxying by curl(1), git(1) and svn(1) when downloading through Homebrew.

  • SUDO_ASKPASS
    If set, pass the -A option when calling sudo(8).

USING HOMEBREW BEHIND A PROXY

Set the http_proxy, https_proxy, all_proxy, ftp_proxy and/or no_proxy environment variables documented above.

For example, to use an unauthenticated HTTP or SOCKS5 proxy:

export http_proxy=http://$HOST:$PORT

export all_proxy=socks5://$HOST:$PORT

And for an authenticated HTTP proxy:

export http_proxy=http://$USER:$PASSWORD@$HOST:$PORT

SEE ALSO

Homebrew Documentation: https://docs.brew.sh

Homebrew API: https://rubydoc.brew.sh

git(1), git-log(1)

AUTHORS

Homebrew’s Project Leader is Mike McQuaid.

Homebrew’s Project Leadership Committee is Issy Long, Jonathan Chang, Markus Reiter, Misty De Meo and Sean Molenaar.

Homebrew’s Technical Steering Committee is Bo Anderson, FX Coudert, Michka Popoff, Mike McQuaid and Rylan Polster.

Homebrew’s Linux maintainers are Daniel Nachun, Dawid Dziurla, Issy Long, Jonathan Chang, Michka Popoff and Shaun Jackman.

Homebrew’s other current maintainers are Alexander Bayandin, Caleb Xu, Carlo Cabrera, Claudia Pellegrino, Dustin Rodrigues, Eric Knibbe, Maxim Belkin, Miccal Matthews, Nanda H Krishna, Randall, Sam Ford, Steve Peters, Thierry Moisan, Tom Schoonjans, Vítor Galvão and rui.

Former maintainers with significant contributions include Jan Viljanen, JCount, commitay, Dominyk Tiller, Tim Smith, Baptiste Fontaine, Xu Cheng, Martin Afanasjew, Brett Koonce, Charlie Sharpsteen, Jack Nagel, Adam Vandenberg, Andrew Janke, Alex Dunn, neutric, Tomasz Pajor, Uladzislau Shablinski, Alyssa Ross, ilovezfs, Chongyu Zhu and Homebrew’s creator: Max Howell.

BUGS

See our issues on GitHub:

© 2009–present Homebrew contributors
Licensed under the BSD 2-Clause License.
https://docs.brew.sh/Manpage