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/Homebrew

brew(1) – The missing package manager for macOS

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.

ESSENTIAL COMMANDS

For the full command list, see the COMMANDS section.

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

  • install formula: Install formula.

  • uninstall formula: Uninstall formula.

  • update: Fetch the newest version of Homebrew from GitHub using git(1).

  • list: List all installed formulae.

  • search (text|/text/): Perform a substring search of formula names for text. If text is surrounded with slashes, then it is interpreted as a regular expression. The search for text is extended online to some popular taps. If no search term is given, all locally available formulae are listed.

COMMANDS

  • analytics [state]: Display anonymous user behaviour analytics state. Read more at https://docs.brew.sh/Analytics.html.

  • analytics (on|off): Turn on/off Homebrew’s analytics.

  • analytics regenerate-uuid: Regenerate UUID used in Homebrew’s analytics.

  • cat formula: Display the source to formula.

  • cleanup [--prune=days] [--dry-run] [-s] [formulae]: For all installed or specific formulae, remove any older versions from the cellar. In addition, old downloads from the Homebrew download-cache are deleted.

    If --prune=days is specified, remove all cache files older than days.

    If --dry-run or -n is passed, show what would be removed, but do not actually remove anything.

    If -s is passed, scrub the cache, removing downloads for even the latest versions of formulae. Note downloads for any installed formulae will still not be deleted. If you want to delete those too: rm -rf $(brew --cache)

  • command cmd: Display the path to the file which is used when invoking brew cmd.

  • commands [--quiet [--include-aliases]]: Show a list of built-in and external commands.

    If --quiet is passed, list only the names of commands without the header. With --include-aliases, the aliases of internal commands will be included.

  • config: Show Homebrew and system configuration useful for debugging. If you file a bug report, you will likely be asked for this information if you do not provide it.

  • deps [--1] [-n] [--union] [--full-name] [--installed] [--include-build] [--include-optional] [--skip-recommended] [--include-requirements] formulae: Show dependencies for formulae. When given multiple formula arguments, show the intersection of dependencies for formulae.

    If --1 is passed, only show dependencies one level down, instead of recursing.

    If -n is passed, show dependencies in topological order.

    If --union is passed, show the union of dependencies for formulae, instead of the intersection.

    If --full-name is passed, list dependencies by their full name.

    If --installed is passed, only list those dependencies that are currently installed.

    By default, deps shows required and recommended dependencies for formulae. To include the :build type dependencies, pass --include-build. Similarly, pass --include-optional to include :optional dependencies. To skip :recommended type dependencies, pass --skip-recommended. To include requirements in addition to dependencies, pass --include-requirements.

  • deps --tree [--1] [filters] [--annotate] (formulae|--installed): Show dependencies as a tree. When given multiple formula arguments, output individual trees for every formula.

    If --1 is passed, only one level of children is displayed.

    If --installed is passed, output a tree for every installed formula.

    The filters placeholder is any combination of options --include-build, --include-optional, --skip-recommended, and --include-requirements as documented above.

    If --annotate is passed, the build, optional, and recommended dependencies are marked as such in the output.

  • deps [filters] (--installed|--all): Show dependencies for installed or all available formulae. Every line of output starts with the formula name, followed by a colon and all direct dependencies of that formula.

    The filters placeholder is any combination of options --include-build, --include-optional, and --skip-recommended as documented above.

  • desc formula: Display formula’s name and one-line description.

  • desc [-s|-n|-d] (text|/text/): Search both name and description (-s), just the names (-n), or just the descriptions (-d) for text. If text is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression. Formula descriptions are cached; the cache is created on the first search, making that search slower than subsequent ones.

  • diy [--name=name] [--version=version]: Automatically determine the installation prefix for non-Homebrew software.

    Using the output from this command, you can install your own software into the Cellar and then link it into Homebrew’s prefix with brew link.

    The options --name=name and --version=version each take an argument and allow you to explicitly set the name and version of the package you are installing.

  • doctor: Check your system for potential problems. Doctor exits 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.

  • fetch [--force] [--retry] [-v] [--devel|--HEAD] [--deps] [--build-from-source|--force-bottle] formulae: Download the source packages for the given formulae. For tarballs, also print SHA-256 checksums.

    If --HEAD or --devel is passed, fetch that version instead of the stable version.

    If -v is passed, do a verbose VCS checkout, if the URL represents a VCS. This is useful for seeing if an existing VCS cache has been updated.

    If --force (or -f) is passed, remove a previously cached version and re-fetch.

    If --retry is passed, retry if a download fails or re-download if the checksum of a previously cached version no longer matches.

    If --deps is passed, also download dependencies for any listed formulae.

    If --build-from-source (or -s) is passed, download the source rather than a bottle.

    If --force-bottle is passed, download a bottle if it exists for the current or newest version of macOS, even if it would not be used during installation.

  • gist-logs [--new-issue|-n] formula: Upload logs for a failed build of formula to a new Gist.

    formula is usually the name of the formula to install, but it can be specified in several different ways. See SPECIFYING FORMULAE.

    If --new-issue is passed, automatically create a new issue in the appropriate GitHub repository as well as creating the Gist.

    If no logs are found, an error message is presented.

  • home: Open Homebrew’s own homepage in a browser.

  • home formula: Open formula’s homepage in a browser.

  • info formula: Display information about formula.

  • info --github formula: Open a browser to the GitHub History page for formula formula.

    To view formula history locally: brew log -p formula``

  • info --json=version (--all|--installed|formulae): Print a JSON representation of formulae. Currently the only accepted value for version is v1.

    Pass --all to get information on all formulae, or --installed to get information on all installed formulae.

    See the docs for examples of using the JSON output: https://docs.brew.sh/Querying-Brew.html

  • install [--debug] [--env=(std|super)] [--ignore-dependencies|--only-dependencies] [--cc=compiler] [--build-from-source|--force-bottle] [--devel|--HEAD] [--keep-tmp] [--build-bottle] formula [options …]: Install formula.

    formula is usually the name of the formula to install, but it can be specified in several different ways. See SPECIFYING FORMULAE.

    If --debug (or -d) is passed and brewing fails, open an interactive debugging session with access to IRB or a shell inside the temporary build directory.

    If --env=std is passed, use the standard build environment instead of superenv.

    If --env=super is passed, use superenv even if the formula specifies the standard build environment.

    If --ignore-dependencies is passed, skip installing any dependencies of any kind. If they are not already present, the formula will probably fail to install.

    If --only-dependencies is passed, install the dependencies with specified options but do not install the specified formula.

    If --cc=compiler is passed, attempt to compile using compiler. compiler should be the name of the compiler’s executable, for instance gcc-4.2 for Apple’s GCC 4.2, or gcc-4.9 for a Homebrew-provided GCC 4.9.

    If --build-from-source (or -s) is passed, compile the specified formula from source even if a bottle is provided. Dependencies will still be installed from bottles if they are available.

    If HOMEBREW_BUILD_FROM_SOURCE is set, regardless of whether --build-from-source was passed, then both formula and the dependencies installed as part of this process are built from source even if bottles are available.

    If --force-bottle is passed, 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.

    If --devel is passed, and formula defines it, install the development version.

    If --HEAD is passed, and formula defines it, install the HEAD version, aka master, trunk, unstable.

    If --keep-tmp is passed, the temporary files created during installation are not deleted.

    If --build-bottle is passed, prepare the formula for eventual bottling during installation.

    Installation options specific to formula may be appended to the command, and can be listed with brew options formula.

  • install --interactive [--git] formula: If --interactive (or -i) is passed, 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 formula.

    If --git (or -g) is passed, Homebrew will create a Git repository, useful for creating patches to the software.

  • irb [--examples]: Enter the interactive Homebrew Ruby shell.

    If --examples is passed, several examples will be shown.

  • leaves: Show installed formulae that are not dependencies of another installed formula.

  • ln, link [--overwrite] [--dry-run] [--force] formula: Symlink all of formula’s installed files into the Homebrew prefix. This is done automatically when you install formulae but can be useful for DIY installations.

    If --overwrite is passed, Homebrew will delete files which already exist in the prefix while linking.

    If --dry-run or -n is passed, Homebrew will list all files which would be linked or which would be deleted by brew link --overwrite, but will not actually link or delete any files.

    If --force (or -f) is passed, Homebrew will allow keg-only formulae to be linked.

  • linkapps [--local] [formulae]: Find installed formulae that provide .app-style macOS apps and symlink them into /Applications, allowing for easier access (deprecated).

    Unfortunately brew linkapps cannot behave nicely with e.g. Spotlight using either aliases or symlinks and Homebrew formulae do not build “proper” .app bundles that can be relocated. Instead, please consider using brew cask and migrate formulae using .apps to casks.

    If no formulae are provided, all of them will have their apps symlinked.

    If provided, --local will symlink them into the user’s ~/Applications directory instead of the system directory.

  • list, ls [--full-name]: List all installed formulae. If --full-name is passed, print formulae with fully-qualified names. If --full-name is not passed, any other options (e.g. -t) are passed to ls which produces the actual output.

  • list, ls --unbrewed: List all files in the Homebrew prefix not installed by Homebrew.

  • list, ls [--versions [--multiple]] [--pinned] [formulae]: List the installed files for formulae. Combined with --verbose, recursively list the contents of all subdirectories in each formula’s keg.

    If --versions is passed, show the version number for installed formulae, or only the specified formulae if formulae are given. With --multiple, only show formulae with multiple versions installed.

    If --pinned is passed, show the versions of pinned formulae, or only the specified (pinned) formulae if formulae are given. See also pin, unpin.

  • log [git-log-options] formula …: Show the git log for the given formulae. Options that git-log(1) recognizes can be passed before the formula list.

  • migrate [--force] formulae: Migrate renamed packages to new name, where formulae are old names of packages.

    If --force (or -f) is passed, then treat installed formulae and passed formulae like if they are from same taps and migrate them anyway.

  • missing [--hide=hidden] [formulae]: Check the given formulae for missing dependencies. If no formulae are given, check all installed brews.

    If --hide=hidden is passed, act as if none of hidden are installed. hidden should be a comma-separated list of formulae.

  • options [--compact] (--all|--installed|formulae): Display install options specific to formulae.

    If --compact is passed, show all options on a single line separated by spaces.

    If --all is passed, show options for all formulae.

    If --installed is passed, show options for all installed formulae.

  • outdated [--quiet|--verbose|--json=version] [--fetch-HEAD]: Show formulae that have an updated version available.

    By default, version information is displayed in interactive shells, and suppressed otherwise.

    If --quiet is passed, list only the names of outdated brews (takes precedence over --verbose).

    If --verbose (or -v) is passed, display detailed version information.

    If --json=version is passed, the output will be in JSON format. The only valid version is v1.

    If --fetch-HEAD is passed, fetch the upstream repository to detect if the HEAD installation of the formula is outdated. Otherwise, the repository’s HEAD will be checked for updates when a new stable or devel version has been released.

  • pin formulae: Pin the specified formulae, preventing them from being upgraded when issuing the brew upgrade formulae`` command (but can still be upgraded as dependencies for other formulae). See also unpin.

  • postinstall formula: Rerun the post-install steps for formula.

  • prune [--dry-run]: Remove dead symlinks from the Homebrew prefix. This is generally not needed, but can be useful when doing DIY installations. Also remove broken app symlinks from /Applications and ~/Applications that were previously created by brew linkapps.

    If --dry-run or -n is passed, show what would be removed, but do not actually remove anything.

  • readall [tap]: Import all formulae from specified taps (defaults to all installed taps).

    This can be useful for debugging issues across all formulae when making significant changes to formula.rb, testing the performance of loading all formulae or to determine if any current formulae have Ruby issues.

  • reinstall formula: Uninstall and then install formula (with existing install options).

  • search, -S: Display all locally available formulae for brewing (including tapped ones). No online search is performed if called without arguments.

  • search [--desc] (text|/text/): Perform a substring search of formula names for text. If text is surrounded with slashes, then it is interpreted as a regular expression. The search for text is extended online to some popular taps.

    If --desc is passed, browse available packages matching text including a description for each.

  • search (--debian|--fedora|--fink|--macports|--opensuse|--ubuntu) text: Search for text in the given package manager’s list.

  • sh [--env=std]: Start a Homebrew build environment shell. Uses our years-battle-hardened Homebrew build logic to help your ./configure && make && make install or 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 otherwise build systems would not find.

    If --env=std is passed, use the standard PATH instead of superenv’s.

  • style [--fix] [--display-cop-names] [--only-cops=[COP1,COP2..]|--except-cops=[COP1,COP2..]] [files|taps|formulae]: Check formulae or files for conformance to Homebrew style guidelines.

    formulae and files may not be combined. If both are omitted, style will run style checks on the whole Homebrew Library, including core code and all formulae.

    If --fix is passed, style violations will be automatically fixed using RuboCop’s --auto-correct feature.

    If --display-cop-names is passed, the RuboCop cop name for each violation is included in the output.

    If --only-cops is passed, only the given Rubocop cop(s)’ violations would be checked.

    If --except-cops is passed, the given Rubocop cop(s)’ checks would be skipped.

    Exits with a non-zero status if any style violations are found.

  • switch name version: Symlink all of the specific version of name’s install to Homebrew prefix.

  • tap: List all installed taps.

  • tap [--full] user/repo [URL]: Tap a formula repository.

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

    With URL specified, taps a formula repository from anywhere, using any transport protocol that git 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.

    By default, the repository is cloned as a shallow copy (--depth=1), but if --full is passed, a full clone will be used. To convert a shallow copy to a full copy, you can retap passing --full without first untapping.

    tap is re-runnable and exits successfully if there’s nothing to do. However, retapping with a different URL will cause an exception, so first untap if you need to modify the URL.

  • tap --repair: Migrate tapped formulae from symlink-based to directory-based structure.

  • tap --list-official: List all official taps.

  • tap --list-pinned: List all pinned taps.

  • tap-info: Display a brief summary of all installed taps.

  • tap-info (--installed|taps): Display detailed information about one or more taps.

    Pass --installed to display information on all installed taps.

  • tap-info --json=version (--installed|taps): Print a JSON representation of taps. Currently the only accepted value for version is v1.

    Pass --installed to get information on installed taps.

    See the docs for examples of using the JSON output: https://docs.brew.sh/Querying-Brew.html

  • tap-pin tap: Pin tap, prioritizing its formulae over core when formula names are supplied by the user. See also tap-unpin.

  • tap-unpin tap: Unpin tap so its formulae are no longer prioritized. See also tap-pin.

  • uninstall, rm, remove [--force] [--ignore-dependencies] formula: Uninstall formula.

    If --force (or -f) is passed, and there are multiple versions of formula installed, delete all installed versions.

    If --ignore-dependencies is passed, uninstalling won’t fail, even if formulae depending on formula would still be installed.

  • unlink [--dry-run] formula: Remove symlinks for formula from the Homebrew prefix. This can be useful for temporarily disabling a formula: brew unlink formula && commands && brew link formula``

    If --dry-run or -n is passed, Homebrew will list all files which would be unlinked, but will not actually unlink or delete any files.

  • unlinkapps [--local] [--dry-run] [formulae]: Remove symlinks created by brew linkapps from /Applications (deprecated).

    Unfortunately brew linkapps cannot behave nicely with e.g. Spotlight using either aliases or symlinks and Homebrew formulae do not build “proper” .app bundles that can be relocated. Instead, please consider using brew cask and migrate formulae using .apps to casks.

    If no formulae are provided, all linked apps will be removed.

    If provided, --local will remove symlinks from the user’s ~/Applications directory instead of the system directory.

    If --dry-run or -n is passed, Homebrew will list all symlinks which would be removed, but will not actually delete any files.

  • unpack [--git|--patch] [--destdir=path] formulae: Unpack the source files for formulae into subdirectories of the current working directory. If --destdir=path is given, the subdirectories will be created in the directory named by path instead.

    If --patch is passed, patches for formulae will be applied to the unpacked source.

    If --git (or -g) is passed, a Git repository will be initialized in the unpacked source. This is useful for creating patches for the software.

  • unpin formulae: Unpin formulae, allowing them to be upgraded by brew upgrade formulae``. See also pin.

  • untap tap: Remove a tapped repository.

  • update [--merge] [--force]: Fetch the newest version of Homebrew and all formulae from GitHub using git(1) and perform any necessary migrations.

    If --merge is specified then git merge is used to include updates (rather than git rebase).

    If --force (or -f) is specified then always do a slower, full update check even if unnecessary.

  • update-reset: Fetches and resets Homebrew and all tap repositories using git(1) to their latest origin/master. Note this will destroy all your uncommitted or committed changes.

  • upgrade [install-options] [--cleanup] [--fetch-HEAD] [formulae]: Upgrade outdated, unpinned brews (with existing install options).

    Options for the install command are also valid here.

    If --cleanup is specified then remove previously installed formula version(s).

    If --fetch-HEAD is passed, fetch the upstream repository to detect if the HEAD installation of the formula is outdated. Otherwise, the repository’s HEAD will be checked for updates when a new stable or devel version has been released.

    If formulae are given, upgrade only the specified brews (but do so even if they are pinned; see pin, unpin).

  • uses [--installed] [--recursive] [--include-build] [--include-optional] [--skip-recommended] [--devel|--HEAD] formulae: Show the formulae that specify formulae as a dependency. When given multiple formula arguments, show the intersection of formulae that use formulae.

    Use --recursive to resolve more than one level of dependencies.

    If --installed is passed, only list installed formulae.

    By default, uses shows all formulae that specify formulae as a required or recommended dependency. To include the :build type dependencies, pass --include-build. Similarly, pass --include-optional to include :optional dependencies. To skip :recommended type dependencies, pass --skip-recommended.

    By default, uses shows usages of formulae by stable builds. To find cases where formulae is used by development or HEAD build, pass --devel or --HEAD.

  • --cache: Display Homebrew’s download cache. See also HOMEBREW_CACHE.

  • --cache formula: Display the file or directory used to cache formula.

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

  • --cellar formula: Display the location in the cellar where formula would be installed, without any sort of versioned directory as the last path.

  • --env: Show a summary of the Homebrew build environment.

  • --prefix: Display Homebrew’s install path. Default: /usr/local

  • --prefix formula: Display the location in the cellar where formula is or would be installed.

  • --repository: Display where Homebrew’s .git directory is located.

  • --repository user/repo: Display where tap user/repo’s directory is located.

  • --version: Print the version number of Homebrew to standard output and exit.

DEVELOPER COMMANDS

  • audit [--strict] [--fix] [--online] [--new-formula] [--display-cop-names] [--display-filename] [--only=method|--except=method] [--only-cops=[COP1,COP2..]|--except-cops=[COP1,COP2..]] [formulae]: Check formulae for Homebrew coding style violations. This should be run before submitting a new formula.

    If no formulae are provided, all of them are checked.

    If --strict is passed, additional checks are run, including RuboCop style checks.

    If --fix is passed, style violations will be automatically fixed using RuboCop’s --auto-correct feature.

    If --online is passed, additional slower checks that require a network connection are run.

    If --new-formula is passed, various additional checks are run that check if a new formula is eligible for Homebrew. This should be used when creating new formulae and implies --strict and --online.

    If --display-cop-names is passed, the RuboCop cop name for each violation is included in the output.

    If --display-filename is passed, every line of output is prefixed with the name of the file or formula being audited, to make the output easy to grep.

    If --only is passed, only the methods named audit_method`` will be run.

    If --except is passed, the methods named audit_method`` will not be run.

    If --only-cops is passed, only the given Rubocop cop(s)’ violations would be checked.

    If --except-cops is passed, the given Rubocop cop(s)’ checks would be skipped.

    audit exits with a non-zero status if any errors are found. This is useful, for instance, for implementing pre-commit hooks.

  • bottle [--verbose] [--no-rebuild|--keep-old] [--skip-relocation] [--root-url=URL] [--force-core-tap] formulae: Generate a bottle (binary package) from a formula 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.

    If --verbose (or -v) is passed, print the bottling commands and any warnings encountered.

    If --skip-relocation is passed, do not check if the bottle can be marked as relocatable.

    If --root-url is passed, use the specified URL as the root of the bottle’s URL instead of Homebrew’s default.

    If --force-core-tap is passed, build a bottle even if formula is not in homebrew/core or any installed taps.

  • bottle --merge [--keep-old] [--write [--no-commit]] formulae: Generate a bottle from a formula and print the new DSL merged into the existing formula.

    If --write is passed, write the changes to the formula file. A new commit will then be generated unless --no-commit is passed.

  • bump-formula-pr [--devel] [--dry-run [--write]] [--audit|--strict] [--mirror=URL] [--version=version] [--message=message] (--url=URL --sha256=sha-256|--tag=tag --revision=revision) formula: Creates a pull request to update the formula with a new URL or a new tag.

    If a URL is specified, the sha-256 checksum of the new download must 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 must also be specified.

    If --devel is passed, bump the development rather than stable version. The development spec must already exist.

    If --dry-run is passed, print what would be done rather than doing it.

    If --write is passed along with --dry-run, perform a not-so-dry run making the expected file modifications but not taking any git actions.

    If --audit is passed, run brew audit before opening the PR.

    If --strict is passed, run brew audit --strict before opening the PR.

    If --mirror=URL is passed, use the value as a mirror URL.

    If --version=version is passed, use the value 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.

    If --message=message is passed, append message to the default PR message.

    If --no-browse is passed, don’t pass the --browse argument to hub which opens the pull request URL in a browser. Instead, output it to the command line.

    Note that this command cannot be used to transition a formula from a URL-and-sha256 style specification into a tag-and-revision style specification, nor vice versa. It must use whichever style specification the preexisting formula already uses.

  • create URL [--autotools|--cmake|--meson] [--no-fetch] [--set-name name] [--set-version version] [--tap user/repo]: Generate a formula 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 have a look at http://www.rubydoc.info/github/Homebrew/brew/master/Formula.

    If --autotools is passed, create a basic template for an Autotools-style build. If --cmake is passed, create a basic template for a CMake-style build. If --meson is passed, create a basic template for a Meson-style build.

    If --no-fetch is passed, Homebrew will not download URL to the cache and will thus not add the SHA256 to the formula for you. It will also not check the GitHub API for GitHub projects (to fill out the description and homepage).

    The options --set-name and --set-version each take an argument and allow you to explicitly set the name and version of the package you are creating.

    The option --tap takes a tap as its argument and generates the formula in the specified tap.

  • edit: Open all of Homebrew for editing.

  • edit formula: Open formula in the editor.

  • formula formula: Display the path where formula is located.

  • linkage [--test] [--reverse] formula: Checks the library links of an installed formula.

    Only works on installed formulae. An error is raised if it is run on uninstalled formulae.

    If --test is passed, only display missing libraries and exit with a non-zero exit code if any missing libraries were found.

    If --reverse is passed, print the dylib followed by the binaries which link to it for each library the keg references.

  • man [--fail-if-changed]: Generate Homebrew’s manpages.

    If --fail-if-changed is passed, the command will return a failing status code if changes are detected in the manpage outputs. This can be used for CI to be notified 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).

  • pull [--bottle] [--bump] [--clean] [--ignore-whitespace] [--resolve] [--branch-okay] [--no-pbcopy] [--no-publish] [--warn-on-publish-failure] [--bintray-org=bintray-org] [--test-bot-user=test-bot-user] patch-source [patch-source]:

    Gets a patch from a GitHub commit or pull request and applies it to Homebrew. Optionally, installs the formulae changed by the patch.

    Each patch-source may be one of:

    ~ The ID number of a PR (pull request) in the homebrew/core GitHub repository

    ~ The URL of a PR on GitHub, using either the web page or API URL formats. In this form, the PR may be on Homebrew/brew, Homebrew/homebrew-core or any tap.

    ~ The URL of a commit on GitHub

    ~ A “https://jenkins.brew.sh/job/…” string specifying a testing job ID

    If --bottle is passed, handle bottles, pulling the bottle-update commit and publishing files on Bintray.

    If --bump is passed, for one-formula PRs, automatically reword commit message to our preferred format.

    If --clean is passed, do not rewrite or otherwise modify the commits found in the pulled PR.

    If --ignore-whitespace is passed, silently ignore whitespace discrepancies when applying diffs.

    If --resolve is passed, when a patch fails to apply, leave in progress and allow user to resolve, instead of aborting.

    If --branch-okay is passed, do not warn if pulling to a branch besides master (useful for testing).

    If --no-pbcopy is passed, do not copy anything to the system clipboard.

    If --no-publish is passed, do not publish bottles to Bintray.

    If --warn-on-publish-failure was passed, do not exit if there’s a failure publishing bottles on Bintray.

    If --bintray-org=bintray-org is passed, publish at the given Bintray organisation.

    If --test-bot-user=test-bot-user is passed, pull the bottle block commit from the specified user on GitHub.

  • release-notes [--markdown] [previous_tag] [end_ref]: Output the merged pull requests on Homebrew/brew between two Git refs. If no previous_tag is provided it defaults to the newest tag. If no end_ref is provided it defaults to origin/master.

    If --markdown is passed, output as a Markdown list.

  • tap-new user/repo: Generate the template files for a new tap.

  • test [--devel|--HEAD] [--debug] [--keep-tmp] formula: Most formulae provide a test method. brew test formula runs this test method. There is no standard output or return code, but it should generally indicate to the user if something is wrong with the installed formula.

    To test the development or head version of a formula, use --devel or --HEAD.

    If --debug (or -d) is passed and the test fails, an interactive debugger will be launched with access to IRB or a shell inside the temporary test directory.

    If --keep-tmp is passed, the temporary files created for the test are not deleted.

    Example: brew install jruby && brew test jruby

  • tests [--verbose] [--coverage] [--generic] [--no-compat] [--only=test_script[:line_number]] [--seed seed] [--online] [--official-cmd-taps]: Run Homebrew’s unit and integration tests. If provided, --only=test_script runs only test_script_spec.rb, and --seed randomizes tests with the provided value instead of a random seed.

    If --verbose (or -v) is passed, print the command that runs the tests.

    If --coverage is passed, also generate code coverage reports.

    If --generic is passed, only run OS-agnostic tests.

    If --no-compat is passed, do not load the compatibility layer when running tests.

    If --online is passed, include tests that use the GitHub API and tests that use any of the taps for official external commands.

  • update-test [--commit=commit] [--before=date] [--to-tag] [--keep-tmp]: Runs a test of brew update with a new repository clone.

    If no arguments are passed, use origin/master as the start commit.

    If --commit=commit is passed, use commit as the start commit.

    If --before=date is passed, use the commit at date as the start commit.

    If --to-tag is passed, set HOMEBREW_UPDATE_TO_TAG to test updating between tags.

    If --keep-tmp is passed, retain the temporary directory containing the new repository clone.

OFFICIAL EXTERNAL COMMANDS

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.html

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 URL: Homebrew can install formulae via URL, e.g. https://raw.github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/master/Formula/git.rb. The formula file will be cached for later use.

ENVIRONMENT

  • HOMEBREW_ARTIFACT_DOMAIN: If set, instructs Homebrew to use the given URL as a download mirror for bottles and binaries.

  • HOMEBREW_AUTO_UPDATE_SECS: If set, Homebrew will only check for autoupdates once per this seconds interval.

    Default: 60.

  • HOMEBREW_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, HOMEBREW_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: When using the S3 download strategy, Homebrew will look in these variables for access credentials (see https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-chap-getting-started.html#cli-environment to retrieve these access credentials from AWS). If they are not set, the S3 download strategy will download with a public (unsigned) URL.

  • HOMEBREW_BOTTLE_DOMAIN: If set, instructs Homebrew to use the given URL as a download mirror for bottles.

  • HOMEBREW_BROWSER: If set, uses this setting as the browser when opening project homepages, instead of the OS default browser.

  • HOMEBREW_BUILD_FROM_SOURCE: If set, instructs Homebrew to compile from source even when a formula provides a bottle. This environment variable is intended for use by Homebrew developers. Please do not file issues if you encounter errors when using this environment variable.

  • HOMEBREW_CACHE: If set, instructs Homebrew to use the given directory as the download cache.

    Default: ~/Library/Caches/Homebrew.

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

  • HOMEBREW_DEBUG: If set, any commands that can emit debugging information will do so.

  • HOMEBREW_DEBUG_INSTALL: When brew install -d or brew install -i drops into a shell, HOMEBREW_DEBUG_INSTALL will be set to the name of the formula being brewed.

  • HOMEBREW_DEBUG_PREFIX: When brew install -d or brew install -i drops into a shell, HOMEBREW_DEBUG_PREFIX will be set to the target prefix in the Cellar of the formula being brewed.

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

  • HOMEBREW_EDITOR: If set, Homebrew will 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. TextMate can handle this correctly in project mode, but many editors will do strange things in this case.

  • HOMEBREW_FORCE_BREWED_CURL: If set, Homebrew will use a Homebrew-installed curl rather than the system version.

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

  • HOMEBREW_GIT: When using Git, Homebrew will use GIT if set, a Homebrew-built Git if installed, or the system-provided binary.

    Set this to force Homebrew to use a particular git binary.

  • HOMEBREW_GITHUB_API_TOKEN: A personal access token for the GitHub API, which you can create at https://github.com/settings/tokens. If set, GitHub will allow you a greater number of API requests. See https://developer.github.com/v3/#rate-limiting for more information. Homebrew uses the GitHub API for features such as brew search.

    Note: Homebrew doesn’t require permissions for any of the scopes.

  • HOMEBREW_LOGS: If set, Homebrew will use the given directory to store log files.

  • HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: If set, instructs Homebrew to use the value of HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS 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, Homebrew will not send analytics. See: https://docs.brew.sh/Analytics.html

  • HOMEBREW_NO_AUTO_UPDATE: If set, Homebrew will not auto-update before running brew install, brew upgrade or brew tap.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_EMOJI: If set, Homebrew will not print the HOMEBREW_INSTALL_BADGE on a successful build.

    Note: Homebrew will only try to print emoji on Lion or newer.

  • HOMEBREW_NO_INSECURE_REDIRECT: If set, Homebrew will not permit redirects from secure HTTPS to insecure HTTP.

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

  • HOMEBREW_NO_GITHUB_API: If set, Homebrew will not use the GitHub API for e.g searches or fetching relevant issues on a failed install.

  • HOMEBREW_INSTALL_BADGE: Text printed before the installation summary of each successful build. Defaults to the beer emoji.

  • HOMEBREW_SVN: When exporting from Subversion, Homebrew will use HOMEBREW_SVN if set, a Homebrew-built Subversion if installed, or the system-provided binary.

    Set this to force Homebrew to use a particular svn binary.

  • HOMEBREW_TEMP: If set, instructs Homebrew to use HOMEBREW_TEMP as the temporary directory for building packages. This may be needed if your system temp 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.

  • HOMEBREW_VERBOSE: If set, Homebrew always assumes --verbose when running commands.

  • http_proxy: Sets the HTTP proxy to be used by curl, git and svn when downloading through Homebrew.

  • https_proxy: Sets the HTTPS proxy to be used by curl, git and svn when downloading through Homebrew.

  • ftp_proxy: Sets the FTP proxy to be used by curl, git and svn when downloading through Homebrew.

  • no_proxy: Sets the comma-separated list of hostnames and domain names that should be excluded from proxying by curl, git and svn when downloading through Homebrew.

USING HOMEBREW BEHIND A PROXY

Use the http_proxy, https_proxy, no_proxy and/or ftp_proxy documented above.

For example for an unauthenticated HTTP proxy:

export http_proxy=http://`host`:`port`

And for an authenticated HTTP proxy:

export http_proxy=http://`user`:`password`@`host`:`port`

SEE ALSO

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

brew-cask(1), git(1), git-log(1)

AUTHORS

Homebrew’s lead maintainer is Mike McQuaid.

Homebrew/homebrew-core’s lead maintainer is ilovezfs.

Homebrew’s other current maintainers are Alyssa Ross, Andrew Janke, Alex Dunn, FX Coudert, Josh Hagins, JCount, Misty De Meo, neutric, Tomasz Pajor, Markus Reiter, Tom Schoonjans, Uladzislau Shablinski and William Woodruff.

Former maintainers with significant contributions include Tim Smith, Baptiste Fontaine, Xu Cheng, Martin Afanasjew, Dominyk Tiller, Brett Koonce, Charlie Sharpsteen, Jack Nagel, Adam Vandenberg 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.html