# MacPorts

The MacPorts command-line client

Repository: https://github.com/macports/macports-base
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/macports
Homepage: https://trac.macports.org
Language: Tcl
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: macos, macosx, package-manager, macports, command-line
Last push: 2026-08-31T12:06:40+00:00
Link (homepage): https://trac.macports.org
Link (site_page): https://guide.macports.org/
Link (site_page): https://trac.macports.org/wiki/UsingMacPortsQuickStart
Link (site_page): https://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 100/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 99, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3616, "days_push": 2, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 17, "n_releases_24m": 20}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1025, forks 288 (observed 2026-09-01T02:14:03.899357+00:00)

## What it is
MacPorts is a package management system for macOS that compiles, installs, and manages open source software from Portfile definitions, installing everything self-contained under /opt/local. This repository holds the ports tree of package definitions plus the base infrastructure written in Tcl.

## Use cases
- install open source software on macos from the command line
- manage package dependencies on a mac
- build software from source on macos
- find an alternative to homebrew for mac package management
- keep command-line tools up to date on macos
- package and maintain a portfile for macos software

## When to choose
- you want a self-contained package ecosystem under /opt/local that doesn't touch system files
- you need to build packages from source with custom variants
- you need support for older macOS versions or PowerPC/legacy architectures
- you want fine-grained control over build options via variants

## When to avoid
- you prefer prebuilt binaries and fast installs - Homebrew is more popular
- you need a package manager for Linux or Windows
- you want minimal disk usage - source builds and dependencies can be large

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: package-manager, build-tool, cli
- domain: developer-tools, operating-systems, apple-ecosystem
- platform: cli
- tags: ports-tree, portfiles, tcl, open-source-software, homebrew-alternative, source-builds, command-line, macos

## Member repositories
- macports/macports-base (main) score 100
- macports/macports-ports (plugin) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-01T02:14:03.899357+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:19:56.048529+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/macports/macports-base (fetched 2026-09-01T02:14:03.899357+00:00, sha 6fa963905124)
  - homepage: https://trac.macports.org (fetched 2026-08-29T10:58:55.699392+00:00, sha 8ae3560d385d)
  - site_page: https://guide.macports.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:58:55.709835+00:00, sha 99049dd2abf7)
  - site_page: https://trac.macports.org/wiki/UsingMacPortsQuickStart (fetched 2026-08-29T10:58:55.717582+00:00, sha 72350209bea9)
  - site_page: https://trac.macports.org/wiki/FAQ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:58:55.719647+00:00, sha 8e1d4afcdb99)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.