Homebrew
🍺 The Package Manager for Everywhere observed · 2026-10-16
Health v2 · maintenance only
95/100
- Activity 100
- Release rhythm 86
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-10-21. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 6
- age_days: 3880
- days_rel: 12
- days_push: 5
- n_releases_24m: 132
Adoption not part of the score
50023 stars · 11384 forks observed · 2026-10-16
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-09-21, confidence 0.99
Homebrew is a command-line package manager that installs and manages software on macOS, Linux, and Windows Subsystem for Linux. It uses Ruby scripts called formulae and casks to define how packages are built and installed.
Use cases
- install command-line tools and applications on macOS
- manage software dependencies on Linux via Homebrew/Linuxbrew
- install GUI applications on macOS using Homebrew Cask
- automate environment setup with Brewfile and brew bundle
- upgrade and uninstall packages consistently across systems
- create and distribute custom formulae for internal tools
When to choose
- You need a simple, scriptable package manager that works on macOS, Linux, and WSL.
- You prefer a community-driven repository of thousands of formulae and casks.
- You want to manage both CLI tools and macOS GUI apps from the terminal.
When to avoid
- You require a binary-only package manager with no source compilation.
- You need deep integration with non‑Unix platforms such as Windows native (outside WSL).
- You prefer a language‑specific manager (e.g., npm, pip) for project‑scoped dependencies.
Facets
cli-tool · maturity active
cli windows cli package-manager brew ruby homebrew formulae cask package-management devops macos linux
5 sources
- readme: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew · fetched 2026-10-16 · ae7488c641c1
- homepage: https://brew.sh · fetched 2026-09-07 · ec44355df065
- site_page: https://docs.brew.sh/Installation · fetched 2026-09-07 · 6c6ffadf9bfc
- site_page: https://docs.brew.sh/FAQ · fetched 2026-09-07 · 7650c9bb513f
- site_page: https://docs.brew.sh/ · fetched 2026-09-07 · 0237663b5710
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| Homebrew/brew | main | 95 |
| Homebrew/legacy-homebrew | mirror | 10 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-cask | backend | 68 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-core | backend | 77 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-bundle | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/install | infra | 77 |
| Homebrew/formulae.brew.sh | docs | 77 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-services | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-command-not-found | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-aliases | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-portable-ruby | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-test-bot | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/formula-patches | infra | 10 |
| Homebrew/homebrew-linux-fonts | infra | 10 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-10-19T08:05:51.212177+00:00 · Report a problem