Commands

• Frequently used Commands

  • Manipulate Formulae & Casks

    • brew update

    • brew upgrade

    • brew outdated

    • brew list/ls

    • brew search/-S <formula>: Use regular expression

    • brew install

    • brew uninstall/remove/rm

    • brew link

    • brew unlink

    • brew info

    • brew deps

  • Query Env Info

    • brew home

    • brew --prefix

    • brew --repository

    • brew --cache

    • brew --cellar

    • brew --caskroom

    • brew --env

    • brew shellenv

    • brew config

    • brew commands

    • brew doctor

    • brew help <cmd>

  • GLOBAL OPTIONS

Manipulate Formulae & Casks

brew update

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

$ brew update
Already up-to-date.

brew upgrade

Upgrade outdated casks and outdated&unpinned formulae using the same options they were originally installed with, plus any appended brew formula options.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).

brew outdated

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

brew list/ls

List all installed formulae and casks.

$ brew list
==> Formulae
autoconf	git		libtool		pcre2		ruby-build
automake	gmp		libunistring	pkg-config	tree
ca-certificates	libgpg-error	libyaml		pyenv		wget
coreutils	libidn2		m4		rbenv		zlib
gettext		libksba		openssl@1.1	readline

==> Casks
bob		eul		tinypng4mac

brew search/-S <formula>: Use regular expression

If <formula> is flanked by slashes, it is interpreted as a regular expression. e.g.:

$ brew search /^wget$/
==> Formulae
wget ✔

brew install

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

brew install wget

brew uninstall/remove/rm

Uninstall a formula or cask.

brew install wget

brew link

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.

brew link wget

brew unlink

Remove symlinks for formula from Homebrew's prefix. This can be useful for temporarily disabling a formula:

brew unlink formula && <some commands> && brew link formula

e.g.

brew unlink wget

brew info

Display brief statistics for your Homebrew installation.

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

$ brew info
24 kegs, 14,493 files, 135MB

$ brew info wget
wget: stable 1.21.3 (bottled), HEAD
Internet file retriever
https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/
/opt/homebrew/Cellar/wget/1.21.3 (89 files, 4.2MB) *
  Poured from bottle on 2022-02-28 at 14:55:22
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/HEAD/Formula/wget.rb
License: GPL-3.0-or-later
==> Dependencies
Build: pkg-config ✔
Required: libidn2 ✔, openssl@1.1 ✔
==> Options
--HEAD
	Install HEAD version
==> Analytics
install: 124,882 (30 days), 470,809 (90 days), 1,870,829 (365 days)
install-on-request: 124,131 (30 days), 468,274 (90 days), 1,862,068 (365 days)
build-error: 20 (30 days)

brew deps

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.

$ brew deps wget
ca-certificates
gettext
libidn2
libunistring
openssl@1.1

Query Env Info

brew home

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

$ brew home wget
Opening homepage for Formula wget

brew --prefix

Display Homebrew's install path. Default:

• macOS Intel: /usr/local

• macOS ARM: /opt/homebrew

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

$ brew --prefix
/opt/homebrew

$ brew --prefix wget
/opt/homebrew/opt/wget

brew --repository

Display where Homebrew's git repository is located.

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

$ brew --repository
/opt/homebrew

brew --cache

Display Homebrew's download cache. See also HOMEBREW_CACHE.

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

$ brew --cache
$HOME/Library/Caches/Homebrew

$ brew --cache wget
$HOME/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/9dbaee87bed54b8110762adcc9ea3d5d926453a4e3e4a20e70a963303a4d3eb5--wget--1.21.3.arm64_monterey.bottle.tar.gz

brew --cellar

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.

$ brew --cellar
/opt/homebrew/Cellar

brew --caskroom

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.

$ brew --caskroom
/opt/homebrew/Caskroom

brew --env

Summarize Homebrew's build environment as a plain list.

$ brew --env
HOMEBREW_CC: clang
HOMEBREW_CXX: clang++
MAKEFLAGS: -j8
CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH: /opt/homebrew
CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX12.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Versions/Current/Headers
CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX12.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/OpenGL.framework/Versions/Current/Libraries
PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR: /usr/lib/pkgconfig:/opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/os/mac/pkgconfig/12
HOMEBREW_GIT: git
HOMEBREW_SDKROOT: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX12.sdk
ACLOCAL_PATH: /opt/homebrew/share/aclocal
PATH: /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/shims/mac/super:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

brew 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. To help guarantee idempotence, this command produces no output when Homebrew's bin and sbin directories are first and second respectively in your PATH. Consider adding evaluation of this command's output to your dotfiles (e.g. ~/.profile, ~/.bash_profile, or ~/.zprofile) with: eval "$(brew shellenv)"

$ brew shellenv
export HOMEBREW_PREFIX="/opt/homebrew";
export HOMEBREW_CELLAR="/opt/homebrew/Cellar";
export HOMEBREW_REPOSITORY="/opt/homebrew";
export PATH="/opt/homebrew/bin:/opt/homebrew/sbin${PATH+:$PATH}";
export MANPATH="/opt/homebrew/share/man${MANPATH+:$MANPATH}:";
export INFOPATH="/opt/homebrew/share/info:${INFOPATH:-}";

brew config

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

$ brew config
HOMEBREW_VERSION: 3.5.1
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 2258ba5797c1ea8149a49673b5c080011c366237
Last commit: 5 days ago
Core tap ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
Core tap HEAD: f76e1aeb5b11fd4560ce16968a9df177a38dba4b
Core tap last commit: 6 hours ago
Core tap branch: master
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_CORE_GIT_REMOTE: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 8
Homebrew Ruby: 2.6.8 => /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/ruby
CPU: octa-core 64-bit arm_firestorm_icestorm
Clang: 13.1.6 build 1316
Git: 2.36.1 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 7.79.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 12.4-arm64
CLT: 13.4.0.0.1.1651278267
Xcode: 13.4.1
Rosetta 2: false

brew commands

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

$ brew commands
==> Built-in commands
--cache           casks             fetch             list              reinstall         update-report
--caskroom        cleanup           formulae          log               search            update-reset
--cellar          commands          gist-logs         migrate           shellenv          update
--env             completions       help              missing           tap-info          upgrade
--prefix          config            home              options           tap               uses
--repository      deps              info              outdated          uninstall         vendor-install
--version         desc              install           pin               unlink
analytics         developer         leaves            postinstall       unpin
autoremove        doctor            link              readall           untap

==> Built-in developer commands
audit                      edit                       pr-upload                  typecheck
bottle                     extract                    prof                       unbottled
bump-cask-pr               formula                    release                    unpack
bump-formula-pr            generate-man-completions   rubocop                    update-license-data
bump-revision              install-bundler-gems       ruby                       update-maintainers
bump-unversioned-casks     irb                        sh                         update-python-resources
bump                       linkage                    sponsors                   update-test
cat                        livecheck                  style                      vendor-gems
command                    pr-automerge               tap-new
create                     pr-publish                 test
dispatch-build-bottle      pr-pull                    tests

==> External commands
aspell-dictionaries                 determine-rebottle-runners          postgresql-upgrade-database

brew doctor

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.

brew help <cmd>

Or use brew <cmd> -h

Show help info for a command. e.g.:

$ brew config -h
Usage: brew 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.

  -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.

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.