Brew cheat sheet

Install homebrew:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Uninstall homebrew:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/uninstall.sh)"

Analytics:

brew analytics 
# Displays analytics state, 
# with UUID
brew analytics on 
# Turns analytics On
brew analytics off 
# Turns analytics Off

Available Commands:

brew commands 
# The available brew commands

Commands Help:

brew help analytics 
# Shows help
# about the analytics command

Report Possible Problems:

brew doctor

Display Brew Configurations:

brew --config

Environment Variables Exports:

brew shellenv 
# Output environment variables exports,
# that can be added to your
# shell profile, for example
# ~/.profile, ~/.bash_profile, or
# ~/.zprofile, by inserting into
# any of them: eval $(brew shellenv)

Cache Path:

brew --cache 
# Where things get downloaded

Caskroom Path:

brew --caskroom 
# Path of the caskroom,
# a cask is a recipe for installing
# a GUI.app macos application
# , so this is a path containing
# metadata about the casks
# that you have installed.

Cellar Path:

brew --cellar 
# Brew is used
# to install Unix applications,
# a cellar is where all Unix
# applications are installed.

Build Environment:

brew --env 
# Brew build environment:
# for example the used gcc compiler...

Repository Information:

brew --repository 
# The path on the
# local machine, where the brew repository
# is synced.
brew --repository user/repo 
# The path on the local machine,
# where a repository containing,
# recipes for installing Unix applications,
# or a GUI.app macOS applications, is synced
brew --repository homebrew/homebrew-cask # Example
brew --repository homebrew/cask # Example

Update Brew And Installation Recipes:

brew update 
# To install software,
# brew uses formulas, and casks,
# located on Git repositories,
# synced to your local machine.
# A formula, is a recipe for installing
# a Unix application.
# A cask, is a recipe for installing
# GUI.app macOS applications.
# So this will update brew,
# the formulas, and the casks.

List, Add, Remove Repositories

brew tap 
# List repositories,
# you are syncing recipes,
# for installing, Unix, and
# GUI.app macOS applications, from.

brew tap homebrew/homebrew-cask 
# Adds the Git repository,
# homebrew-cask, which can also be referred
# using cask, since homebrew-, in the repository
# name can be dismissed, and which belongs to
# the user homebrew, as a locally synced source
# of recipes, from which applications can be installed.

brew tap user/repo URL 
# In this case,
# you must additionally specify,
# the URL of the GIT repository,
# to be synced.

brew untap homebrew/cask-versions 
# Remove a repository
# from being synced,
# as a source of recipes,
# usable for software installation

List Installed Applications:

brew list 
# List the installed applications,
# so the installed formulas, which are the
# Unix applications, and casks, which are
# the GUI.app, macOS applications.

Listing And Searching Available Applications:

brew formulae 
# List locally available to install formulas

brew casks 
# List locally available to install casks

brew search name_any 
# Search the names,
# of locally available to install,
# formulas, and casks, if any
# contains name_any. Additionally,
# the search is extended online, to
# homebrew/core, and homebrew/cask

brew search /regular_expression/ 
# Same as
# brew search name_any,
# but a regular expression,
# as in /n.n/, is used instead.

Downloading Packages:

brew fetch package_name 
# Fetch casks
# and formulas binaries. If a
# formula does not have a binary,
# fetch its source packages.

Installing/Upgrading Packages:

brew install nginx 
# Install or upgrade
# nginx, from the homebrew/core
# repo.

brew install username/repo/nginx 
# Install or upgrade nginx,
# from the username/repo
# repo.

brew install username/repo/nginx --with-modsecurity 
# Install or upgrade nginx,
# from a thrid party repo
# passing in, compilation
# options.

brew install tree google-chrome 
# Install or
# upgrade, tree and google-chrome.

View A formula Installation Options:

brew options nginx 
# View nginx
# formula installation options.

Get A Description Of A Formula:

brew desc nginx 
# One line
# description of formula.

Open A Cask Or Formula Homepage:

brew homepage google-chrome 
# Visit
# google chrome homepage.

Show Formula Requirements:

brew deps google-chrome 
# Show the
# dependencies of the
# google-chrome cask.

Managing Services:

[sudo] brew services run formula 
# Run the application in the
# background. For example,
# brew services run nginx
# runs nginx as the current user,
# and:
# sudo brew services run nginx,
# runs nginx as the root user.

[sudo] brew services start formula 
# Run the application in the
# background, and register
# it, to start at login.

[sudo] brew services stop formula 
# Stop the application, and
# remove it from starting
# at login.

[sudo] brew services restart formula 
# Stop the application if running,
# run it in the background,
# and register it to start at login.

[sudo] brew services 
# List the
# managed services, for the user.

[sudo] brew services cleanup 
# Remove
# unused services.

Upgrade Outdated Packages:

brew upgrade 
# Upgrade all
# installed casks and formulas,
# which have a newer version.
brew upgrade adobe-air 
# Upgrade adobe-air, if it has, 
# a newer version.

Forbid/Allow Formula Upgrade:

brew pin mysql 
# Forbid the mysql application,
# from being upgraded, by
# the brew upgrade command
brew unpin mysql 
# Allow
# the mysql application,
# to be upgraded.

Uninstall An Application:

brew uninstall atom 
# Uninstall
# the atom cask.

Packages That Require A Formula:

brew uses zlib 
# Show the
# casks, and formulas, that
# require the zlib formula,
# to be installed.

Leaves:

brew leaves 
# Show casks,
# and formulas, which are
# installed, and which are
# not dependencies, to
# other formulas.
brew leaves --installed-on-request 
# Show leaves, installed 
# on request.
brew leaves --installed-as-dependency 
# Show leaves, installed, as being
# part of a dependency.

Remove Unneeded Installed Dependencies:

brew autoremove 
# Remove formulas, which were installed,
# as being part of a required
# dependency, and are not
# needed anymore.

Cleanup:

brew cleanup 
# Remove stale lock, and downloaded
# files, for a formula, or a cask,
# and remove old versions,
# of a formula.

Originally published at https://difyel.com on January 21, 2022.