FastBrew CLI

The FastBrew CLI brings the public catalog and Brewfile utilities to your terminal. It is a single JavaScript file, requires Node.js 22 or later, and has no additional dependencies. No account or API key is required. It prepares package information and text; it does not install software or execute a Brewfile.

Download and run

Download fastbrew.mjs, review the source, then run it with Node.js. You can also download it with curl:

curl --fail --location --output fastbrew.mjs https://fastbrew.app/fastbrew.mjs
node fastbrew.mjs --help

Commands

node fastbrew.mjs search firefox --type cask
node fastbrew.mjs show cask:firefox
node fastbrew.mjs categories
node fastbrew.mjs stats
node fastbrew.mjs health
node fastbrew.mjs parse ./Brewfile
node fastbrew.mjs generate formula:git cask:firefox --text > Brewfile

Commands print JSON to standard output. The generate --text option prints only the generated Brewfile, so you can redirect it to a file. Shell redirection replaces an existing file; choose an output path carefully. Errors go to standard error and return a nonzero exit code. Read any parse errors and warnings in a successful response before using its package list.

Search and pagination

The search command accepts --type formula|cask, --category, --limit, --page, and --generation. To browse without a search term, use node fastbrew.mjs search. For later pages, pass the generation returned on page zero. Use --help for examples.

Network access and privacy

The CLI sends requests to https://fastbrew.app using API-Version: 1. The parse command uploads the chosen Brewfile's contents, or standard input when the filename is -. Remove secrets and private package entries before submitting them. Generation uploads the package identifiers you provide.

Requests have a 30-second timeout and are not retried automatically. For HTTP 429, the error includes the server's retry interval. The FASTBREW_API_URL environment variable can point to a local FastBrew server for development. See the developer documentation for schemas, limits, and version policy, and privacy information for data handling.