You don’t need to install Homebrew packages one by one

Shinichi Okada

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Jun 11 · 4 min read

[Update: 2021–06–30]

If you are programming on macOS, chances are you use Homebrew. Even if you are a Linux user, you may be using Homebrew. I install most of my apps and tools with Homebrew. On my 2017 macOS, I installed about 100 formulae and 30 casks with Homebrew.

This month, I got a new MacBook Pro (M1 chip) and I didn’t want to install all the apps and tools one by one. So I created Automate Brew Installer (Abi). Abi creates GitHub Gists from your Homebrew formulae and casks. It also installs Homebrew formulae (packages) and casks from these gist lists.

Table of Contents
· Prerequisite
· Homebrew’s Formula, Cask, and Tap
· Installing Abi
· Log Into GitHub
· Creating Gists
  ∘ File name and description
  ∘ A secret gist
· Edit Gist Lists
· Automate Brew InstallationConclusion

Prerequisite

You need to have a GitHub account and some experience with a terminal.

Homebrew’s Formula, Cask, and Tap

Homebrew calls its package definition files “formulae.” Homebrew-Cask is an extension to install GUI applications. When you install Homebrew casks, you find them in your Applications directory. A Homebrew tap is a package created by a third party, like you and me.

Let’s get started using Abi.

Installing Abi

You can run the following on your terminal to install Abi:

brew tap shinokada/abi && brew install abi

Or using Awesome package manager:

awesome -i shinokada/abi

Log Into Github

When you install Abi, it will install Github CLI gh. After installing Abi, log into GitHub using gh on your terminal:

gh auth login

Follow the instructions to log into Github.

Creating Gists

Let’s create a Homebrew formula gist and a cask gist on your Mac:

abi leaves

This creates a Homebrew formula gist with the default file name and description. The default file name and descriptions are “my-brew-formula” and “My brew list.” It will open a browser to show your gist.

Let’s create a Homebrew cask gist with the default file name and description:

abi cask

The default file name and descriptions for a cask gist are “my-brew-cask-formula” and “My brew cask list.”

File name and description

You can create a Homebrew gist with your description and file name using -d "description" -f file-name. Make sure that you have “cask” in the file name or description. Use quotes for your description since you will have spaces.

abi leaves -d "My brew list 2021-06-30" -f brew-list-mac-2017
abi cask -d "My brew cask list 2021-06-30" -f brew-cask-list-mac-2017

A public gist

You can create a public formula gist by using the -p flag:

abi leaves -p
# Or adding description and file name 
abi leaves -p -d "My secret gist" -f brew-list-2017

Edit Gist Lists

You may wish to edit the generated gist lists. Go through the gist and remove or add new formulae.

If you want to add more Homebrew formulae, find them on this website. Be careful not to mix formulae and casks. Casks have --cask in their formulae.

Automate Brew Installation

Now on another Mac, let’s install formulae from your gist.

Install Abi:

brew tap shinokada/abi && brew install abi

Install Homebrew formulae from a gist. Using the install flag installs the formulae from the Gist URL:

abi install Your-Gist-URL

For example:

abi install https://gist.github.com/shinokada/136f21f96170fb8f0fb0691bfd45242b

This will install Homebrew formulae and taps (remember that taps are listed with formulae).

Let’s install the Homebrew casks from a gist. Using the installcask flag indicates installing cask formulae. Again, add your cask Gist URL:

abi installcask Your-Gist-URL

For example:

abi installcask https://gist.github.com/shinokada/32f0cc30fb48be090bf541ad387def47

When you need help:

abi -h

Find out if you have the latest Abi version:

abi -v

Conclusion

If you want to install GNU core utilities, the macGNU package will install them using Homebrew.

Or you can use Abi to install them. Both options will result in the same installation.

Are you looking for popular Homebrew packages? Please see Top Homebrew Packages for 2020 by

Let me know what you think about Abi.

Happy coding!

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