Homebrew Scraper — Formulae, Casks & Install Stats

Homebrew Scraper pulls package metadata and install analytics from the Homebrew catalog — the package manager for macOS and Linux — as clean, structured data. Look up exact packages by name, filter the entire index by keyword, or export everything. Each formula (command-line software) or cask (macOS GUI app) comes back as one row with its name, tap, description, homepage, version, license, dependencies and 30-, 90- and 365-day install counts. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or XML. Built for developer tooling, package dashboards, popularity tracking and automation workflows.

What does this Homebrew Scraper do?

Give it names, a search term, or the "list all" flag and it returns every matching package as structured data:

• Look up exact packages — pass a list of names like wget, node, ffmpeg (or cask tokens such as google-chrome).
• Search the whole index — filter by a substring matched against the package name, full name and description (e.g. http).
• List everything — export the full formula or cask catalog, capped by Max items.
• Formulae or casks — switch the Type to read command-line software or macOS GUI apps.

What data can you get?

Field	Description
name	Package name / token (e.g. wget).
fullName	Fully-qualified name including tap namespace.
tap	The tap the package lives in (e.g. homebrew/core).
type	formula or cask.
description	Short description of the package.
homepage	Project homepage URL.
version	Current stable version.
license	SPDX license (formulae).
dependencies	List of required packages.
installs30d	Installs in the last 30 days.
installs90d	Installs in the last 90 days.
installs365d	Installs in the last 365 days.
deprecated	Whether the package is deprecated.
url	Canonical package page.

What you get

Each package is one clean dataset record. Export the full table to JSON, CSV, Excel or XML, or pull it programmatically.

{
  "name": "wget",
  "fullName": "wget",
  "tap": "homebrew/core",
  "type": "formula",
  "description": "Internet file retriever",
  "homepage": "https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/",
  "version": "1.25.0",
  "license": "GPL-3.0-or-later",
  "dependencies": ["libidn2", "libpsl", "openssl@3", "gettext", "libunistring"],
  "installs30d": 15831,
  "installs90d": 53565,
  "installs365d": 319982,
  "deprecated": false,
  "url": "https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/wget"
}

Use cases

• Track install popularity of packages over 30/90/365-day windows.
• Build a searchable directory of Homebrew formulae and casks.
• Monitor versions and flag deprecated dependencies across your toolchain.
• Enrich a developer dashboard or newsletter with package metadata and trends.
• Export the full catalog for analysis in a spreadsheet or data warehouse.

How to use the Homebrew Scraper

1. Add the Homebrew Scraper to your Apify account and open its input.
2. Enter package names under Package names, and/or a Search term, or toggle List all packages.
3. Choose the Type — Formula or Cask.
4. Set Max items to cap search / list-all results.
5. Click Run, then export the results as JSON, CSV, Excel or XML, or pull them via the Apify API.

Input

{
  "formulae": ["wget", "node", "ffmpeg"],
  "type": "formula",
  "maxItems": 100
}

Field	Description
formulae	Array of exact package names (or cask tokens) to look up.
search	Substring to filter the full index by name/description.
listAll	Return every package in the catalog (capped by maxItems).
type	formula (CLI software) or cask (macOS GUI apps).
maxItems	Maximum number of packages to return.

Need more developer & package data?

• npm Package Scraper — search npm, metadata and download counts.
• PyPI Scraper — Python package metadata and releases.
• Docker Hub Scraper — image metadata, tags and pull stats.

FAQ

Which packages are covered? The full Homebrew catalog — thousands of formulae (command-line software) and casks (macOS GUI applications) across their taps. Switch the Type input to choose which catalog to read.

Where do the install counts come from? Each package carries official Homebrew install analytics for the last 30, 90 and 365 days, returned as installs30d, installs90d and installs365d.

How do I export everything? Set List all packages to true and raise Max items. You can also combine exact names and a search term in a single run.

What export formats are supported? JSON, CSV, Excel and XML, plus programmatic access through the Apify API.

How does billing work? You pay per package scraped, so cost scales with the number of records you actually collect. See the Pricing tab for current rates.

Can I use this with n8n? Yes. Run the Homebrew Scraper from n8n with the Apify node — trigger a run, pass your names/search/type, and read the dataset items straight into your workflow. It also works with Make, Zapier and the Apify API.

Can I connect this to other tools? The Homebrew Scraper connects with almost any cloud service or web app thanks to integrations on the Apify platform. It works with Make, Zapier, Slack, Airbyte, GitHub, Google Drive and many more, plus the Apify API, JavaScript/Python clients and MCP. Or use webhooks to trigger an action whenever a run finishes.

Related Actors

• npm Package Scraper
• PyPI Scraper
• Docker Hub Scraper

Notes

Original clean-room implementation. Reads only publicly available package information. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Homebrew.