# Homebrew Scraper – macOS Formulae, Casks & Install Analytics (`ninhothedev/homebrew-scraper`) Actor

$1/1K 🔥 Fast Homebrew scraper! macOS formulae & casks — version, description & install analytics. No key. JSON, CSV, Excel or API in seconds. List packages & pull thousands of data points for dev & market intel ⚡

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ninhothedev/homebrew-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ninhothedev](https://apify.com/ninhothedev) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Homebrew Formula & Cask Scraper 🍺

Scrape **Homebrew** packages — formulae (CLI tools) and casks (macOS apps) — from
`formulae.brew.sh` into clean, structured JSON. Get descriptions, versions,
licenses, dependencies and **real 30-day / 365-day install analytics** for any
package you name. No API key, no login, datacenter-proxy friendly.

> Perfect for developer intelligence, package popularity tracking, DevOps
> auditing and open-source market research.

***

### What it does

Give it a mode and a list of package names. For each name it hits the official
per-package JSON endpoint and returns a normalised record. Missing names are
skipped, not fatal.

- **`formulae`** — command-line packages (e.g. `wget`, `git`, `node`)
- **`casks`** — GUI/macOS apps (e.g. `google-chrome`, `firefox`)

It never downloads Homebrew's giant full-index file — only fast, targeted
per-name lookups.

### Example output

**Formula** (`wget`):

```json
{
  "type": "formula",
  "name": "wget",
  "description": "Internet file retriever",
  "homepage": "https://www.gnu.org/software/wget/",
  "license": "GPL-3.0-or-later",
  "version": "1.25.0",
  "dependencies": ["libidn2", "libpsl", "openssl@3", "gettext", "libunistring"],
  "installs_30d": 18535,
  "installs_365d": 351514,
  "deprecated": false,
  "url": "https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/wget",
  "scraped_at": "2026-07-18T06:00:00+00:00"
}
```

**Cask** (`firefox`):

```json
{
  "type": "cask",
  "token": "firefox",
  "name": "Mozilla Firefox",
  "description": "Web browser",
  "homepage": "https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/",
  "version": "152.0.6",
  "installs_30d": 14660,
  "installs_365d": 201845,
  "url": "https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/firefox",
  "scraped_at": "2026-07-18T06:00:00+00:00"
}
```

### Input

| Field          | Type    | Description                                                        |
| -------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `mode`         | select  | `formulae` (CLI packages) or `casks` (macOS apps).                 |
| `formulaNames` | array   | Formula names to scrape when mode is `formulae`.                   |
| `caskNames`    | array   | Cask tokens to scrape when mode is `casks`.                        |
| `maxItems`     | integer | Cap on packages per run (default `100`, max `1000`).              |

```json
{
  "mode": "formulae",
  "formulaNames": ["wget", "git", "node"],
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

### Use cases

- **Developer intelligence** — track which tools your ecosystem depends on.
- **Package analytics** — monitor 30d/365d install trends for any package.
- **Market research** — compare adoption of competing tools or browsers.
- **DevOps** — audit dependency trees, spot deprecated packages in your stack.

### Pricing

Pay-as-you-go: roughly **~$1 per 1,000 packages** scraped, plus Apify platform
usage. Lightweight (512 MB) and fast — the API is static JSON.

### How it compares

| | This actor | Manual `brew info` | Scraping HTML |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Structured JSON | ✅ | ⚠️ text parse | ❌ brittle |
| Install analytics | ✅ 30d + 365d | ⚠️ separate cmd | ❌ |
| No local Homebrew needed | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Bulk lists | ✅ | ❌ | ⚠️ |
| Datacenter-friendly | ✅ | — | ⚠️ |

### Related actors

- [NPM Package Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/npm-package-scraper)
- [PyPI Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/pypi-scraper)
- [Hex Packages Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/hex-packages-scraper)
- [Docker Hub Scraper](https://apify.com/ninhothedev/docker-hub-scraper)

### Keywords

homebrew, brew, formulae, casks, macos packages, package analytics, install
counts, developer tools, dependency scraper, homebrew api

***

Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Homebrew project. Data comes from the
public `formulae.brew.sh` JSON API.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to scrape: 'formulae' (command-line packages, looked up by formula name) or 'casks' (GUI/macOS apps, looked up by cask token).

## `formulaNames` (type: `array`):

List of Homebrew formula names to scrape when mode is 'formulae' (e.g. 'wget', 'git', 'node'). Case-insensitive; unknown names are skipped.

## `caskNames` (type: `array`):

List of Homebrew cask tokens to scrape when mode is 'casks' (e.g. 'google-chrome', 'firefox'). Case-insensitive; unknown tokens are skipped.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of packages to scrape from the selected list. Protects against oversized runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "formulae",
  "formulaNames": [
    "wget",
    "git",
    "node"
  ],
  "caskNames": [
    "google-chrome",
    "firefox"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "formulaNames": [
        "wget",
        "git",
        "node"
    ],
    "caskNames": [
        "google-chrome",
        "firefox"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ninhothedev/homebrew-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "formulaNames": [
        "wget",
        "git",
        "node",
    ],
    "caskNames": [
        "google-chrome",
        "firefox",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ninhothedev/homebrew-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "formulaNames": [
    "wget",
    "git",
    "node"
  ],
  "caskNames": [
    "google-chrome",
    "firefox"
  ]
}' |
apify call ninhothedev/homebrew-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ninhothedev/homebrew-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/bf7v8UQv1sB0DN8Rj/builds/7p6TahEQJVUWgHjO3/openapi.json