ParseForge
Homebrew Formulae and Casks Scraper
parseforge/homebrew-formulae-scraper
Developer toolsAutomationOther
Scrapes Homebrew formulae and casks by name or from the full catalog. Returns version, description, dependencies, license, and install analytics for each package.
- Total users
- 2
- Monthly active
- 1
- Total runs
- 62
- Bookmarked
- 0
- Rating
- Not rated yet
- Last modified
- 12 days ago
Overview
Homebrew Formulae and Casks Scraper
Scrape Homebrew formulae and casks, from specific packages to the full catalog, up to a million per run. Every package comes with its version, description, dependencies, license, and install analytics. No API key. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML.
Homebrew's official JSON API is fine for one package at a time, but pulling the whole catalog means thousands of requests and your own pagination code. This reads the public formulae.brew.sh feeds directly, filtered by package name or type, and returns each match in one fixed schema.
| Who uses it | What they scrape Homebrew for |
|---|---|
| Developer tooling teams | Which versions and dependencies a formula currently pins |
| Mac administrators | Which casks are available for a given desktop app |
| Security researchers | Which licenses and source URLs a package declares |
| Market analysts | Install counts and trends across the Homebrew ecosystem |
What it does
This Actor collects Homebrew formulae and casks by exact name or from the full catalog, and returns each package as a flat row.
- 📦 Two catalogs: formulae for CLI packages and libraries, casks for macOS desktop apps.
- 🎯 Exact names or full catalog: pass specific tokens like wget or firefox, or leave the list empty to pull from the top of the catalog.
- 🔢 Install analytics: 30-day, 90-day, and 365-day install counts for every package.
- 🧩 Dependencies and metadata: version, description, license, homepage, and source URLs in one row.
- 📤 Multiple export formats: JSON, CSV, Excel, and XML, ready for your pipeline.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with Homebrew data
📈 Track package popularity.
A developer relations team pulls the full formula catalog weekly and ranks packages by 365-day install counts to decide which integrations to build next.
🔍 Audit dependencies.
A security engineer fetches specific formulae by name and checks their declared dependencies and licenses before approving them for internal use.
🖥️ Build a Mac app inventory.
A Mac administrator scrapes all casks to generate a list of available desktop applications, then compares it against the company's managed software catalog.
📊 Monitor version changes.
A data analyst runs the scraper daily on a watchlist of formulae and diffs the version field to spot upstream releases early.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API key | Reads the public formulae.brew.sh feeds directly, no registration or token. |
| One fixed schema | Every package returns the same flat row, so downstream code never breaks. |
| Scale to the full catalog | Collect up to a million formulae or casks in a single run. |
| Install analytics included | 30-day, 90-day, and 365-day counts come with each package. |
How it compares
This Actor focuses on the core catalog data with a simple name-or-catalog input, while the competitors below add search and analytics features.
| Feature | ParseForge | Homebrew Scraper | Homebrew Scraper - macOS Formulae, Casks & Install Analytics | Homebrew Scraper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fetch specific packages by name | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pull the full catalog | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Yes |
| Install analytics | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Search by description | Not listed | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Dependencies and licenses | Yes | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |
| Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, XML | Yes | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor from package names or the full catalog, and set a maximum number of formulae to collect per run. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
{
"maxItems": 10
}
A larger pull:
{
"maxItems": 200
}
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.0135 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $1.35 |
| 1,000 results | $13.50 |
| 10,000 results | $135.00 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the Homebrew Formulae and Casks Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to Homebrew through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/homebrew-formulae-scraper"
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check that the package names you entered are exact tokens. Homebrew names are case-sensitive and must match the formula or cask name exactly. If you left the names list empty, make sure the maximum formulae limit is at least 1.
Why is the run slow?
The Actor reads the public Homebrew API, which can be rate-limited. If you are pulling a large number of packages, try increasing the maximum formulae limit in smaller batches or running during off-peak hours.
Why are some fields empty?
Not all packages have every field. For example, some formulae may not declare a license or homepage. Empty fields are normal and reflect the source data.
Can I get install analytics for casks?
Yes, install analytics are available for both formulae and casks. If you see empty analytics for a cask, it may be newly added and not yet have enough data.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the difference between formulae and casks? | Formulae are command line packages and libraries installed with brew install. Casks are macOS desktop applications installed with brew install --cask. The Actor lets you choose which catalog to read. |
| Can I scrape the entire Homebrew catalog? | Yes. Leave the package names list empty and set a high maximum formulae limit. The Actor will pull packages from the full catalog until it reaches the limit. |
| How do I get install analytics for a package? | Install analytics are included automatically for every package. The output contains 30-day, 90-day, and 365-day install counts. |
| Do I need a Homebrew API key? | No. The Actor reads the public formulae.brew.sh feeds directly, so there is no registration or token required. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the results as JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Can I scrape only specific packages? | Yes. Pass exact formula or cask tokens in the package names field, for example wget, node, git, firefox, or google-chrome. |
| How many packages can I scrape in one run? | The maximum formulae limit can be set up to 1,000,000 packages per run. |
| What data is returned for each package? | Each row includes the package name, type, version, description, homepage, license, dependencies, source URLs, and install analytics. |
| Is this scraper legal? | The Actor reads only public data from formulae.brew.sh. You are responsible for complying with the Homebrew project's terms of service for your use case. |
| Can I schedule this scraper to run automatically? | Yes. You can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval you need. |
Related actors
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Homebrew Project. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
Input
| Field | Type | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| type | string (2 options) | Which Homebrew catalog to read. 'Formulae' are command line packages and libraries. 'Casks' are macOS desktop applications. | formula |
| names | array | Exact formula or cask tokens to fetch, for example 'wget', 'node', 'git' for formulae or 'firefox', 'google-chrome' for casks. Leave empty to take the first packages from the full catalog instead. | not set |
| maxItems | integer | Maximum number of formulae to collect per run. | 10 |
Pricing
from $6.11 per 1,000 results
| Charged for | What it is | Price each |
|---|---|---|
| result | Single result in the default dataset. | $0.00611 to $0.00675 |
| result details | Detailed result with additional fields. | $0.01221 to $0.0135 |
Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.
API
One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~homebrew-formulae-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"helloWorld": 123
}' Examples
Input that runs as-is.
{
"helloWorld": 123
} Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first.
Issues
We build and maintain this scraper, so a problem with it comes to us. Report it on the Apify listing and the thread stays attached to the scraper where the next person can find it: open an issue.
Broken and urgent, or you would rather not post in public? Write to parseforge@protonmail.com and it reaches the people who wrote it.
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