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Installs one or more formulas from Homebrew, with support for pre-built bottles and source builds.

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Usage

zb install <FORMULAS>... [OPTIONS]

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Arguments

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FORMULAS
string[]
required
One or more formula names to install. Supports regular formulas and casks (prefixed with cask:).Examples: jq, wget, git, cask:docker-desktop

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Options

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--no-link
boolean
Install the formula but skip linking it into the prefix directory. The formula will be installed in the store but won’t be available in your PATH.Useful when you want to install a formula without making it immediately available.
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--build-from-source
boolean
Alias: -sBuild the formula from source instead of using pre-built bottles. This compiles the package locally using Homebrew’s Ruby DSL.Note: Source builds take significantly longer than installing bottles.
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--root
path
Environment: ZEROBREW_ROOTOverride the root directory for zerobrew’s content-addressable store.
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--prefix
path
Environment: ZEROBREW_PREFIXOverride the prefix directory where packages are linked.
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--concurrency
number
Default: 20Number of concurrent operations to perform during installation. Must be at least 1.
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--auto-init
boolean
Alias: --yesEnvironment: ZEROBREW_AUTO_INITAutomatically initialize zerobrew if not already set up.

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Examples

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Install a single package

zb install jq

==> Installing jq...
==> Resolving dependencies (1 packages)...
    jq 1.7.1
==> Downloading and installing formulas...
    jq               ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━   1.2MB/1.2MB   done

==> Installed 1 packages in 2.45s

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Install multiple packages

zb install wget git

==> Installing wget, git...
==> Resolving dependencies (5 packages)...
    wget 1.21.4
    git 2.44.0
    openssl@3 3.2.1
    pcre2 10.43
    gettext 0.22.5
==> Downloading and installing formulas...

==> Installed 5 packages in 8.32s

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Install without linking

zb install jq --no-link
The formula will be installed in the store but won’t be symlinked into your PATH. You can still run it using zbx jq.

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Build from source

zb install libsodium --build-from-source

==> Installing libsodium...
==> Resolving dependencies (1 packages)...
    libsodium 1.0.19
==> Downloading and installing formulas...
    libsodium        unpacking...

==> Installed 1 packages in 45.20s

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Install a cask

zb install cask:docker-desktop

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Performance

zerobrew uses several optimizations to speed up installations:
  • Content-addressable storage: Shared dependencies are deduplicated
  • APFS clonefiles: Zero-overhead copying on compatible filesystems
  • Concurrent downloads: Multiple packages downloaded in parallel
  • Warm cache: Previously downloaded bottles are reused
Typical speedups compared to Homebrew:
  • Cold cache (first install): 2-4x faster
  • Warm cache (reinstall): 7-30x faster

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Error Handling

If a file already exists in the prefix directory, zerobrew will report a link conflict: 
Error: The link step did not complete successfully.
The formula was installed, but is not symlinked into the prefix.

Possible conflicting files:
  /usr/local/bin/jq (symlink belonging to homebrew)
You can resolve this by:
  1. Uninstalling the conflicting package with Homebrew
  2. Using --no-link and running with zbx instead
  3. Manually removing the conflicting symlink

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Formula not found

If a formula doesn’t exist or isn’t supported: 
Error: Formula 'nonexistent' not found in homebrew-core

Try using Homebrew directly:
  brew install nonexistent

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