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Displays all packages currently installed by zerobrew, showing their names and versions.

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Usage

zb list

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Arguments

This command takes no arguments.

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Options

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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.
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--auto-init
boolean
Alias: --yesEnvironment: ZEROBREW_AUTO_INITAutomatically initialize zerobrew if not already set up.

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Output Format

Each installed package is displayed on a single line: 
<name> <version>
  • name - The formula name (bold)
  • version - The installed version (dimmed)

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Examples

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List installed packages

zb list

jq 1.7.1
wget 1.21.4
git 2.44.0
openssl@3 3.2.1
pcre2 10.43
gettext 0.22.5

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No packages installed

If you haven’t installed any packages yet: 
zb list

No formulas installed.

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After installing packages

zb install jq wget
zb list

jq 1.7.1
wget 1.21.4
openssl@3 3.2.1
Note that dependencies (like openssl@3) are also shown.

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Use Cases

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Check what’s installed

Quickly see all packages managed by zerobrew: 
zb list

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Export to Brewfile

Use list output to manually create a Brewfile, or use zb bundle dump to do it automatically: 
zb bundle dump

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Count installed packages

zb list | wc -l

12

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Find specific package

zb list | grep node

node 21.6.2

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Script usage

Check if a package is installed in a script: 
if zb list | grep -q "^jq "; then
  echo "jq is installed"
else
  echo "jq is not installed"
  zb install jq
fi

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Implementation Details

The list command reads from zerobrew’s local installation database, which tracks:
  • Formula name
  • Installed version
  • Store key (content-addressable hash)
  • Installation timestamp
  • Link status
For more detailed information about a specific package, use zb info.

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Comparison with Homebrew

FeaturezerobrewHomebrew
List installedzb listbrew list
Output formatname + versionname only (or verbose)
Show dependenciesYesWith --formula
Machine-readableOutput is parseableUse brew list --json

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Performance

The list command is instant, as it reads from a local SQLite database rather than scanning the filesystem: 
time zb list > /dev/null

0.01s user 0.00s system 95% cpu 0.012 total

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