zb bundle

Install packages from or export packages to a Brewfile

Manage package installations using Brewfiles, which are text files that list packages to install. This provides a declarative way to manage your development environment and makes it easy to reproduce setups across machines.

Usage

zb bundle [SUBCOMMAND] [OPTIONS]

Subcommands

install

Install packages from a Brewfile.

zb bundle install [OPTIONS]

Options:

--file · path

Alias: -f

Default: Brewfile

Path to the Brewfile to read packages from.

--no-link · boolean

Install formulas but skip linking them into the prefix directory.

dump

Export currently installed packages to a Brewfile.

zb bundle dump [OPTIONS]

Options:

--file · path

Alias: -f

Default: Brewfile

Path to write the Brewfile to.

--force · boolean

Overwrite the file if it already exists. Without this flag, dump will fail if the target file exists.

Global Options

--root · path

Environment: ZEROBREW_ROOT

Override the root directory for zerobrew’s content-addressable store.

--prefix · path

Environment: ZEROBREW_PREFIX

Override the prefix directory where packages are linked.

--concurrency · number

Default: 20

Number of concurrent operations to perform during installation.

--auto-init · boolean

Alias: --yes

Environment: ZEROBREW_AUTO_INIT

Automatically initialize zerobrew if not already set up.

Brewfile Format

Brewfiles use a simple text format compatible with Homebrew:

# Comments are supported
brew "jq"
brew "wget"
brew "git"

# Casks are supported
cask "docker-desktop"

# Taps are ignored by zerobrew
tap "homebrew/cask"

# Simple format also works
ripgrep
fd

Syntax rules:

• Lines starting with # are comments
• brew "name" - Install a formula
• cask "name" - Install a cask
• tap "name" - Ignored by zerobrew
• Plain package names are also supported
• Inline comments are supported: jq # JSON processor
• Duplicate entries are automatically deduplicated

Examples

Install from default Brewfile

Create a Brewfile in your current directory:

brew "jq"
brew "wget"
brew "git"

Then install:

zb bundle

==> Installing 3 formulas from Brewfile...
==> Installing jq...
==> Resolving dependencies (1 packages)...
    jq 1.7.1
==> Downloading and installing formulas...
    jq               ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✓ installed

==> Installed 1 packages in 2.45s
==> Installing wget...
...
==> Finished installing manifest in 15.32s

Install from custom file

zb bundle install -f myfile

==> Installing 5 formulas from myfile...
...

Export installed packages

zb bundle dump

==> Dumped 12 packages to Brewfile

Generated Brewfile:

brew "jq"
brew "wget"
brew "git"
brew "openssl@3"
brew "pcre2"
brew "gettext"
brew "ripgrep"
brew "fd"
brew "bat"
brew "exa"
brew "httpie"
brew "tree"

Dump to custom file

zb bundle dump -f ~/my-setup/Brewfile

==> Dumped 12 packages to /Users/username/my-setup/Brewfile

Overwrite existing file

zb bundle dump --force

Without --force, if the file exists:

Error: file Brewfile already exists (use --force to overwrite)

Install without linking

zb bundle install --no-link

All packages will be installed but not symlinked into your PATH.

Workflow Examples

Sync environment across machines

On machine A:

zb bundle dump
git add Brewfile
git commit -m "Update Brewfile"
git push

On machine B:

git pull
zb bundle install

Project-specific dependencies

Add a Brewfile to your project repository:

# Brewfile
brew "node"
brew "python@3.11"
brew "postgresql@15"
brew "redis"

Team members can install dependencies:

cd project
zb bundle install

Environment profiles

Create different Brewfiles for different purposes:

zb bundle dump -f Brewfile.dev      # Development tools
zb bundle dump -f Brewfile.data     # Data science tools
zb bundle dump -f Brewfile.ops      # DevOps tools

Switch environments:

zb bundle install -f Brewfile.data

Comparison with Homebrew

Feature	zerobrew	Homebrew
Install from Brewfile	zb bundle	brew bundle
Custom file	zb bundle install -f FILE	brew bundle --file=FILE
Export Brewfile	zb bundle dump	brew bundle dump
Force overwrite	zb bundle dump --force	brew bundle dump --force
No link	zb bundle install --no-link	Not available

Error Handling

File not found

zb bundle install -f missing.txt

Error: failed to read manifest missing.txt: No such file or directory

Empty Brewfile

If your Brewfile contains only comments:

Error: manifest Brewfile did not contain any formulas

File exists (dump)

zb bundle dump

If Brewfile already exists:

Error: file Brewfile already exists (use --force to overwrite)

Use --force to overwrite:

zb bundle dump --force

Related Commands

• zb install - Install individual packages
• zb list - List installed packages
• zb uninstall - Uninstall packages