zb outdated

List installed packages with available updates

The zb outdated command checks all installed packages against the latest available versions and reports which ones have updates available.

Usage

zb outdated [OPTIONS]

Options

--quiet · flag

Show only package names, one per line. Cannot be used with --verbose or --json.

--verbose · flag

Show detailed version information with color-coded output. Cannot be used with --quiet or --json.

--json · flag

Output results as JSON array. Cannot be used with --quiet or --verbose.

Description

This command compares the installed versions of all packages against the latest versions available in the formula repository. It’s useful for discovering which packages can be upgraded.

The command supports three output formats:

• Default: Shows package name with installed and available versions
• Quiet (--quiet): Shows only package names (useful for scripting)
• Verbose (--verbose): Shows detailed information with color highlighting
• JSON (--json): Machine-readable structured output

The --quiet, --verbose, and --json flags are mutually exclusive - you can only use one at a time.

Examples

Check for outdated packages with default output:

zb outdated

Output:

node (20.10.0) < 20.11.0
python (3.11.7) < 3.12.1

List only package names (quiet mode):

zb outdated --quiet

Output:

node
python

Show detailed version information:

zb outdated --verbose

Output:

node 20.10.0 → 20.11.0
python 3.11.7 → 3.12.1

Get JSON output for scripting:

zb outdated --json

Output:

[
  {
    "name": "node",
    "installed_versions": ["20.10.0"],
    "current_version": "20.11.0"
  },
  {
    "name": "python",
    "installed_versions": ["3.11.7"],
    "current_version": "3.12.1"
  }
]

Use in a shell script to upgrade outdated packages:

#!/bin/bash
for package in $(zb outdated --quiet); do
  zb install "$package"
done

Output Formats

Default Format

Shows package name with versions in the format: name (installed) < available

Quiet Format

One package name per line, with no additional information. This format is ideal for:

• Shell scripts that need to process the list
• Piping to other commands
• Counting outdated packages with wc -l

Verbose Format

Color-coded output showing:

• Package name
• Installed version (in red)
• Arrow separator
• Available version (in green)

JSON Format

Structured JSON array where each object contains:

• name: Package name
• installed_versions: Array of installed versions (currently always contains one version)
• current_version: Latest available version

When No Updates Available

When all packages are up to date:

zb outdated

Output:

==> All packages are up to date.

In quiet mode, no output is produced when everything is current.

Related Commands

• zb update - Update formula cache before checking for outdated packages
• zb install - Install or upgrade packages
• zb list - List all installed packages