homebrew-tap

This Homebrew tap installs clang-format, clang-tidy and other LLVM tools on macOS from pre-built static binaries, without building LLVM.

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Quick start

brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-format@21

Install with the full cpp-linter/tap/<formula> name. Homebrew adds the tap and trusts the formula you named, so no other step is needed.

Important

Short names such as brew install clang-tidy need brew tap cpp-linter/tap and brew trust cpp-linter/tap first: since Homebrew 6, formulae from third-party taps are not loaded until they are trusted. clang-format is also a Homebrew core formula, so brew install clang-format installs that one instead of this tap's. Write cpp-linter/tap/clang-format.

Usage

All 9 tools are bundled in the clang-tools formula, or can be installed individually:

brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-tools               # all 9 tools below
brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-format              # code formatter
brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-tidy                # linter / static analyzer
brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-query               # AST query tool
brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-apply-replacements  # apply clang-tidy fixes
brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-include-cleaner     # remove unused headers
brew install cpp-linter/tap/clang-scan-deps           # dependency scanner for modules
brew install cpp-linter/tap/llvm-cov                  # code coverage reporting
brew install cpp-linter/tap/llvm-profdata             # profile data tool
brew install cpp-linter/tap/llvm-symbolizer           # symbolizer for sanitizers / logs

Append @<version> for a specific LLVM version, for example cpp-linter/tap/clang-tools@21.

Updating

brew update
brew upgrade cpp-linter/tap/clang-tools

To update a single tool:

brew upgrade cpp-linter/tap/clang-format

A formula without @<version> moves to the next LLVM major version when this tap adds one, so brew upgrade can change its major version. @<version> formulae stay on theirs.

Supported versions

The formulae cover LLVM 19 to 23, for macOS only. Formulae without a version suffix install LLVM 23; @22, @21, @20 and @19 install those versions.

Each formula downloads the pre-built static binaries from the cpp-linter/clang-tools-static-binaries GitHub Releases matching your macOS architecture (ARM64 or x86_64).

The SHA-256 checksums are verified during installation.

Limitations

Every formula installs its tools under their plain names, such as clang-format, and Homebrew links only one formula's clang-format into its bin directory. If another formula already links it (another @<version>, clang-tools, or Homebrew core's clang-format), the new one is installed but not linked. Switch with brew unlink on the other formula and brew link on this one, or run the one that is not linked by its full path:

"$(brew --prefix cpp-linter/tap/clang-format@21)/bin/clang-format" --version

cpp-linter/tap/clang-format and Homebrew core's clang-format cannot be installed at the same time, because they have the same name.

Maintaining this tap

The Update Formula workflow runs daily and opens a pull request when a new clang-tools-static-binaries release changes the formulae. To update them by hand:

bash scripts/update-formula.sh <release-tag>

This will regenerate all Formula/*.rb files (both bundle and individual tool formulae) with the correct URLs and SHA-256 checksums.

The LLVM versions come from VERSIONS in scripts/update-formula.py. The script never deletes formulae, so remove the files of a version that leaves VERSIONS.

Contributing

See the contributing guide and report problems in issues.

License

The formulae and scripts in this repository are released under the MIT License. The tools they install are built from LLVM, which is under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.