Homebrew and app updates
See, search, install, update and remove your Homebrew packages in the bar, and update the apps on your Mac from one list.
Homebrew
Type homebrew (or brew) and press ↵ on Homebrew. The list has your formulae and casks in groups:
| Group | What's in it |
|---|---|
| Updates | Packages with a newer version, each showing the old and new version. Always first. |
| Installed | Everything else you installed. |
| No longer needed | Packages that came in as a dependency and that nothing installed needs any more. |
| Results | Packages you don't have yet, found by a search. |
Select a package and its details fill in: the installed and latest version, whether it's a formula or a cask, whether you installed it or it came as a dependency, how many packages it needs and, for search results, how often it was installed in the last 30 days.
⇥ switches the list between All, Casks and Formulae; ⇧⇥ goes the other way.
Search
Type in the Homebrew view to filter your packages by name or description. A moment after you stop typing, Homebrew is searched too, and casks and formulae you don't have yet appear under Results, the most installed first.
From anywhere in the bar, type brew, a space and a name, like brew wget, and press ↵ on Search Homebrew for “wget”. Homebrew opens with that search.
Dependencies
A package you installed lists what it needs folded under it, with a count on its row. Press → to show them and ← to fold them again (with nothing typed in the field), or use Show Dependencies in ⌘K. A package shows in Updates when it or one of its dependencies has an update.
To see every package on its own row instead, choose Don't Group Dependencies in ⌘K, or turn off Group dependencies in Settings.
Install, update and remove
↵ does the obvious thing for the row: Update a package with an update, Install a search result, Uninstall one that's no longer needed, and otherwise Open Website. The rest is in ⌘K:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Update All ⇧⌘U | Updates every package that has an update. |
| Update Homebrew… | Fetches Homebrew's latest information (brew update), then reads your packages again. |
| Uninstall… ⌃X | Uninstalls the package. Its settings and caches stay on your Mac. |
| Uninstall and Zap… ⇧⌃X | Casks only: uninstalls the app and deletes the settings, caches and other files its recipe lists. |
| Open Website ⌘O | Opens the package's home page. |
| Copy Name ⇧⌘C | Copies the package's name. |
| Copy Install Command ⌥⌘C | Copies brew install with the name (and --cask for a cask). |
| Refresh ⌘R | Reads your packages again. |
Every change asks first. A card says what Homebrew will do, for example that dependencies may also be installed or updated. Press ⌘↵ to go ahead, or esc to cancel.
While a command runs
Homebrew runs one command at a time. Its progress shows below the list, with the time it has taken. Show Output (⌘L) shows what Homebrew prints as it goes, Copy Output copies it, and Cancel (⌘.) stops the command.
When Homebrew needs you
- A password. Some casks need your administrator password to install or remove. Saiki can't type it for you, so the command stops and offers Continue in Terminal, which opens Terminal with the same command. Terminal asks for the password; Saiki never sees it.
- A third-party tap. Homebrew asks before it uses a tap that isn't its own. When a command stops for that, choose Trust and Continue (or Trust … and Continue… in ⌘K). A card names the tap; confirm it and Saiki trusts the tap and runs the command again.
- No Homebrew yet. The view shows Install Homebrew. ↵ opens Terminal with Homebrew's official installer, which shows each step and asks for your password there. When it's done, ⌘R checks again.
- Terminal can't find brew. If Homebrew is installed but your shell isn't set up for it, Finish Terminal Setup opens Terminal with the line that adds it to your shell profile.
App Updates
Type app updates (or updates) and press ↵ on App Updates. Saiki checks your apps and lists the ones with a newer version, each with the old and new version and where the update comes from: Homebrew, the App Store or the app's developer. The first time you open it after Saiki starts, it always checks; after that, if it checked in the last ten minutes, it shows that answer instead of checking again. Check Now (⌘R) checks anyway. The line above the list says when it last checked and how many updates it found.
Update apps
Updates arrive ticked, so you can update everything at once:
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ↵ | Updates the selected app through its source. |
| ⌘↵ | Ticks or unticks the selected app. |
| ⇧⌘↵ | Updates every ticked app. |
| ⌘K | Also Tick All, Untick All, Show in Finder and Open App Store Updates. |
Each update goes through a card first, which says what will happen for each source:
- Homebrew: Homebrew downloads the new version and replaces the app in place.
- App Store: the App Store opens and installs the update.
- Developer: the app opens and its own updater installs the update, with its own checks. These rows can't be ticked; update them one at a time.
Exceptions
To stop seeing an update, press ⌘K on it and choose:
- Skip Version … hides this version. The next one shows again.
- Don't Check This App leaves the app out of every check.
You can also leave an app out from anywhere: select it in the bar, press ⌘K and choose Don't Check for Updates. Your exceptions are listed under Update Exceptions below the updates. Press ↵ on one (Remove Exception) to check that app again.
Where updates come from
Choose the sources in Settings → App Updates, in the Sources card:
| Setting | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Include Homebrew apps (on) | Apps installed as Homebrew casks, checked with Homebrew on your Mac. |
| Include apps from the App Store (off) | App Store apps, checked against Apple's lookup for your Mac's region. |
| Include other installed apps (off) | Other apps, checked with their developers' own update feeds, then Homebrew's public catalog. |
When an app's version can't be compared with the catalog's, Saiki shows no update for it rather than a wrong one. Check in the app itself.
Check in the background
Set Check in the background to Every day or Every week to have Saiki check on its own. It's Off to start with. With a schedule chosen and Tell me when an app has an update on, you get one notification when an app gets an update you weren't told about yet.
Settings
Settings → Homebrew:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Group dependencies (on) | Lists what a package needs folded under it. Off: every package on its own row. |
| Show how popular search results are (on) | Sorts search results by Homebrew's public install counts for the last 30 days. Nothing about you is sent. |
Settings → App Updates shows when it last checked and your update exceptions, then the background check and the sources above.
Each page has a switch at the top. Turning Homebrew off takes it out of the bar; turning App Updates off stops its checks and its timer. Until you choose a schedule, App Updates checks only when you open it.