Brewy

Brewy is a native macOS Homebrew GUI written in SwiftUI by Patrick Linnane (starhaven-io). Instead of memorizing brew install, brew upgrade, and brew cleanup incantations, you browse installed formulae and casks, inspect dependency trees, manage taps and services, and run maintenance tasks from a Mac-native window. It targets people who already use Homebrew and want an inspectable interface for the work they repeat: reviewing what is installed, upgrading safely, cleaning orphaned packages, and understanding why something is on the machine. As of 2026, the canonical project lives at github.com/starhaven-io/Brewy under AGPL-3.0-only. Requirements are explicit: macOS 15.0 or later on Apple Silicon, with Homebrew installed (default path /opt/homebrew/bin/brew, configurable). Optional mas CLI integration surfaces Mac App Store apps. Installation is via Homebrew itself (brew install brewy from homebrew-cask, or the starhaven-io tap) or GitHub Releases with Sparkle auto-updates. Brewy's 2026 feature set goes beyond a thin install button. Highlights include Discover search across formulae and casks, reverse dependency trees, pin/unpin/link/unlink, upgrade-all or selective upgrades, services start/stop/restart with optional sudo, tap health checks for archived or moved GitHub repos, custom package collections, action history with safe retries, brew doctor and cache cleanup with dry-run previews for destructive maintenance, a menu bar extra showing outdated counts, and Brewfile handling that treats Brewfiles as code (SHA-256 trust before bundle operations). The security model is intentionally not sandboxed because it must execute your local brew; commands run through a centralized CommandRunner with argument arrays rather than shell strings. The Homebrew GUI landscape got crowded in 2026. Cork remains a polished paid/open-source peer; Taphouse shipped a strong free+Pro native manager (≈€9.99 Personal); Tappie, Applite, AutoBrew, and Brew Browser also compete. Brewy's differentiator is maintainer-grade depth (services, taps, dry-runs, Brewfile trust) plus Apple Silicon / macOS 15+ native focus rather than a minimal "click install" toy. Practical Mac setup notes for 2026: install from the vendor site or a trusted Homebrew cask/formula, confirm the app is notarized when Gatekeeper prompts, and grant only the privacy permissions the workflow requires (Full Disk Access, Accessibility, Screen Recording, and network filters are common asks). On Apple Silicon under macOS Tahoe 26.x, prefer universal or arm64 builds over Rosetta-only leftovers. Keep a short rollback plan, Time Machine, a Brewfile pin, or a previous DMG, before major upgrades that change on-disk formats. If the product includes AI features, re-verify model names, rate limits, and data-retention language every quarter because those change faster than UI chrome. For team rollouts, document who owns license renewal, where secrets live, and how to export data if you ever leave the tool. Open-source projects should be tracked by release tag in internal catalogs so a surprise upgrade does not break CI overnight. Finally, write down why you chose the app: when a flashy rival appears next season you will want a reasoned comparison instead of vibes.