If you’re looking to distribute your mac application (both command-line or graphical software) via Homebrew, the standard and most efficient approach is setting up a homebrew custom tap. This method allows you to instantly share your tools without relying on the official Homebrew core. Pairing your homebrew custom tap with GitHub Actions ensures fast, efficient, and automated updates.

✨ Advantages of a Custom Tap Over Homebrew Core

While contributing to the official homebrew/homebrew-core is prestigious, using your own custom tap offers significant practical benefits for software developers:

  • Instant Distribution: You don’t need to wait for Pull Request (PR) review or approval from Homebrew maintainers. The moment you push your formula or cask to your tap repository, it is available to users.

  • Full Control: You dictate the formula’s content, release cadence, and dependency versions. This is crucial for niche, proprietary, or rapidly evolving tools.

  • Simplified Requirements: Homebrew core has strict criteria (e.g., software must be popular, open-source, and not redundant). A custom tap bypasses nearly all of these rules.

  • Quicker Updates: For minor bug fixes or rapid iteration, updating your tap’s files is instantaneous, whereas core updates rely on the core team’s review queue.

💡 Conceptual Breakdown

1. Formula (CLI) vs. Cask (GUI)

Homebrew uses two methods: Formula for command-line tools and Cask for applications with a graphical interface.

FeatureFormula (CLI Tools)Cask (GUI Apps, e.g., React Native App)PurposeBuilds and installs CLI tools.Installs pre-compiled GUI apps (e.g., .app, .dmg, .zip).InstallationDownloads source code, compiles, installs to Cellar.Downloads binary, links to /Applications.Key Commandbrew install ``brew install --cask Example AppGit, jq, goVS Code, Chrome, Your React Native Desktop App

2. Tap

A Tap is a Git repository containing one or more Homebrew Formulae or Casks. It must be named homebrew-. Users access it via brew tap /.

3. Bottle and Automation

A Bottle (CLI) or pre-compiled binary (GUI) is a package for a specific architecture. Using GitHub Actions automates the process of generating these packages and updating the Formula or Cask file with the correct version and SHA256 checksum.

🔑 Key Fields in a Cask File (GUI App Example)

For GUI apps, you create a Cask file (.rb):

Method/VariableUsagePurposeurl``url "https://..."The required URL for the compressed app binary (e.g., .dmg, .zip).sha256``sha256 "0123..."The SHA256 checksum of the download file.app``app 'MyAppName.app'The core instruction telling Homebrew which file to link to the /Applications folder.def install**Not used.**Casks use specific directives like app, pkg, or suite instead of a custom install block.

🛠️ Tutorial: Creating and Automating Your Tap

The setup requires two repositories: your source code repo (myproject) and your tap repo (homebrew-tools).

Part A: Formula/Cask Creation (Tap Repository)

  • Tag a Release: In your Project Repository (myproject), create a Git tag (e.g., v1.0.0) and publish a release with the compiled binary (for Casks) or source archive (for Formulae).

  • Create the Tap Repository: On GitHub, create a new repository named homebrew-.

  • Generate the Formula/Cask:

For CLI (Formula): Use brew create --tap=myuser/homebrew-tools .

  • For GUI (Cask): Manually create the Cask file (Casks/myappname.rb) and populate the fields (version, url, sha256, app directive).

Part B: Automation with GitHub Actions (CD)

This uses a Personal Access Token (PAT) with Contents Read and Write permissions on the Tap Repository to allow the workflow to commit updates.

1. Workflow in the Tap Repository (homebrew-tools)

Create .github/workflows/bump_formula_cask.yml to automatically update the Formula or Cask file. The mislav/bump-homebrew-formula-action works for both:

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name: 🔄 Bump Formula/Cask on Release

# Triggered by the 'repository_dispatch' event from the main project repo
on:
  repository_dispatch:
    types: [new_release] 

jobs:
  bump:
    name: Bump Formula/Cask to ${{ github.event.client_payload.new_version }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        token: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}

    - name: Update Formula or Cask
      uses: mislav/bump-homebrew-formula-action@v1 
      with:
        formula-name: myproject # Tool's name (works for both Casks and Formulae)
        tag-name: ${{ github.event.client_payload.new_version }}
        github-token: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }} 
        commit-author: 'GitHub Actions '

2. Workflow in the Project Repository (myproject)

Create .github/workflows/release.yml to publish a release and notify the Tap repository.

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name: 🚀 Build and Release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+' # Trigger on new tags (e.g., v1.0.0)

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write 

    steps:
    # ... Build and archive your CLI source or GUI app binary here ...

    - name: Dispatch Homebrew Tap Update
      uses: peter-evans/repository-dispatch@v3
      with:
        token: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }}
        repository: myuser/homebrew-tools # The TARGET tap repository
        event-type: new_release
        client-payload: '{"new_version": "${{ env.VERSION }}"}'

Part C: User Installation

Users install based on the software type:

  • Tap the repository:brew tap myuser/tools

  • Install the software:# For a Command-Line Tool brew install myproject # For a GUI Application (Cask) brew install --cask myappname

  • One-Line Installation: The tap and installation steps can be combined into one command:# For CLI Tool brew install myuser/tools/myproject # For GUI App (Cask) brew install --cask myuser/tools/myappname

📚 References

For more detailed information on creating and maintaining Homebrew packages, refer to the official documentation: