mas mit Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix installieren

Projektlinks

• Homepage
• Upstream-Dokumentation
• Paketmanager-Seite

Befehle und Aliase

• mas

Projektgeschichte

The mas repository was created in August 2015, and v1.0.0 was released in September 2015 as the initial public release. Early releases quickly added app upgrade and App Store sign-in/sign-out commands, establishing the project's role as a bridge between command-line workflows and Apple's GUI-oriented app distribution system.

The project matured into a Swift-based macOS utility with a man page, `mas --help`, GitHub wiki documentation, and a command table in the README. Recent releases continue to track App Store behavior and macOS compatibility changes; the v6 series improved minimum-OS handling for outdated checks, and GitHub listed v7.0.0 as the latest release in May 2026 with optional JSON output and tabular output improvements.

Adoptionsgeschichte

mas became especially prominent in the Homebrew ecosystem because Homebrew Bundle can include Mac App Store applications in a Brewfile. The official README lists Homebrew Core, the mas tap, MacPorts, and GitHub Releases as installation routes, while the supplied package metadata also records Nix packaging.

With more than twelve thousand GitHub stars, mas is one of the better-known macOS-specific CLI tools. Its adoption reflects a common need among dotfile, laptop-bootstrap, and managed-Mac users: keeping App Store software in the same declarative or scripted workflow as Homebrew packages.

Wie es verwendet wird

Common commands include `search`, `lookup`, `list`, `outdated`, `get`, `install`, `lucky`, `update`, `uninstall`, `open`, and `home`. The README notes that detailed command documentation is available through `man mas` and `mas --help`.

The CLI depends on macOS and App Store behavior rather than a portable service API. Its README documents practical constraints such as App Store eventual consistency, Spotlight indexing requirements, free-app installation behavior, and the need to purchase paid apps directly in the App Store.

Warum Paket-Nerds sich dafür interessieren

mas is package-nerd glue: it does not replace Homebrew, but it fills the Mac App Store gap that Homebrew intentionally leaves alone. In Brewfiles, it lets a machine rebuild include both Unix packages and GUI App Store apps.

It is also a useful reminder that package management on macOS is plural. Homebrew, MacPorts, Apple's App Store, and system update mechanisms all own different slices, and mas gives one of those slices a scriptable face.

Zeitleiste

• 2015: GitHub repository created.
• 2015: v1.0.0 initial release.
• 2016: v1.1.0 adds sign-in and sign-out commands.
• 2026: v7.0.0 released with optional JSON output and improved tabular spacing.

Related projects

• mas is commonly paired with Homebrew Bundle for Brewfile-based Mac provisioning.
• It is related to macOS automation tools and update orchestrators such as Topgrade, both of which can call into system package managers.

Quellen

• https://api.github.com/repos/mas-cli/mas
• https://github.com/mas-cli/mas
• https://github.com/mas-cli/mas/releases?page=6
• https://github.com/mas-cli/mas/wiki
• source_facts.package-manager-url