install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install abricate

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Find antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in contigs

Project links

Commands and aliases

abricate
abricate-get_db

history

Project history and usage

ABRicate is a Perl command-line tool for mass screening assembled contigs against antimicrobial-resistance and virulence-gene databases. It matters to package maintainers because it wraps BLAST+, database setup, and summary reporting into a familiar Unix bioinformatics command.

Project history

The first GitHub release, v0.1, was published as 'Debut' on April 2, 2015. The README describes the project as mass screening of contigs for antimicrobial resistance or virulence genes and explains that the name combines the common acronym ABR, for antibiotic resistance, with an English-verb-like form.

Adoption history

ABRicate became useful in workflow packaging because the README documents Bioconda installation, source installation, dependency checks, database setup, and operation through a single abricate command. The current Homebrew input metadata shows it packaged for Homebrew, while upstream also advertises Bioconda download badges.

How it is used

The tool screens assemblies, not raw FASTQ reads, and reports gene hits with coverage, identity, database, accession, product, and resistance fields. It can process many files, read a file-of-filenames, summarize reports into a presence/absence matrix, update bundled databases, and build custom nucleotide databases.

Why package nerds care

ABRicate is a classic bioinformatics packaging target: a Perl entry point with external command dependencies, bundled or downloadable reference databases, and a check/setup workflow that packagers and workflow engines can exercise after install. Its release history also tracks database refreshes and CI migration.

Timeline

2015: v0.1 Debut release.
2020: v1.0.0 added file-of-filenames scanning, defaults around coverage/identity thresholds, MEGARES docs, and NCBI/CARD database support.
2025: v1.2.0 refreshed databases, moved CI to GitHub Actions, switched download code to Perl File::Fetch, and improved docs.
2026: v1.4.0 added a UPEC/ExPEC virulence-factors database and updated NCBI AMR data.

Related projects

The README points users to ARIBA, ResFinder, RGI, SRST2, and AMRFinderPlus when ABRicate is not the right fit. It also bundles or references databases including NCBI AMRFinderPlus, CARD, ResFinder, ARG-ANNOT, MEGARES, PlasmidFinder, VFDB, VICTORS, BacMet, and UPEC/ExPEC VF.

Sources

https://github.com/tseemann/abricate#readme
https://github.com/tseemann/abricate/releases
input source_facts.package-manager

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

Homebrew declares a post-install hook for this formula.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 3 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`abricate`	cli	global executable
`abricate-get_db`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version1.4.0

manager updated2026-06-22

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv1.4.0

https://github.com/tseemann/abricate

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:abricate
Version	1.4.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/abricate
Homepage	https://github.com/tseemann/abricate
Repository	https://github.com/tseemann/abricate
Upstream docs	https://github.com/tseemann/abricate#readme
License	GPL-2.0-only
Source archive	https://github.com/tseemann/abricate/archive/refs/tags/v1.4.0.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-22T14:02:40-07:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	any2fasta, bioperl, blast
Uses from macOS	perl, unzip
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	abricate
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/abricate.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install abricate with Homebrew