install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install alda

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add alda

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · alda · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#alda

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/al/alda/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Music programming language for musicians

Project links

Commands and aliases

alda
alda-player

history

Project history and usage

Alda is a text-based music programming language and command-line toolchain for writing, playing, and experimenting with musical scores from plain text. Its niche is the overlap between music notation, live coding, algorithmic composition, and Unix-style text workflows.

Project history

The project is presented by its maintainers as a language for composing and playing music using only a text editor and the command line. The official site and README emphasize a markup-like syntax, General MIDI playback, examples, and an interactive REPL, positioning Alda as a music language that is approachable to musicians and still scriptable enough for programmers.

Alda's repository and site carry a 2012-2026 copyright notice for Dave Yarwood and contributors. The modern codebase is split into an `alda` client and `alda-player` playback process. Alda 2.0.0, released in June 2021, was a from-scratch rewrite in Go and Kotlin after the first generation had been mostly Clojure with a small Java client. The migration guide says Alda 2 kept the language mostly compatible while removing inline Clojure evaluation and introducing the separate player process.

Subsequent Alda 2 releases show ongoing package-maintainer concerns: player-process recovery, log4j security updates, `alda doctor`, MusicXML import, deterministic MIDI channel assignment, ARM Linux support, and memory reductions for lower-RAM devices such as Raspberry Pi.

Adoption history

Alda is distributed through several package managers in the supplied package facts, including Homebrew, apk, and Nix. Its official README points users to the website for installation, while also documenting source builds for the Go client and Kotlin/Java player.

The project also maintains community surfaces for package users rather than only library consumers: official docs, examples, a cheat sheet, a Slack group, a subreddit, and a REPL workflow. That makes it recognizable in CLI package indexes as a real end-user tool, not merely a language experiment.

How it is used

Typical use is `alda play --file score.alda`, `alda play --code "piano: c6 d12 e6 g12~4"`, or `alda repl` for interactive composition. Scores are text files, so users naturally keep them in version control, edit them with ordinary editors, and run them from scripts.

Alda's more advanced usage includes programmatic composition, MIDI export/import workflows, and multi-process playback. In Alda 2, the CLI starts `alda-player` as needed and provides diagnostic commands such as `alda doctor` to help with audio and player-process setup.

Why package nerds care

Alda is package-nerd interesting because it packages a whole creative runtime as a pair of CLI executables rather than as a GUI application. It depends on the host audio stack, JVM/player behavior, architecture-specific binaries, and language-level compatibility, all of which show up in changelog entries that matter to distro maintainers.

It also demonstrates the classic text-tool value proposition: a domain that is normally graphical, music notation and playback, becomes inspectable, diffable, scriptable, and automatable.

Timeline

2012: Project copyright period begins in official site and README notices.
2015: Official docs link Dave Yarwood's text-based music composition manifesto.
2021-06-30: Alda 2.0.0 released as a Go and Kotlin rewrite.
2023-05-07: Alda 2.2.5 added MusicXML import.
2024-06-22: Alda 2.3.0 reworked MIDI channel assignment.
2025-09-19: Alda 2.3.3 added broader Linux ARM support.
2026-05-12: Alda 2.4.3 reduced player memory usage.

Related projects

Alda's own migration guide identifies Alda 1 as the mostly Clojure predecessor and `alda-clj` as a Clojure DSL for algorithmic music that preserves part of the earlier Clojure-oriented workflow.
The docs connect Alda to General MIDI, MusicXML import, editor plugins, and the nREPL-inspired REPL client/server model.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: yellow

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

Risk classifier

yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime

Why

generalized runtime or code generation signal

Signals

text:programming language

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 2 build 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
`alda`	cli	global executable
`alda-player`	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 version2.4.3

manager updated2026-05-13

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/alda-lang/alda

infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/alda-lang/aldanone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:alda
Version	2.4.3
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/alda
Homepage	https://alda.io
Repository	https://github.com/alda-lang/alda
Upstream docs	https://alda.io/
License	EPL-2.0
Source archive	https://github.com/alda-lang/alda/archive/refs/tags/release-2.4.3.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-05-13T08:18:19Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	openjdk
Build dependencies	go, gradle@8
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

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

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

alda

nix profile install nixpkgs#alda

normalized package name match
Matched by: Alda

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/al/alda/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

apk95%

alda 2.3.2-r10

Music programming language for musicians

https://github.com/alda-lang/alda

sudo apk add alda

License: EPL-2.0
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: alda
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Alda

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: alda from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

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/alda.yml

Used sources

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

Install alda with Homebrew, apk, Nix