install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install audiowaveform

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#audiowaveform

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

Windows

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/audiowaveform

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/audiowaveform.json · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Generate waveform data and render waveform images from audio files

Project links

Commands and aliases

audiowaveform

history

Project history and usage

audiowaveform is a C++ command-line utility for turning audio into compact waveform data and rendered waveform images. Its package-manager niche is the Unix-style batch tool for web audio, podcast tooling, archival previews, and any pipeline that needs waveform JSON, binary .dat data, or PNG output without opening a GUI editor.

Project history

The project began as a public source release on 2013-10-14 in the BBC GitHub repository, with Chris Needham as the author. The current official Codeberg repository records the BBC GitHub repository as its original URL, and the README now identifies Chris Needham and contributors as the authors.

The official changelog shows steady growth from the 1.0 series into a more general media conversion and rendering tool: direct PNG output arrived in 2013, JSON waveform output and configurable image colors in 2014, FLAC support in 2014, Ogg Vorbis and automatic zoom-to-width behavior in 2018, Opus input in 2022, bar-style rendering in 2023, raw audio input in 2024, and Windows UTF-8 filename support in 2025.

Adoption history

The README documents installation paths across Ubuntu PPA packages, Debian and RPM release assets, Arch AUR, Homebrew, Windows binaries, Docker, and Nix. The supplied package-manager facts also show Homebrew, Nix, and Scoop coverage, which matches its role as a small binary tool that packagers can expose as a single executable.

How it is used

The core command reads MP3, WAV, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, raw, .dat, or JSON waveform data and writes WAV, .dat, JSON, or PNG. It computes min/max sample pairs over a zoom window, can read or write standard streams with explicit formats, and can split channels or render fixed-width waveform images.

Why package nerds care

audiowaveform is interesting to package maintainers because it sits at the intersection of C++, image output, and codec libraries while still behaving like a classic filter-style CLI. Its release assets and package notes cover several Linux families, macOS/Homebrew, Windows, Docker, and Nix, making it a good example of a multimedia utility that is useful only when the binary and its codec dependencies are packaged cleanly.

Timeline

2013: Initial public release.
2014: JSON waveform output, image color options, and FLAC support were added.
2018: Ogg Vorbis input and automatic zoom-to-width rendering were added.
2022: Opus input support was added.
2023: Bar-style waveform rendering and JSON input support were added.
2025: The current Codeberg repository was created with the BBC GitHub repository listed as the original URL.
2026: Version 1.11.1 fixed Ubuntu packaging scripts.

Related projects

The README credits Audacity, madlld, and pdjson code, and links a separate compile-static-audiowaveform project for Windows binaries.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for audiowaveform. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 5 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 1 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
`audiowaveform`	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 version1.11.1

manager updated2026-05-17

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://codeberg.org/chrisn/audiowaveform

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://codeberg.org/chrisn/audiowaveformnone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:audiowaveform
Version	1.11.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/audiowaveform
Homepage	https://codeberg.org/chrisn/audiowaveform
Repository	https://codeberg.org/chrisn/audiowaveform
Upstream docs	https://codeberg.org/chrisn/audiowaveform/src/branch/master/CHANGELOG.md
License	GPL-3.0-only
Source archive	https://codeberg.org/chrisn/audiowaveform/archive/1.11.1.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-05-17T12:47:09Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	boost, gd, libid3tag, libsndfile, mad
Build dependencies	cmake
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	audiowaveform
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%

audiowaveform

nix profile install nixpkgs#audiowaveform

normalized package name match
Matched by: Audiowaveform

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

Scoop95%

main/audiowaveform

scoop install main/audiowaveform

normalized package name match
Matched by: Audiowaveform

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · api.github.com · Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/audiowaveform.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

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/audiowaveform.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 audiowaveform with Homebrew, Nix, scoop