install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install ballerina

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#ballerina

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

overview

Package summary

Programming Language for Network Distributed Applications

Project links

Commands and aliases

bal

history

Project history and usage

Ballerina is an open-source, cloud-native programming language developed by WSO2 for integration, network services, data handling, and API-oriented applications. The Homebrew package installs the `bal` toolchain for building, running, testing, formatting, packaging, and publishing Ballerina code.

Project history

The Ballerina homepage describes it as a programming language for the cloud that makes it easier to use, combine, and create network services. The same page says WSO2 has developed Ballerina since 2016 and that it was first released in February 2022.

The ballerina-platform/ballerina-lang GitHub repository was created on November 16, 2016. The project positions the language around integration as code, with built-in support for network protocols, data formats, connectors, concurrency, sequence-diagram-oriented views, and cloud-native deployment.

Adoption history

Ballerina adoption is tied to WSO2's integration ecosystem, Ballerina Central, and users building services, connectors, data pipelines, and enterprise integration patterns. The homepage lists users and case-study links including WSO2, Red Cross Elixir, Fat Tuesday, MOSIP, QHAna, RAAPID, Choreo, Tech Venturas, Visualize HR, and Avinya Foundation.

Package-manager adoption is narrower than mainstream languages but present: the input facts list Homebrew and Nix packages. The Homebrew formula API reported stable version 2201.13.4 with 24 installs in the previous 30 days as of June 30, 2026.

How it is used

The `bal` CLI supports project and module workflows around `Ballerina.toml`, runtime configuration via `Config.toml`, package management through Ballerina Central, tests, documentation generation, OpenAPI/GraphQL/AsyncAPI/gRPC tooling, Java interop, observability, container and Kubernetes deployment guidance, and GraalVM native executable workflows.

Typical use cases include REST, GraphQL, gRPC, Kafka, database, data-processing, and integration services where network and data abstractions are part of the language and standard ecosystem.

Why package nerds care

Ballerina is significant because it is not just another JVM-hosted language package; it packages a language designed around integration semantics, network resources, typed data, and service tooling. For package nerds, it is a full toolchain with its own package registry, config conventions, code generators, docs tooling, and deployment story exposed through one `bal` executable.

Timeline

2016: WSO2 begins developing Ballerina, according to the official homepage.
2016-11-16: ballerina-platform/ballerina-lang repository created on GitHub.
2022-02: Official homepage says Ballerina was first released.
2026-06-04: GitHub latest release endpoint reported ballerina-lang v2201.12.12.
2026-06-30: Homebrew formula reports stable ballerina 2201.13.4.

Related projects

Ballerina Central is the package and connector ecosystem referenced by the official Learn page.
Related tooling includes the Ballerina VS Code extension, OpenAPI, GraphQL, AsyncAPI, gRPC, health/FHIR/HL7, EDI, WSDL, XSD, persist, scan, profiler, and GraalVM executable tooling documented in the Learn section.

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 1 platform targets.
Installs with 1 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.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ./Ballerina.toml./Config.toml./tests/Config.toml~/.ballerina/Settings.toml

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix: ~/.ballerina/Settings.toml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`bal`	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 version2201.13.4

manager updated2026-05-11

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://ballerina.io

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://ballerina.ionone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:ballerina
Version	2201.13.4
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ballerina
Homepage	https://ballerina.io
Repository	https://github.com/ballerina-platform/ballerina-lang
Upstream docs	https://ballerina.io/learn
License	Apache-2.0
Source archive	https://dist.ballerina.io/downloads/2201.13.4/ballerina-2201.13.4-swan-lake.zip
Last updated	2026-05-11T06:50:01Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	openjdk
Bottle	available (on all)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	ballerina
Aliases	bal
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%

ballerina

nix profile install nixpkgs#ballerina

normalized package name match
Matched by: Ballerina

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/ballerina/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/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/ballerina.yml

Used sources

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

Install ballerina with Homebrew, Nix