macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install barlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install bar with Homebrew, apt, Nix
Provide progress bars for shell scripts. Version 1.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-19.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install barDebian stable package indexes · bar · source: deb.debian.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#barnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ba/bar/package.nix · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Provide progress bars for shell scripts
Project links
Commands and aliases
- bar
history
Project history and usage
bar is a small Bourne-shell utility that behaves like cat while showing an ASCII progress bar, aimed at portable Unix installation and scripting contexts.
Project history
Henrik Theiling's project page frames bar as deliberately minimal shell code that needs no compilation and works across sh, ash, ksh, zsh, bash, and related Bourne-style shells. The design goal is portability first: when progress display cannot be supported safely, the script is intended to fall back toward plain cat behavior.
The upstream change log records a compact evolution from version 1.0's initial release through 1.1 percentage and terminal-width support, 1.2 robustness fixes across shells and systems, 1.3 feature additions such as ETA and configurable sizing, and 1.4 bug fixes.
Adoption history
bar's adoption is narrow but very Unix-shaped: it appears in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, and Nix package metadata as a tiny helper for shell scripts rather than as a large standalone application.
How it is used
The typical use is to pipe or copy data while presenting a text progress indicator in an install script or other shell workflow. Its upstream page emphasizes embedding or reusing the script body in portable installers.
Why package nerds care
bar is interesting because it solves a common packaging-era problem without a compiled dependency, curses UI, or modern shell assumptions. It is the sort of small, old-school utility that package managers preserve because it remains useful in constrained Unix environments.
Timeline
- Version 1.0: Initial beta release.
- Version 1.1: Adds percentage display and terminal-width detection.
- Version 1.2: Focuses on robustness across Bourne shells and operating systems.
- Version 1.3.1: Adds ETA, quiet mode, size overrides, and script-dumping features after a broken 1.3 prerelease.
- Version 1.4: Stable bug-fix release.
Related projects
- bar overlaps with cat, dd, pv, and shell progress-bar snippets, but its upstream niche is stricter portability and embeddability in Bourne-shell install scripts.
Sources
- http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.html
- source_facts.description
- source_facts.package-manager
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:shell
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 1 platform targets.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
bar | 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
manager updated2026-05-19
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.html
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.htmlnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:bar |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.4 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/bar |
| Homepage | http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.html |
| Upstream docs | http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.html |
| License | Zlib |
| Source archive | http://www.theiling.de/downloads/bar-1.4-src.tar.bz2 |
| Last updated | 2026-05-19T13:03:28-04:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| 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 | bar |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | yes |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
bar 1.11.1-4
Show information about a data transfer
sudo apt install bar- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Bar
Nix95%
bar
nix profile install nixpkgs#bar- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Bar
Ubuntu apt95%
bar 1.11.1-4
Show information about a data transfer
sudo apt install bar- Section: universe/utils
- Architecture: amd64
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Bar
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.
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