install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install boa

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#boa

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

overview

Package summary

Embeddable and experimental Javascript engine written in Rust

Project links

Commands and aliases

boa

history

Project history and usage

Boa is an embeddable experimental JavaScript engine written in Rust, with a CLI and Rust crates for parsing, interpreting, and embedding ECMAScript.

Project history

Boa began as Jason Williams's Rust JavaScript-engine experiment. The Boa about page says it was introduced at JSConf EU 2019, and the JSConf EU talk page describes Williams building an engine from scratch in Rust during the previous year.

The project grew into the boa-dev organization and a set of crates centered on boa_engine. Its README describes an experimental lexer, parser, and interpreter that tracks the evolving ECMAScript specification.

Adoption history

Boa's adoption is mostly developer and embedders' adoption rather than browser adoption. It is carried by Homebrew and Nix and published through Rust's crate ecosystem, where Rust programs can embed it directly.

The project's public releases and blog posts emphasize conformance progress, embeddability, WebAssembly use, and keeping pace with Test262 and ECMAScript changes.

How it is used

Users can run the boa CLI for experiments, but the more important use case is embedding boa_engine in Rust applications that need JavaScript evaluation without linking to V8.

Boa is also useful for language-engine work: implementers can study parser, runtime, built-in-object, and conformance work in a Rust codebase that is smaller and more approachable than production browser engines.

Why package nerds care

Boa matters to package nerds because JavaScript engines are usually huge C++ dependencies. A Rust-native, crate-published engine changes the packaging shape for applications that only need embeddable JS semantics.

Its significance is still experimental: package users should not read the Homebrew formula as a Node.js replacement. The interesting part is the long-term Rust ecosystem bet on standards-conforming embeddable scripting.

Timeline

2018-2019: Jason Williams builds a JavaScript engine from scratch in Rust.
2019-06: Boa is introduced at JSConf EU 2019.
2021-06: Boa v0.12 is announced on the official blog.
2021-09: Boa v0.13 blog post highlights embedding in Rust projects and WebAssembly use.
2020s: boa-dev continues publishing boa_engine and tracking ECMAScript/Test262 conformance.

Related projects

V8, SpiderMonkey, and JavaScriptCore: production browser/server JavaScript engines Boa is often compared against but does not replace.
QuickJS, MuJS, and Kiesel: smaller embeddable JavaScript engines in adjacent niches.
Test262: the official ECMAScript conformance suite Boa uses as a progress target.
Rust crates such as boa_engine and boa_parser: the packaged Rust components behind the CLI and embedding story.

Sources

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

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
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
`boa`	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 version0.21.1

manager updated2026-06-22

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.21.1

https://github.com/boa-dev/boa

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:boa
Version	0.21.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/boa
Homepage	https://github.com/boa-dev/boa
Repository	https://github.com/boa-dev/boa
Upstream docs	https://boajs.dev/docs/intro
License	MIT OR Unlicense
Source archive	https://github.com/boa-dev/boa/archive/refs/tags/v0.21.1.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-22T14:02:54-07:00
Pulse	updated
Build dependencies	pkgconf, rust
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	boa
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

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%

boa

nix profile install nixpkgs#boa

normalized package name match
Matched by: Boa

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/bo/boa/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/boa.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 boa with Homebrew, Nix