# Install comby with Homebrew, Nix Tool for changing code across many languages. Version 1.8.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:comby ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install comby ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#comby ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: comby from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:comby - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.8.1 - **Source summary:** Tool for changing code across many languages - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - comby (cli) - comby (alias) ## Dependencies - gmp - libev - pcre ## Build dependencies - autoconf - gmp - ocaml@4 - opam - pkgconf ## Uses from macOS - m4 - sqlite - unzip ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.8.1 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/comby-tools/comby - Upstream latest detected: 1.8.1 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage Comby is a structural search-and-replace tool for source code. It occupies the space between regex-based text replacement and full language-specific refactoring engines. ### Project history Comby's documentation presents the core idea as lightweight matching of syntactic structures such as balanced delimiters, strings, and comments across many languages. The README frames it as a practical alternative when regular expressions become fragile for nested code constructs. ### Adoption history The official README documents Homebrew installation on macOS, binaries for Ubuntu-like Linux systems, Docker images, Windows use through WSL, and source builds through OCaml/opam. The supplied package-manager metadata lists Homebrew and Nix, while the upstream distribution story emphasizes prebuilt binaries and containers. ### How it is used Users write templates with holes such as `:[condition]` to match code structures and replacements that preserve or transform matched parts. Comby is commonly used for large mechanical code changes, interactive review of rewrites, and language-aware searches where plain `sed` or regexes are too coarse. ### Why package nerds care Comby matters to package nerds because it packages a source-to-source transformation engine as a single CLI spanning many languages. Its OCaml implementation, PCRE linkage, binary distribution, Docker image, and Homebrew/Nix formulas make it a useful case study in shipping a specialized developer tool beyond one language ecosystem. ### Timeline - 2019: Public Comby materials and README examples emphasized structural matching compared with regex approaches. - 2020: The Comby website and documentation moved into a refreshed Docusaurus site. - 2022: Comby blog posts documented experiments with type information for safer rewrites. ### Related projects - Comby is related to `sed`, regular-expression search tools, language-server and code-intelligence workflows, Sourcegraph-style code search, and language-specific refactoring engines. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** comby - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 1 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** yes - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - comby: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: comby from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [pcre](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pcre/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [autoconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/autoconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ocaml@4](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ocaml-4/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [opam](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/opam/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cgrep](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cgrep/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-search, developer-tools, search. - [cgvg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cgvg/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-search, developer-tools, search. - [the_silver_searcher](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/the-silver-searcher/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-search, developer-tools, search. - [coccinelle](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/coccinelle/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-transformation, developer-tools. - [darklua](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/darklua/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-transformation, developer-tools. - [ddgr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ddgr/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, search. - [fuzzy-find](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fuzzy-find/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, search. - [fzf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fzf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, search. - [smlfmt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/smlfmt/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, code, developer, developer-tools, gmp. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/comby.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/comby.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph