# Install echtvar with Homebrew Rapid variant annotation and filtering. Version 0.2.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-04-30. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:echtvar ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install echtvar ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:echtvar - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.2.4 - **Source summary:** Rapid variant annotation and filtering - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-04-30T17:38:56Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - echtvar (cli) - echtvar (alias) ## Dependencies - openssl@3 ## Build dependencies - cmake - pkgconf - rust ## Uses from macOS - bzip2 ## 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: 0.2.4 - Package-manager updated: 2026-04-30 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/brentp/echtvar - Upstream latest detected: v0.2.4 (current) ## Project history and usage echtvar is a Rust command-line tool for rapid genomic variant annotation and filtering. Its package relevance is specialized but clear: it turns large population VCF resources into compact searchable archives that can annotate cohort VCF/BCF files quickly. ### Project history The public repository was created in November 2021, and the first GitHub release, v0.1.0, was published in January 2022. The README describes echtvar as efficiently encoding variant allele frequency and other information from huge population datasets for rapid annotation at about one million variants per second. The project is backed by a Nucleic Acids Research article and is developed in the Jeroen de Ridder lab. Its README explains the core design: chunking the genome, encoding variants into compact integers when possible, using zip files, delta encoding, integer compression, and lookup tables for selected integer, float, or low-cardinality string fields. ### Adoption history echtvar's adoption path is a scientific-tool path rather than a broad developer-tool path: users can download static binaries and pre-encoded gnomAD v3.1.2 resources from GitHub releases, or build the Rust project themselves. Homebrew packaging makes it easier to install the executable on developer and analysis workstations. The project is niche compared with general bioinformatics standards such as htslib, but it fills a practical need for fast annotation/filtering against large population datasets. ### How it is used A common workflow is to encode a population VCF once with echtvar encode, then reuse the resulting .echtvar.zip archive for many annotation runs with echtvar anno. The README shows annotation with multiple -e archive arguments and optional filtering expressions such as allele-frequency thresholds. Encode configuration uses JSON5 to select and rename VCF fields, while annotation consumes decomposed and normalized VCF/BCF inputs and can stream from stdin. ### Why package nerds care echtvar is interesting because it packages a paper-backed bioinformatics data structure as a small Rust CLI. Package managers help users get the executable, while GitHub releases carry large precomputed domain data that would not belong inside a formula. Its dependency story is also typical of modern bioinformatics packaging: htslib/rust-htslib for VCF/BCF I/O, compression libraries for speed, and a command-line interface meant to slot into pipelines. ### Timeline - 2021: Public echtvar GitHub repository created. - 2022: v0.1.0 initial release published. - 2022: Nucleic Acids Research article page published for echtvar. - 2026: v0.2.4 released, with repository activity continuing. ### Related projects - The README credits htslib via rust-htslib for reading and writing BCF/VCF. - gnomAD is the main example population resource used for pre-encoded echtvar archives. - stream-vbyte, bincode, and fasteval are part of the implementation and expression-evaluation story described by the README. ### 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:** echtvar - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Scientific computing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/scientific-computing-tools/) - Matched scientific computing metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [openssl@3](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openssl-3/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [vcfanno](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vcfanno/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science, variant-annotation. - [vcftools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vcftools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science, variant-filtering. - [abricate](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abricate/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science. - [bbtools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bbtools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science. - [bioperl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bioperl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science. - [blast](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/blast/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science. - [bowtie2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bowtie2/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science. - [breseq](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/breseq/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, science. - [dxpy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dxpy/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: bioinformatics, cli, genomics, openssl, openssl-3. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/echtvar.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/echtvar.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 - cross-ecosystem install command graph