# Install hackrf with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Low cost software radio platform. Version 2026.01.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-15. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:hackrf ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install hackrf ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install hackrf ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: science/hackrf/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add hackrf ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install hackrf ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: hackrf from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install hackrf ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: hackrf from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#hackrf ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ha/hackrf/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S hackrf ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: hackrf from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install hackrf ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: hackrf from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:hackrf - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2026.01.3 - **Source summary:** Low cost software radio platform - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-15T10:20:18-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - hackrf_biast (cli) - hackrf_clock (cli) - hackrf_cpldjtag (cli) - hackrf_debug (cli) - hackrf_info (cli) - hackrf_operacake (cli) - hackrf_spiflash (cli) - hackrf_sweep (cli) - hackrf_transfer (cli) - hackrf_biast (alias) - hackrf_clock (alias) - hackrf_cpldjtag (alias) - hackrf_debug (alias) - hackrf_info (alias) - hackrf_operacake (alias) - hackrf_spiflash (alias) - hackrf_sweep (alias) - hackrf_transfer (alias) ## Dependencies - fftw - libusb ## Build dependencies - cmake - pkgconf ## 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: 2026.01.3 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-15 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage HackRF is Great Scott Gadgets' open source software-defined radio platform, packaged for Unix users as the libhackrf host library plus command-line tools such as hackrf_info, hackrf_transfer, hackrf_sweep, hackrf_spiflash, and hackrf_operacake. The project is unusual in package-manager culture because it ships software for a physical RF instrument: installing the package is the bridge between a laptop and a HackRF One, Jawbreaker, rad1o, Opera Cake, or HackRF Pro device. ### Project history The public GitHub repository was created in 2012 and identifies Michael Ossmann as the principal author. Great Scott Gadgets' product documentation describes HackRF One as the first production hardware platform for the HackRF project, a half-duplex SDR peripheral for transmitting or receiving signals from 1 MHz to 6 GHz. The official product page frames the hardware as an open source platform for testing and developing modern radio technologies. HackRF's early public adoption was helped by Michael Ossmann's Kickstarter campaign for an open source SDR platform and by the later Software Defined Radio with HackRF course material. The documentation records that Great Scott Gadgets began shipping HackRF One revision r1 in 2014, with later revisions driven mostly by component availability while preserving the same factory-measured performance specifications. The software evolved alongside the hardware. Release notes show host-tool and firmware releases adding multiple-device support, sweep mode for wideband spectrum monitoring, automatic CPLD bitstream loading, Opera Cake antenna-switch support, and hardware support for HackRF One r9. A 2026 release added HackRF Pro support while keeping compatibility with HackRF One-oriented software as an explicit goal. ### Adoption history Great Scott Gadgets lists GNU Radio, GQRX, QSpectrumAnalyzer, SDR#, SDR Console, Universal Radio Hacker, SigDigger through SoapySDR, and other tools as software with direct HackRF support, while tools such as Baudline, Inspectrum, and Matlab can consume data captured with hackrf_transfer. That ecosystem made the Homebrew package valuable even for users who never built firmware or hardware files. HackRF also became part of security and radio education workflows because it combined transmit and receive capability, open hardware design files, and a low-cost host-tool stack. The official SDR with HackRF course ties the device to GNU Radio, DSP fundamentals, signal capture, replay experiments, and multiple-HackRF workflows, which explains why package users often treat the CLI tools as lab utilities rather than a standalone application. ### How it is used Package-manager users install HackRF mainly to get libhackrf and the hackrf-tools executables. Typical workflows include checking device identity and firmware with hackrf_info, capturing or transmitting signed 8-bit quadrature samples with hackrf_transfer, scanning spectrum ranges with hackrf_sweep, flashing firmware with hackrf_spiflash, and configuring Opera Cake antenna switching with hackrf_operacake. The official documentation stresses that host tools and firmware should match. This matters for package maintainers because formula upgrades can expose users to mismatches between a newly installed libhackrf and older device firmware, and because some releases require both host-side and device-side updates. ### Why package nerds care HackRF is a classic hardware-adjacent package: it looks like a small CLI formula, but it carries USB access, firmware coordination, SDR application compatibility, and regulatory context. For Homebrew and other package systems, the value is not only the binaries but also a reproducible path to libhackrf for tools that detect or link against HackRF support. It is also a useful case study in open hardware packaging. The same upstream repository contains hardware designs, firmware, host libraries, tools, and documentation, while the package usually exposes only the host-side pieces needed by desktop SDR applications. ### Timeline - 2012: Public GitHub repository created for the HackRF hardware and software platform. - 2013: Kickstarter campaign presented HackRF as an open source SDR platform by Michael Ossmann. - 2014: Great Scott Gadgets began shipping HackRF One r1 hardware. - 2015: Software Defined Radio with HackRF course material documented practical GNU Radio and HackRF workflows. - 2017: HackRF release notes documented sweep mode for wideband spectrum monitoring. - 2021: Release notes documented automatic CPLD bitstream loading through firmware. - 2022: Release notes documented Opera Cake support and documentation migration into the repository docs tree. - 2023: Release notes documented HackRF One r9 hardware support. - 2026: Release notes documented HackRF Pro support in libhackrf and hackrf-tools. ### Related projects - GNU Radio: common SDR environment used with HackRF. - SoapySDR and SigDigger: SDR software layers that can use HackRF through supported interfaces. - Opera Cake: Great Scott Gadgets antenna-switch add-on configured by hackrf_operacake. - Ubertooth One: another Great Scott Gadgets open hardware radio/security tool, related by community and use case rather than by code. ### 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:** hackrf - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - hackrf - 2024.02.1-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: hackrf from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Software defined radio peripheral - utilities | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Debian apt - hackrf-doc - 2024.02.1-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: hackrf-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Software defined radio peripheral - documentation | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Debian apt - hackrf-firmware - 2024.02.1-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: hackrf-firmware from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Firmware for HackRF devices | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Debian apt - libhackrf-dev - 2024.02.1-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libhackrf-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Software defined radio peripheral - development | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Debian apt - libhackrf0 - 2024.02.1-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libhackrf0 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Software defined radio peripheral - runtime library | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Nix - hackrf: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ha/hackrf/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - hackrf - 2023.01.1-9build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: hackrf from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Software defined radio peripheral - utilities | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Ubuntu apt - hackrf-doc - 2023.01.1-9build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: hackrf-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Software defined radio peripheral - documentation | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Ubuntu apt - libhackrf-dev - 2023.01.1-9build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libhackrf-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Software defined radio peripheral - development | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - Ubuntu apt - libhackrf0 - 2023.01.1-9build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libhackrf0 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Software defined radio peripheral - runtime library | http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ - apk - hackrf - 2026.01.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Driver for HackRF, allowing general purpose software defined radio | https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf - apk - hackrf-dev - 2026.01.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Driver for HackRF, allowing general purpose software defined radio (development files) | https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf - apk - hackrf-firmware - 2026.01.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf-firmware from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Driver for HackRF, allowing general purpose software defined radio (firmware) | https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf - apk - hackrf-libs - 2026.01.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf-libs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Driver for HackRF, allowing general purpose software defined radio (libraries) | https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf - apk - hackrf-static - 2026.01.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf-static from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Driver for HackRF, allowing general purpose software defined radio (static library) | https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf - apk - hackrf-udev - 2026.01.3-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: hackrf-udev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Driver for HackRF, allowing general purpose software defined radio (udev rules) | https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf ## 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. - [Security and crypto packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/security-crypto-tools/) - Matched security, identity, cryptography, password, signing, or certificate metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [fftw](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fftw/) - 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. - [urh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/urh/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [ubertooth](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ubertooth/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, sdr, security. - [acme.sh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/acme-sh/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, security. - [aescrypt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aescrypt/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, security. - [aespipe](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aespipe/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, security. - [afflib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/afflib/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, security. - [afl++](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/afl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, security. - [age](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/age/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, security. - [keepkey-agent](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/keepkey-agent/) - Security-sensitive metadata or terminology overlaps. Shared terms: cli, hardware, libusb, security. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/hackrf.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/hackrf.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