Install hf with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• hf
• huggingface-cli
• tiny-agents

Project history

The command comes from the `huggingface_hub` project, Hugging Face's official Python client for the Hub. The library grew with the Hub itself: first as a Python API and `huggingface-cli` utility for interacting with models, datasets, and repositories, then as a broader developer tool for HTTP uploads, cache management, inference clients, Jobs, and agent workflows.

In July 2025 Hugging Face announced the rename from `huggingface-cli` to `hf`. The stated reason was both ergonomics and command organization: the old executable name was long, and the command surface had grown enough that the project adopted a clearer resource-action pattern such as `hf auth login`, `hf download`, `hf upload`, and `hf repo`.

The v1.0 Hugging Face Hub announcement described this CLI evolution as part of a five-year effort to make `huggingface_hub` the foundation layer for open machine learning. In that framing, the CLI moved from a simple command-line helper into a comprehensive ML operations interface, while legacy patterns such as the Git-based `Repository` class and older token helpers were removed in favor of newer HTTP-first APIs.

Adoption history

The CLI followed Hugging Face's rise as a central exchange for open ML artifacts. It is documented as part of `huggingface_hub`, installable through the core Python package, a standalone installer, `uvx hf`, and Homebrew. The Homebrew formula gives non-Python-first users a conventional package-manager route while still delivering the Hub CLI.

The executable list in the input records both `hf` and `huggingface-cli`, reflecting the transition period where existing automation may still call the legacy command name. Hugging Face's own blog post positioned the shorter command as the path for future CLI organization.

How it is used

`hf auth login` stores credentials for Hub operations; the environment-variable documentation says the token path defaults to `$HF_HOME/token`, which is normally `~/.cache/huggingface/token`. Other common commands download and upload files, create and manage repositories, inspect or remove local cache entries, run Jobs, work with Spaces, and interact with models, datasets, collections, endpoints, buckets, and webhooks.

For package users, `hf` is the terminal complement to the Python API. It is used in CI pipelines, model publishing scripts, cache cleanup, large-folder uploads, private-repository downloads, and agent/tooling workflows that need a stable command-line interface to the Hub.

Why package nerds care

`hf` is significant because it packages a cloud ML platform into a single Unix-style command with predictable subcommands. It is also a snapshot of the Python packaging-to-system-packaging boundary: the same tool can arrive through pip, a standalone installer, uvx, or Homebrew, and its credential/cache conventions must behave consistently across those routes.

The rename from `huggingface-cli` to `hf` is package-nerd notable because it created the usual compatibility question around executable names, aliases, formula names, shell completion, and scripts written before the CLI redesign.

Timeline

• 2020s: `huggingface_hub` developed as Hugging Face's Python client for Hub models, datasets, Spaces, and repository operations.
• 2025-07-25: Hugging Face announced that the CLI had been renamed from `huggingface-cli` to `hf`.
• 2025: The CLI used a resource-action command pattern for auth, download, upload, repo, cache, and Jobs workflows.
• 2025: Hugging Face described the Hub client v1.0 as the result of five years of building the foundation of open machine learning.
• Package-manager era: Homebrew packages the CLI as `hf`, while the input still records the legacy `huggingface-cli` executable for compatibility.

Related projects

• `hf` is related to `huggingface_hub`, the Hugging Face Hub, HfApi, HfFileSystem, Hugging Face Jobs, Spaces, Storage Buckets, Inference Endpoints, Tiny Agents, and the legacy `huggingface-cli` command.

Sources

• https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/hf
• https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub
• https://huggingface.co/blog/hf-cli
• https://huggingface.co/blog/huggingface-hub-v1
• https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/guides/cli
• https://huggingface.co/docs/huggingface_hub/package_reference/environment_variables