brew / approval gates

Install imagemagick with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, zypper, winget

Tools and libraries to manipulate images in select formats. Version 7.1.2-27 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-06.

Install command Security notes

agent safety

Agent safety answer

imagemagick processes image files and can read or overwrite local artifacts.

Credential access

Can read images, metadata, and paths selected by command arguments.

Remote mutation

Primarily local, with possible delegated tools depending on formats.

Publish/artifact risk

Can create or overwrite generated visual artifacts.

Recommended control

Gate broad input globs, overwrites, and processing of sensitive directories.

Agent-use guidance

Allow safe local conversions; require approval for recursive operations or sensitive input paths.

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install imagemagick

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install ImageMagick

MacPorts ports tree · graphics/ImageMagick/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add imagemagick

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · imagemagick · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install imagemagick

Debian stable package indexes · imagemagick · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install ImageMagick

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · ImageMagick · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#imagemagick

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

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S imagemagick

Arch Linux sync databases · imagemagick · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install ImageMagick

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · ImageMagick · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Chocolateyverified · 92%

choco install imagemagick

Chocolatey community package catalog · imagemagick · source: community.chocolatey.org

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/imagemagick

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/imagemagick.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id JiriPolasek.DevNumbersforCommandPalette -e

Windows Package Manager source index · JiriPolasek.DevNumbersforCommandPalette · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

Tools and libraries to manipulate images in select formats

Project links

Commands and aliases

Magick++-config
MagickCore-config
MagickWand-config
animate
compare
composite
conjure
convert
display
identify
import
magick
magick-script
mogrify
montage
stream

history

Project history and usage

ImageMagick is a long-lived open-source suite for creating, editing, composing, converting, and inspecting raster images from command-line tools and libraries. The Homebrew imagemagick formula tracks the ImageMagick 7 line and is the mainstream package-manager entry for the suite on Homebrew.

Project history

ImageMagick began at DuPont when John Cristy needed to display 24-bit computer-generated images on monitors that could show only 256 colors. The official history describes Usenet as an early source of algorithms and technical help, and says DuPont transferred copyright so ImageMagick Studio LLC could release the software freely.

After the 1990 comp.archives posting, ImageMagick accumulated enhancements, bug reports, and source contributions. By the mid-1990s, version 4.2.9 had become the culmination of the early toolset and was appearing in the freely distributed Linux ecosystem.

Version 5 emphasized APIs and language/script integration after Bob Friesenhahn pushed for a stronger programming interface and wrote Magick++. Version 6 reorganized command-line handling after Anthony Thyssen highlighted confusion around processing multiple images. Version 7 then used lessons from version 6 to redesign pixel-channel handling around arbitrary colorspaces and floating-point channel values.

Adoption history

ImageMagick's adoption came from automation: it lets shell scripts, web applications, build systems, scientific workflows, and media pipelines perform image operations without a GUI. The upstream README names web development, graphic design, video editing, scientific research, medical imaging, and astronomy as usage areas.

Package-manager adoption is broad. The input metadata lists Alpine, Homebrew, Chocolatey, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Scoop, Ubuntu, winget, and openSUSE mappings, and Homebrew analytics show far larger usage for the main imagemagick formula than for the full or versioned variants.

How it is used

Typical command-line use includes converting formats, resizing, cropping, compositing, comparing images, identifying metadata, creating montages, importing windows, and streaming pixel data. The resources documentation also makes policy.xml and other configuration files central to production use, especially where untrusted images or resource limits matter.

Why package nerds care

ImageMagick is one of the canonical examples of a package that is both a CLI and a library dependency. Package maintainers care about delegate libraries, codec support, security policy defaults, ABI compatibility, and the version 6 to version 7 command transition because tiny build choices can alter what image formats users can process.

Timeline

1987: John Cristy begins the work at DuPont after a request to display 24-bit images on 256-color monitors.
1990: ImageMagick is posted to Usenet's comp.archives group.
Mid-1990s: ImageMagick 4.2.9 marks the early mature public toolset and appears in the Linux ecosystem.
Version 5: Magick++, module loading, automatic file identification, and stronger APIs expand the project.
Version 6: Command-line behavior is redesigned for multi-image processing.
Version 7: Pixel-channel internals are redesigned for arbitrary colorspaces, arbitrary channels, and floating-point storage.

Related projects

Related projects include GraphicsMagick, which originated as an ImageMagick fork, the ImageMagick 6 legacy branch, Magick++, Magick.NET, Fred's ImageMagick Scripts, and Anthony Thyssen's ImageMagick Usage examples.

Sources

Official ImageMagick history page, ImageMagick README, command-line tools documentation, resources documentation, GitHub repository metadata, and Homebrew formula metadata.

approval gates

Human review metadata for risky commands

The local approval-gate seed includes 5 rules for imagemagick. Covered entrypoints: convert, identify, magick, mogrify. Severity labels: high, medium. Coverage: partial, reviewed 2026-05-21.

Example gated actions

Rewrite image files in place.
Write converted image output.
Write additional images using -write.
Read a file through ImageMagick @file syntax.
Fetch image input from a remote URL.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: $MAGICK_CONFIGURE_PATH$PREFIX/etc/ImageMagick-7$PREFIX/share/ImageMagick-7$XDG_CACHE_HOME/ImageMagick~/.config/ImageMagick<client path>/etc/ImageMagick
Windows: $MAGICK_CONFIGURE_PATH<windows registry>$PREFIX/config$USERPROFILE/.config/ImageMagick<client path>

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure
`Magick++-config`	cli	global executable
`MagickCore-config`	cli	global executable
`MagickWand-config`	cli	global executable
`animate`	cli	global executable
`compare`	cli	global executable
`composite`	cli	global executable
`conjure`	cli	global executable
`convert`	cli	global executable
`display`	cli	global executable
`identify`	cli	global executable
`import`	cli	global executable
`magick`	cli	global executable
`magick-script`	cli	global executable
`mogrify`	cli	global executable
`montage`	cli	global executable
`stream`	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 version7.1.2-27

manager updated2026-07-06

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick

infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagicknone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:imagemagick
Version	7.1.2-27
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/imagemagick
Homepage	https://imagemagick.org
Repository	https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick
Upstream docs	https://imagemagick.org/command-line-processing
License	ImageMagick
Source archive	https://github.com/ImageMagick/ImageMagick/releases/download/7.1.2-27/ImageMagick-7.1.2-27.7z
Last updated	2026-07-06T11:06:09Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	freetype, jpeg-turbo, libheif, libpng, libtiff, libtool, little-cms2, webp, xz
Build dependencies	pkgconf
Uses from macOS	bzip2, libxml2
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared
Caveats	imagemagick-full includes additional tools and libraries that are not included in the regular imagemagick formula.

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	imagemagick
Aliases	imagemagick@7
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.

Debian apt95%

imagemagick 8:7.1.1.43+dfsg1-1+deb13u8

image manipulation programs -- binaries