macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install maclocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install mac with Homebrew, dnf, pacman, zypper
Monkey's Audio lossless codec. Version 13.18 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-02.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install macFedora Rawhide package metadata · mac · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S macArch Linux sync databases · mac · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install macopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · mac · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Monkey's Audio lossless codec
Project links
Commands and aliases
- mac
history
Project history and usage
Monkey's Audio is a lossless audio compressor and APE file-format implementation by Matthew T. Ashland. In Homebrew it is packaged as `mac`, the command-line utility built from the official Monkey's Audio SDK/source distribution.
Project history
The official site presents Monkey's Audio as a fast, efficient, bit-perfect music compressor that can compress and later decompress audio back to the original data. The site footer and license identify Matthew T. Ashland's copyright as spanning 2000-2026, and the homepage thanks users for 26 years of the project.
The developer page documents an SDK intended to make the compression technology easy to embed in other software. It says the SDK includes source code for compression, decompression, verification, conversion, analysis, and APE tagging, plus Visual Studio and Xcode projects.
Adoption history
Monkey's Audio predates most modern package-manager audio codecs and is historically associated with the `.ape` format, high compression ratios, APE tags, and Windows audio tooling. The official homepage claims more than 10 million downloads and broad support by media players and rippers.
Homebrew packages the SDK as a Unix-style `mac` command and builds bottles for macOS and Linux targets. That makes a historically Windows-oriented codec available to package-manager users as a normal CLI encoder, verifier, and decoder.
How it is used
The official help describes compress, decompress, verify, convert, and make-APL modes. It documents compression-level tradeoffs and pipe-based workflows such as feeding WAV output from FFmpeg or FLAC into `mac.exe`.
The Homebrew formula tests the Unix command by compressing a WAV fixture to APE, verifying the APE file, decompressing it back to WAV, and comparing hashes, which captures the package's command-line purpose.
Why package nerds care
The Homebrew `mac` formula is package-nerd notable because the package name is short and opaque while the upstream project name is Monkey's Audio. It is also a good example of a package manager turning an upstream SDK/source bundle into a portable command-line codec.
Timeline
- 2000: Monkey's Audio copyright history begins, according to the official license and site footer.
- 2023-08: The official license page identifies the current license as 3-Clause BSD.
- 2026-07: Official homepage listed Monkey's Audio 13.18 and described 26 years of the project.
- 2026-07: Homebrew formula packaged the official SDK/source zip as `mac` 13.17.
Related projects
- The official help page names FLAC, WavPack, ALAC, and FFmpeg in conversion or external-encoder workflows. The Homebrew formula packages Monkey's Audio as `mac`, distinct from unrelated tools whose names include MAC addresses or macOS cleanup.
Sources
security posture
No protected-tool coverage found yet
No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for mac. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
mac | 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 generated2026-07-10
manager version13.18
manager updated2026-07-02
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.monkeysaudio.comnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:mac |
|---|---|
| Version | 13.18 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/mac |
| Homepage | https://www.monkeysaudio.com |
| Upstream docs | https://www.monkeysaudio.com |
| License | BSD-3-Clause |
| Source archive | https://monkeysaudio.com/files/MAC_1318_SDK.zip |
| Last updated | 2026-07-02T00:05:53Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Build dependencies | cmake |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | mac |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
dnf95%
mac 12.73-1.fc45
Monkey's Audio Codec
sudo dnf install mac- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mac
- 6 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mac
dnf95%
mac-devel 12.73-1.fc45
Development files for mac
sudo dnf install mac-devel- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: mac
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mac
dnf95%
mac-libs 12.73-1.fc45
Library for Monkey's Audio Codec
sudo dnf install mac-libs- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: mac
- 5 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mac
pacman95%
mac 12.95-1
APE codec and decompressor
https://www.monkeysaudio.com/index.html
sudo pacman -S mac- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Architecture: x86_64
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mac
zypper95%
mac 10.26-1.7
APE codec and decompressor
sudo zypper install mac- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mac
- 5 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mac
zypper95%
mac-devel 10.26-1.7
Development files for APE
sudo zypper install mac-devel- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: mac
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Mac
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment