brew

Install ncurses with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Text-based UI library. Version 6.6 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-26.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install ncurses

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install ncurses

MacPorts ports tree · devel/ncurses/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add libformw

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

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install lib32ncurses-dev

Debian stable package indexes · lib32ncurses-dev · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install ncurses

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

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#ncurses

nixpkgs package indexes · ncurses · source: raw.githubusercontent.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S ncurses

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

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install libncurses5

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libncurses5 · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Text-based UI library

Project links

Commands and aliases

captoinfo
clear
infocmp
infotocap
ncurses6-config
ncursesw6-config
reset
tabs
tic
toe
tput
tset

history

Project history and usage

ncurses, short for new curses, is the dominant free curses implementation for building text user interfaces on character-cell terminals. It emulates and extends System V Release 4 curses, uses terminfo, and ships both libraries and utilities such as tic, infocmp, tput, clear, reset, tabs, toe, and tset.

Project history

The lineage runs through earlier curses and pcurses work. Thomas Dickey's ncurses licensing history discusses ncurses 0.7.2 from May 22, 1993 and ncurses 1.8.1 from November 5, 1993, with Pavel Curtis and Zeyd Ben-Halim copyright lineage. Dickey's history also identifies ncurses 1.9.9e on March 24, 1996 as the end of Zeyd Ben-Halim's maintainership and April 6, 1996 as Dickey's first patch against his ncurses archive.

Adoption history

The ncurses 6.4 announcement says that in mid-June 1995 the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared it obsolete and encouraged BSD-family systems to switch to ncurses. The same announcement describes ncurses as used in almost every Linux-kernel-based system aside from some embedded applications, as the system curses library on OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and macOS, and in environments such as Cygwin and MinGW.

How it is used

Package users depend on ncurses both directly and indirectly. Developers link libncurses, libpanel, libmenu, and libform for full-screen terminal apps; shell scripts use tput and reset; terminfo maintainers use tic and infocmp; and many interactive CLI tools pull it in through readline-like or TUI dependencies.

Why package nerds care

ncurses is foundational packaging infrastructure. It is small enough to feel mundane, but it sits under installers, text editors, terminal multiplexers, system configuration tools, roguelikes, debuggers, and countless TUIs. ABI variants, wide-character builds, terminfo database paths, and compatibility with system curses make it a perennial packaging concern.

Timeline

May 22, 1993: ncurses 0.7.2 appears in Thomas Dickey's reconstructed licensing history.
November 5, 1993: ncurses 1.8.1 release documented in the same history.
Mid-June 1995: 4.4BSD curses maintainer encourages switching to ncurses.
March 24, 1996: ncurses 1.9.9e marks the end of Zeyd Ben-Halim's maintainership.
April 6, 1996: Thomas Dickey begins patching his ncurses archive.
December 31, 2022: ncurses 6.4 released, with the announcement summarizing its broad OS adoption.

Related projects

curses, pcurses, PDCurses, terminfo, termcap, X/Open Curses, BSD curses, GNU Screen, terminal UI applications

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

library-like package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

library-like package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:library-like

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.

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
`captoinfo`	cli	global executable
`clear`	cli	global executable
`infocmp`	cli	global executable
`infotocap`	cli	global executable
`ncurses6-config`	cli	global executable
`ncursesw6-config`	cli	global executable
`reset`	cli	global executable
`tabs`	cli	global executable
`tic`	cli	global executable
`toe`	cli	global executable
`tput`	cli	global executable
`tset`	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 version6.6

manager updated2026-06-26

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/announce.html

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/announce.htmlnone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:ncurses
Version	6.6
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ncurses
Homepage	https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/announce.html
Repository	https://github.com/ThomasDickey/ncurses-snapshots
Upstream docs	https://invisible-island.net/ncurses
License	X11-distribute-modifications-variant
Source archive	https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/ncurses-6.6.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-26T16:24:51-04:00
Pulse	updated
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	ncurses
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	yes
URL Keys	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%

lib32ncurses-dev 6.5+20250216-2

developer's libraries for ncurses (32-bit)