# Install opencoarrays with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix Open-source coarray Fortran ABI, API, and compiler wrapper. Version 2.10.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:opencoarrays ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install opencoarrays ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install OpenCoarrays ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: science/OpenCoarrays/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#caf ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ca/caf/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:opencoarrays - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.10.3 - **Source summary:** Open-source coarray Fortran ABI, API, and compiler wrapper - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** BSD-3-Clause - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:05:42-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - caf (cli) - cafrun (cli) - caf (alias) - cafrun (alias) ## Dependencies - gcc@13 - open-mpi ## Build dependencies - cmake ## 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: 2.10.3 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/sourceryinstitute/OpenCoarrays - Upstream latest detected: 2.10.3 (current) ## Project history and usage OpenCoarrays is an open-source runtime and ABI layer for Coarray Fortran, aimed primarily at letting GNU Fortran programs use Fortran's standardized multi-image parallel features without writing directly against MPI. The package supplies the `caf` compiler wrapper, the `cafrun` launcher, and the `libcaf_mpi` runtime library. ### Project history Coarrays entered standard Fortran as a PGAS-style parallel programming model in Fortran 2008, but free compiler support depended on a runtime that could map language-level image communication onto existing communication libraries. The OpenCoarrays project filled that role for GCC by providing an ABI between gfortran and a backend such as MPI. A 2014 PGAS workshop paper described OpenCoarrays as a new project offering open-source transport layers for coarray Fortran compilers, including MPI and GASNet-based approaches. The 1.0.0 release was announced in July 2015 with the runtime library, compiler wrapper, and launcher, and the announcement noted that GNU Fortran 5.1.0 used OpenCoarrays to support most Fortran 2008 coarray features and some proposed Fortran 2015 TS 18508 features. ### Adoption history The project's most important adoption path was through GCC: the OpenCoarrays README says the OpenCoarrays ABI was adopted by gfortran in GCC 5.1.0. That made OpenCoarrays part of the practical route for package managers and HPC users who wanted Coarray Fortran through a free compiler toolchain rather than a vendor compiler. Packaging spread into Unix package systems such as Homebrew, MacPorts, FreeBSD ports, Nix, and Linux distributions, usually as a science or parallel-computing package. MacPorts summarizes the project as an ABI for gfortran support of coarrays and other Fortran 2018 parallel programming features. ### How it is used Developers compile coarray programs through `caf`, which wraps the selected Fortran compiler and links the OpenCoarrays runtime consistently with the MPI stack used at build time. They launch multi-image programs with `cafrun`, avoiding direct MPI command-line details in routine Coarray Fortran workflows. OpenCoarrays is especially relevant for scientific and HPC Fortran users who want to experiment with standard-language parallelism, compare coarray code with MPI implementations, or package Fortran applications that rely on gfortran's coarray support. ### Why package nerds care OpenCoarrays is a small package with an outsized toolchain role: it is not just another Fortran library, but the runtime side of a compiler feature. That makes ABI compatibility, MPI selection, compiler version, and wrapper behavior more important than they are for ordinary numerical libraries. ### Timeline - 2014: OpenCoarrays was described in PGAS workshop material as a new open-source transport-layer project for coarray Fortran compilers. - 2015: GCC 5.1.0 adopted the OpenCoarrays ABI for gfortran coarray support, and OpenCoarrays 1.0.0 was announced with `libcaf_mpi`, `caf`, and `cafrun`. - 2022: Caffeine work at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory pointed toward a compiler-independent Fortran runtime direction built on GASNet-EX, related to the longer-term evolution beyond the MPI-focused OpenCoarrays path. ### Related projects - OpenCoarrays sits alongside GCC/gfortran, MPI implementations, GASNet-EX, Caffeine, and the broader Fortran 2008/2018/2023 parallel-language standards work. ### 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:** opencoarrays - **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 - MacPorts - OpenCoarrays: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: science/OpenCoarrays/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Nix - caf: installed executable or alias match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ca/caf/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [gcc@13](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gcc-13/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [open-mpi](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/open-mpi/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [mpich](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mpich/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, hpc, mpi, parallel-computing, science. - [nwchem](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/nwchem/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, fortran, hpc, science. - [pmix](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pmix/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, hpc, mpi, science. - [pnetcdf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pnetcdf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, hpc, mpi, science. - [simgrid](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/simgrid/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, hpc, mpi, science. - [abyss](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abyss/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, mpi, science. - [calceph](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/calceph/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, fortran, science. - [cdi](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cdi/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, fortran, science. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/opencoarrays.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/opencoarrays.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