install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install orbuculum

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#orbuculum

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

overview

Package summary

Arm Cortex-M SWO/SWV Demux and Postprocess

Project links

Commands and aliases

orbcat
orbdump
orbfifo
orblcd
orbmortem
orbprofile
orbstat
orbtop
orbtrace
orbuculum
orbzmq

history

Project history and usage

Orbuculum is a suite of host-side tools for decoding and presenting trace output from Arm Cortex-M CPUs. The Orbcode project describes it as software for making otherwise invisible trace flows visible, starting with SWO and expanding to 1-, 2-, and 4-bit parallel trace when paired with ORBTrace mini or other trace capture hardware.

Project history

Orbuculum began around Single Wire Output and Serial Wire Viewer workflows for Cortex-M debugging. The upstream documentation says it originally supported only the SWO pin, then added support for parallel trace through ORBTrace mini and other interfaces such as JTrace.

The 2.2.0 README describes a larger internal shift from a legacy chip-like stream protocol to `orbflow`, an extensible packet-oriented protocol that represents probe data more compactly. It also notes added CPU families, improved client application handling, improved stats and timing, a simplified communications subsystem, and early ETM4 support.

Adoption history

Orbuculum is niche but meaningful in embedded debugging. The upstream page lists support for Black Magic Debug Probe, SEGGER J-Link, generic USB TTL serial interfaces, FTDI high-speed serial interfaces, OpenOCD, PyOCD, ice40-HX8K and ECP5 parallel-trace boards, raw SWO files, and TCP sources that expose SWO.

The ORBTrace mini page links the hardware and software sides of the ecosystem: ORBTrace mini is an open-source debug and parallel trace interface for Cortex-M microcontrollers, and Orbuculum is the host suite used to exploit the captured trace stream.

How it is used

Embedded developers run `orbuculum` as the mux that connects to a trace probe and exposes a network interface, then attach tools such as `orbcat` for ITM channel text, `orbdump` for raw SWO capture, `orbtop` for live activity views, `orbstat` for analysis and KCacheGrind output, `orbmortem` for post-mortem analysis, and `orbtrace` for ORBTrace FPGA configuration.

The practical use case is low-intrusion insight into firmware execution: text channels, program-counter samples, performance analysis, and crash reconstruction without relying only on breakpoints or serial logging.

Why package nerds care

Orbuculum matters to package nerds because it packages a specialized embedded trace workflow as Unix-style command-line tools. The formula exposes many executables, each handling one part of trace capture, demultiplexing, viewing, statistics, or post-processing.

Timeline

2023-06-30: The changelog records Orbuculum 2.1.0 with timestamping work, a move to Meson/Ninja, stream abstraction cleanup, option renames, ORBTrace SWO support, and reliability fixes.
2024-10-23: The release page for 2.2.0 describes orbflow protocol, ORBTrace Mini gateware 1.4.0 compatibility, FreeBSD support, and experimental ETM4 work.

Related projects

Orbuculum is part of the Orbcode ecosystem alongside ORBTrace mini hardware. It also interoperates with common embedded debug tools such as Black Magic Probe, OpenOCD, PyOCD, and SEGGER J-Link.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 8 platform targets.
Installs with 5 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 4 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
`orbcat`	cli	global executable
`orbdump`	cli	global executable
`orbfifo`	cli	global executable
`orblcd`	cli	global executable
`orbmortem`	cli	global executable
`orbprofile`	cli	global executable
`orbstat`	cli	global executable
`orbtop`	cli	global executable
`orbtrace`	cli	global executable
`orbuculum`	cli	global executable
`orbzmq`	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 version2.2.0

manager updated2026-06-18

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum

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

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:orbuculum
Version	2.2.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/orbuculum
Homepage	https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum
Repository	https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum
Upstream docs	https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum#readme
License	BSD-3-Clause
Source archive	https://github.com/orbcode/orbuculum/archive/refs/tags/V2.2.0.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-18T02:29:00-04:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	capstone, dwarfutils, libusb, sdl2-compat, zeromq
Build dependencies	libelf, meson, ninja, pkgconf
Uses from macOS	ncurses
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, 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	orbuculum
Version Scheme	0
Revision	1
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
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.

Nix95%

orbuculum

nix profile install nixpkgs#orbuculum

normalized package name match
Matched by: Orbuculum

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/or/orbuculum/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

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.

combined/orbuculum.yml

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

Install orbuculum with Homebrew, Nix