# Install tectonic with Homebrew, apk, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine. Version 0.16.9 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:tectonic ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install tectonic ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install tectonic ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: tex/tectonic/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add tectonic ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tectonic from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#tectonic ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S tectonic ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: tectonic from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz ### Windows - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install main/tectonic ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/tectonic.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:tectonic - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.16.9 - **Source summary:** Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:06:27-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - nextonic (cli) - tectonic (cli) - nextonic (alias) - tectonic (alias) ## Dependencies - freetype - graphite2 - harfbuzz - icu4c@78 - libpng - openssl@3 ## Build dependencies - pkgconf - rust ## 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: 0.16.9 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage Tectonic is a modernized TeX/LaTeX engine built on XeTeX and TeX Live, packaged as a self-contained command-line tool. Its appeal to package-manager users is that it replaces large, mutable TeX installations with a reproducible binary that can fetch bundles and compile documents with fewer local setup steps. ### Project history The Tectonic repository was created in 2016. The project describes itself as a modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine powered by XeTeX and TeX Live. Its documentation frames the project as an attempt to keep the strengths of TeX for technical documents while modernizing the software ecosystem around it. Tectonic's repository documents a technical lineage from XeTeX through a staging repository used as reference source. Later releases increasingly exposed a Rust crate ecosystem around the engine and supporting functionality. The changelog records a 2024 release with the completion of a pure-Rust BibTeX engine port and a 2026 release after several years that reworked bundles, added a TeX Live 2024 bundle, and continued moving core pieces toward Rust. ### Adoption history Tectonic entered package-manager culture as a smaller, more automatable answer to installing TeX Live for CI jobs, documentation builds, scientific writing, and reproducible PDFs. Its README displays packaging status through Repology and points to crates.io, system packages, and GitHub Actions that install or run Tectonic in workflows. The project also became useful in CI-oriented niches because a single executable can compile TeX documents and obtain needed assets through bundle mechanisms. The README explicitly points to GitHub Actions powered by Tectonic and to a project that runs Tectonic against a subset of the arXiv corpus. ### How it is used Typical use is invoking `tectonic` or the newer `tectonic -X` interface to compile TeX/LaTeX documents to PDF, often in a clean checkout or CI environment. The official book documents commands such as build, compile, init, new, show, watch, and the `Tectonic.toml` project file. Package users value it because it can be installed through Homebrew, Cargo, Nix, and other package managers and then used in scripts without bootstrapping a full TeX distribution by hand. ### Why package nerds care Tectonic is significant because it turns TeX from a sprawling distribution problem into a packageable compiler-like tool. For people who maintain docs, papers, resumes, manuals, or CI pipelines, that makes LaTeX builds feel closer to using a language runtime or compiler than managing a system-wide TeX tree. ### Timeline - 2016: Public GitHub repository created. - 2024: 0.15.0 release completed the pure-Rust BibTeX engine port and improved Linux builds. - 2026: 0.16.0 release reworked bundles, added a TeX Live 2024 bundle, and resumed releases after several years. - 2026: 0.16.9 fixed macOS and CLI/version issues. ### Related projects - Related projects include TeX Live, XeTeX, BibTeX, LaTeX, tectonic-staging, and CI actions such as setup-tectonic and compile-latex. ### Sources - - - - - source_facts.description ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## 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 - Unix: Tectonic.toml ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** tectonic - **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 - Nix - tectonic: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - apk - tectonic - 0.16.9-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tectonic from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tectonic is a modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine | https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io - pacman - tectonic - 0.16.9-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: tectonic from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine, powered by XeTeX and TeXLive | https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/ - MacPorts - tectonic: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: tex/tectonic/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Scoop - main/tectonic: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/tectonic.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Media and graphics packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/media-graphics-tools/) - Matched media, image, audio, video, or graphics metadata. - [freetype](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/freetype/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [graphite2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/graphite2/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [harfbuzz](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/harfbuzz/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libpng](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libpng/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [openssl@3](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openssl-3/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [grap](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/grap/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, typesetting. - [djvu2pdf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/djvu2pdf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, documents, media, pdf. - [ps2eps](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ps2eps/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, latex, media, pdf. - [asymptote](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/asymptote/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, latex, media. - [cairo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cairo/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, pdf. - [djview4](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/djview4/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, documents, media. - [djvulibre](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/djvulibre/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, documents, media. - [ghostscript](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ghostscript/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, pdf. - [plutobook](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/plutobook/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, freetype, harfbuzz, icu4c, icu4c-78. - [podofo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/podofo/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, freetype, libpng, media, openssl. - [sile](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/sile/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, freetype, harfbuzz, icu4c, icu4c-78. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/tectonic.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/tectonic.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - 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