Install treefrog with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• tadpole
• tmake
• treefrog
• tspawn

Project history

The official introduction describes TreeFrog as a lightweight, fast, full-stack web framework written in C++ with a convention-over-configuration policy intended to reduce development cost. It combines MVC structure, scaffolding, O/R mapping, templates, and Qt-based cross-platform support.

The GitHub README frames the project as a high-speed full-stack framework based on C++ and Qt, supporting HTTP and WebSocket protocols, ORM, ERB-like templates, JSON/XML/CBOR responses, and multiple databases including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Oracle, DB2, MongoDB, Memcached, and Redis.

The project has a long-lived package profile: the website footer shows the TreeFrog Framework Project spanning 2010-2025, and the GitHub repository lists thousands of commits, many releases, and a 2025 2.11.2 release.

Adoption history

TreeFrog is a niche framework compared with scripting-language MVC frameworks, but it is notable for bringing Rails-like generators and conventions into C++ web development. Its adoption is mostly among users who want a compiled C++ web stack with Qt integration.

For package managers, the important surface is the CLI toolchain: `tspawn` creates projects and scaffolds code, while `treefrog` runs and controls the application server. Homebrew packaging makes that workflow available without manually building the framework.

How it is used

The tutorial workflow creates an app with `tspawn new`, configures a database in `config/database.ini`, generates models/controllers/views with `tspawn scaffold`, builds with qmake and make, and runs the app server with `treefrog -e dev`.

In the package-nerd niche, TreeFrog is interesting because it packages a whole C++ web framework experience as command-line tools rather than just a library.

Why package nerds care

TreeFrog matters as a durable example of C++ web framework packaging: Qt, generators, database drivers, app-server commands, and project skeleton conventions all have to line up for the CLI experience to feel coherent.

Timeline

• 2010: The project website copyright range begins.
• 2025: The GitHub repository lists TreeFrog Framework version 2.11.2 as a release.
• 2025: The official website footer shows continued project presence through 2025.

Related projects

• TreeFrog is tied to Qt and qmake for its build and runtime model.
• Its documented workflow resembles MVC/scaffolding frameworks, but targets C++ applications rather than Ruby, Python, PHP, or JavaScript stacks.

Sources

• https://github.com/treefrogframework/treefrog-framework
• https://github.com/treefrogframework/treefrog-framework/releases
• https://www.treefrogframework.org/en/user-guide/
• https://www.treefrogframework.org/en/user-guide/introduction/
• https://www.treefrogframework.org/en/user-guide/tutorial/