macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install unilocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install uniMacPorts ports tree · textproc/uni/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install uni with Homebrew, apk, MacPorts, Nix
Unicode database query tool for the command-line. Version 2.9.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%
sudo apk add uniAlpine Linux edge package indexes · uni · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#uninixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/un/uni/package.nix · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Unicode database query tool for the command-line
Project links
Commands and aliases
- uni
history
Project history and usage
uni is a Go command-line tool for querying the Unicode database. Its README describes commands for identifying codepoints in text, searching codepoints, printing ranges or classes, and finding emoji.
Project history
The GitHub repository was created in December 2018. The project sits in a Unix tradition of small text-inspection tools, but updates that niche for modern Unicode and emoji workflows.
The README says uni supports Unicode 15.1 and includes good emoji support. It also documents JSON output, browser/WASM availability, and integrations with dmenu, rofi, fzf, and Vim, showing that the tool evolved beyond a simple codepoint lookup command into a terminal-centered Unicode utility.
Adoption history
The README points users to release binaries, packages for multiple platforms, and `go install zgo.at/uni/v2@latest` from source. The supplied package facts show availability in Homebrew, Alpine, MacPorts, and Nix.
Repository metadata shows hundreds of GitHub stars and a sequence of releases, including v2.9.0 in December 2025. For a Unicode lookup CLI, that suggests durable use among developers who frequently inspect unfamiliar characters, terminal width, escapes, and emoji names.
How it is used
Common usage is interactive and pipeline-friendly: identify characters from arguments or stdin, search by name, print specific codepoints and ranges, and format output fields such as Unicode version, name, UTF-8 bytes, HTML entity, X11 keysym, JSON escape, or display width.
The README's integrations make uni useful as a picker as well as an inspector: scripts can wire it into dmenu, rofi, fzf, or Vim so users can search for and insert symbols without leaving keyboard-driven workflows.
Why package nerds care
uni is package-interesting because it packages Unicode data into a fast single-purpose CLI. It is the kind of tool that rarely appears in application dependency graphs but frequently lives in a developer's personal shell setup.
Compared with older conversion tools, uni is focused on discovery and metadata rather than transcoding. That makes it complementary to tools such as uni2ascii, iconv, and GUI character maps.
Timeline
- 2018: GitHub repository created.
- 2023: README documents support for Unicode 15.1.
- 2025: GitHub page lists v2.9.0 as a December 2025 release.
- 2026: Repository metadata shows continued availability and package interest.
Related projects
- The README compares uni with CLI alternatives such as unicode.vim, unicode, uc, and chr, and GUI tools such as gnome-characters, gucharmap, KCharSelect, rofi-emoji, and rofimoji.
- The README links dmenu, rofi, fzf, and Vim integrations for picker-style workflows.
Sources
- https://api.github.com/repos/arp242/uni
- https://github.com/arp242/uni#readme
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arp242/uni/master/README.md
- input.source_facts.package-manager
security posture
Risk level: blue
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
Risk classifier
blue risk · medium confidence · tool
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
Signals
- text:database
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Build metadata lists 1 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 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
uni | 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 version2.9.0
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detectedv2.9.0
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:uni |
|---|---|
| Version | 2.9.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/uni |
| Homepage | https://github.com/arp242/uni |
| Repository | https://github.com/arp242/uni |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/arp242/uni#readme |
| License | MIT |
| Source archive | https://github.com/arp242/uni/archive/refs/tags/v2.9.0.tar.gz |
| Build dependencies | go |
| 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 | uni |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
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%
uni
nix profile install nixpkgs#uni- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Uni
apk95%
uni 2.9.0-r5
Query the Unicode database from the commandline
sudo apk add uni- License: MIT
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: uni
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Uni
apk95%
uni-doc 2.9.0-r5
Query the Unicode database from the commandline (documentation)
sudo apk add uni-doc- License: MIT
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: uni
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Uni
MacPorts95%
uni
sudo port install uni- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Uni
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.
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