# Install universal-ctags with Homebrew, chocolatey, apt, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper Maintained ctags implementation. Version 6.2.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-15. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:universal-ctags ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install universal-ctags ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install universal-ctags ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/universal-ctags/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install universal-ctags ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: universal-ctags from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#universal-ctags ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/un/universal-ctags/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S ctags ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: ctags from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install universal-ctags ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: universal-ctags from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ### Windows - Chocolatey (92%): ```sh choco install universal-ctags ``` Evidence: Chocolatey community package catalog: universal-ctags from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','ubisoft-connect' - Scoop (92%): ```sh scoop install extras/universal-ctags ``` Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/universal-ctags.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Extras/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id UniversalCtags.Ctags -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: UniversalCtags.Ctags from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:universal-ctags - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 6.2.1 - **Source summary:** Maintained ctags implementation - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-05-15T12:49:28-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - optscript (cli) - readtags (cli) - optscript (alias) - readtags (alias) ## Dependencies - jansson - libyaml - pcre2 ## Build dependencies - docutils - pkgconf - python@3.14 ## Uses from macOS - libxml2 ## 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: 6.2.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-05-15 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage Universal Ctags is the maintained continuation of the ctags tradition: a command-line indexer that emits tag files for editors and source-navigation tools. Its package history is inseparable from Exuberant Ctags, whose development stalled after becoming the de facto multi-language ctags implementation. ### Project history The Universal Ctags README states that Exuberant Ctags, maintained by Darren Hiebert, improved traditional ctags with multi-language support, user-defined regex languages, and Emacs TAGS output, but that project activity stalled. Reza Jelveh initially created a personal GitHub fork, and growing participation led to a dedicated Universal Ctags project. Universal Ctags set out to continue Exuberant Ctags in a shared working space. It added and improved language parsers, extended optlib for defining parsers, developed experimental interactive mode, and documented incompatibilities where the maintained implementation deliberately diverges from Exuberant behavior. ### Adoption history ctags files are a long-standing contract between command-line indexers and editors. Universal Ctags' adoption grew because Vim, Emacs, source browsers, IDE plugins, static documentation tools, and cross-reference engines still benefit from a fast, language-aware tags generator. The official docs track related consumers and neighboring projects, including GNU Global, GNU Source-highlight, OpenGrok, Pygments, Geany, Anjuta, and Vim Tagbar. The input also shows broad packaging under names such as universal-ctags or ctags across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Nix, MacPorts, Windows package managers, and others. ### How it is used The basic package workflow is simple: run ctags over a source tree and point an editor or tool at the generated tags file. Advanced users customize language parsing, emitted fields, extras, pseudo-tags, and per-directory option files. Universal Ctags changed important configuration defaults compared with Exuberant Ctags. Its README calls out that it does not load ~/.ctags and ./.ctags at startup, preferring ~/.ctags.d/*.ctags and ./.ctags.d/*.ctags; that matters directly to package upgrades and dotfile migrations. ### Why package nerds care Universal Ctags is package-nerd significant because it is a tiny binary with a huge blast radius: editors, code browsers, documentation systems, and source-search tools may all consume its output. Keeping it maintained keeps decades of ctags workflows viable for modern languages. It is also a clean example of the package-manager replacement pattern: distributions can switch users from an unmaintained upstream to a maintained fork while preserving the old command name and most file-format compatibility. ### Timeline - Pre-2010s: Exuberant Ctags became the widely used multi-language ctags implementation. - 2010s: Exuberant Ctags activity stalled; Reza Jelveh created a GitHub fork. - 2010s: The fork became the Universal Ctags project as more contributors joined. - 2017: Windows daily builds documented the change away from loading legacy ~/.ctags-style files. - 2019: Windows daily builds documented default slash path separators and UTF-8 code page behavior on modern Windows. ### Related projects - Universal Ctags descends from Exuberant Ctags and traditional Unix ctags. Official docs also discuss Geany's derived tagging engine and downstream consumers such as GNU Global, OpenGrok, Pygments, GNU Source-highlight, Anjuta, and Tagbar. - Its companion commands and documentation include readtags, optscript, ctags-client-tools, ctags-optlib, and man pages covering tags file formats and incompatibilities. ### Sources - - - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## 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: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ctags/*.ctags, ~/.config/ctags/*.ctags, ~/.ctags.d/*.ctags, ./.ctags.d/*.ctags, ./ctags.d/*.ctags - Windows: %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\ctags.d\*.ctags ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** universal-ctags - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Conflicts With:** ctags - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - universal-ctags - 5.9.20210829.0-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: universal-ctags from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | build tag file indexes of source code definitions | https://ctags.io/ - Nix - universal-ctags: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/un/universal-ctags/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - universal-ctags - 5.9.20210829.0-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: universal-ctags from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | build tag file indexes of source code definitions | https://ctags.io/ - pacman - ctags - 1:6.2.1-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: ctags from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Generates an index file of language objects found in source files | https://ctags.io/ - zypper - universal-ctags - 6.2.1-1.1: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: universal-ctags from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | A program to generate language tag files used with various editors | https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags - MacPorts - universal-ctags: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/universal-ctags/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Chocolatey - universal-ctags: normalized package name match | Chocolatey community package catalog: universal-ctags from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='11','ubisoft-connect' - Scoop - extras/universal-ctags: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/universal-ctags.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Extras/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - winget - UniversalCtags.Ctags: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: UniversalCtags.Ctags from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix - winget - UniversalCtags.Ctags.Nightly: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: UniversalCtags.Ctags.Nightly from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [pcre2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pcre2/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [docutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/docutils/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [abi-dumper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/abi-dumper/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [ctags-lsp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ctags-lsp/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [global](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/global/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [rbenv-ctags](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rbenv-ctags/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [codequery](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/codequery/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, ctags, developer-tools. - [dscanner](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dscanner/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, ctags, developer-tools. - [gotags](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gotags/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, ctags, developer-tools. - [rtags](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rtags/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, code-indexing, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/universal-ctags.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/universal-ctags.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