install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install unxip

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install unxip

MacPorts ports tree · archivers/unxip/Portfile · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Fast Xcode unarchiver

Project links

Commands and aliases

unxip

history

Project history and usage

unxip is a purpose-built Swift command-line extractor for Apple's Xcode XIP archives. It belongs to the small but practical class of tools made for developers who regularly download, unpack, test, and archive large Xcode releases.

Project history

The GitHub repository was created in February 2022. Its README describes the goal as outperforming Apple's Bom-based xip and Archive Utility path both in decompression time and disk usage, using a design specialized around the Xcode XIP format, pbzx content, cpio reconstruction, APFS compression, Swift Concurrency, and streaming backpressure.

The project later grew from a single command into reusable internals. Release notes for v3.0 in October 2023 added libunxip, a Swift stream-based API for transforming XIP input into decompressed chunks, files, and write completions. Later releases continued to track compiler, concurrency, OS-support, and output-directory behavior.

Adoption history

The README points users to precompiled macOS binaries and names MacPorts and Homebrew as package-manager installations. GitHub repository metadata showed 958 stars and 46 forks when checked on July 2, 2026, indicating meaningful but specialized adoption among Xcode-heavy macOS developers.

How it is used

The intended command-line use is direct extraction of an Apple Xcode.xip into Xcode.app, either from a local file or from a stream into a target directory. The README warns that unxip does not perform signature verification, so users should validate downloads by another mechanism and prefer trusted sources such as Apple.

Why package nerds care

For package nerds, unxip matters because Xcode distribution is unusually large and slow to unpack, and toolchain managers often need repeatable extraction during CI image builds, local Xcode switching, and cache preparation. A packaged fast extractor is attractive precisely because it narrows one painful platform-specific step.

Timeline

2022: GitHub repository created.
2023: v2.2 release notes added Linux support.
2023: v3.0 release notes added libunxip.
2026: v3.3 release notes lowered minimum macOS requirements and added output-directory support.

Related projects

The README contrasts unxip with Bom, xip(1), Archive Utility, Apple's compression_tool-documented pbzx format, cpio archives, and APFS transparent compression.

Sources

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:archive

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.

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
`unxip`	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 version3.3

manager updated2026-05-10

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv3.3

https://github.com/saagarjha/unxip

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:unxip
Version	3.3
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/unxip
Homepage	https://github.com/saagarjha/unxip
Repository	https://github.com/saagarjha/unxip
Upstream docs	https://github.com/saagarjha/unxip#readme
License	LGPL-3.0-only
Source archive	https://github.com/saagarjha/unxip/archive/refs/tags/v3.3.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-05-10T22:45:31-04:00
Pulse	updated
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	unxip
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Requirements	macos
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head 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.

MacPorts95%

unxip

sudo port install unxip

normalized package name match
Matched by: Unxip

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: archivers/unxip/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/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/unxip.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 unxip with Homebrew, MacPorts