# Install wllvm with Homebrew, Nix Toolkit for building whole-program LLVM bitcode files. Version 1.3.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:wllvm ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install wllvm ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#wllvm ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/wl/wllvm/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:wllvm - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.3.1 - **Source summary:** Toolkit for building whole-program LLVM bitcode files - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:06:39-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - extract-bc (cli) - wfortran (cli) - wllvm (cli) - wllvm++ (cli) - wllvm-as (cli) - wllvm-sanity-checker (cli) - wparse-args (cli) - extract-bc (alias) - wfortran (alias) - wllvm (alias) - wllvm++ (alias) - wllvm-as (alias) - wllvm-sanity-checker (alias) - wparse-args (alias) ## Dependencies - python@3.14 ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.3.1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://pypi.org/project/wllvm/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage WLLVM, short for Whole Program LLVM, is a Python-based wrapper toolkit for producing whole-program or whole-library LLVM bitcode from ordinary C, C++, and Fortran build systems. Its niche is not compiling new code directly, but making existing autotools, Make, and compiler-driven projects emit normal native artifacts while preserving enough per-object bitcode information for later extraction. ### Project history The public GitHub repository for travitch/whole-program-llvm was created in 2011, and the package later became available on PyPI, whose JSON metadata records release 1.0.0 in August 2016 and release 1.3.1 in April 2021. The README describes the design as a two-step compiler-wrapper approach: build real object files first, generate matching LLVM bitcode second, and record bitcode paths in a dedicated object-file section so a post-build tool can link them into a whole-program bitcode file. WLLVM's design grew around a practical limitation of link-time optimization workflows: GCC LTO and gold-plugin approaches can work for some programs but become awkward around static libraries and build systems that expect native objects during the build. By keeping the native build intact and delaying bitcode collection until after linking, WLLVM became useful for analysis workflows that need LLVM IR without forcing upstream projects to adopt LLVM-specific build logic. ### Adoption history Adoption has remained specialized but durable in the LLVM static-analysis ecosystem. The PyPI classifiers identify developers and science/research users, while the repository has accumulated hundreds of public stars and forks. The existence of SRI-CSL's gllvm, documented as a Go port of wllvm, is a useful sign of the idea's persistence: the wrapper-plus-extract pattern was important enough to be reimplemented for users who wanted a compiled toolchain wrapper. ### How it is used A typical user exports WLLVM's compiler wrappers, builds an unmodified upstream package, then runs extract-bc on the resulting executable or archive to recover a linked LLVM bitcode module. That makes it a package-nerd tool for turning traditional Unix source packages into LLVM IR inputs for static analysis, symbolic execution, decompilation research, and whole-program optimization experiments. ### Why package nerds care WLLVM matters because it sits at the border between normal distribution builds and research tooling. It lets a package be built the way its maintainers intended while still producing LLVM bitcode artifacts that package managers and analysis frameworks can consume later. ### Timeline - 2011: travitch/whole-program-llvm public repository created on GitHub. - 2016: wllvm 1.0.0 uploaded to PyPI. - 2021: wllvm 1.3.1 uploaded to PyPI. - 2020s: gllvm documents itself as a Go port of wllvm, preserving the same whole-program bitcode workflow. ### Related projects - gllvm is a Go port of WLLVM with analogous wrapper commands and a get-bc extraction workflow. - LLVM, clang, llvm-link, and llvm-ar are the underlying compiler and bitcode tools that make WLLVM's output useful. ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** wllvm - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 1 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - wllvm: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/wl/wllvm/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Package publisher tools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/package-publishers/) - Belongs to a package publishing or registry command family. - [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. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [klee](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/klee/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [lld](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lld/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compiler-toolchain, developer-tools, llvm. - [llvm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/llvm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compiler-toolchain, developer-tools, llvm. - [spirv-llvm-translator](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/spirv-llvm-translator/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compiler-toolchain, developer-tools, llvm. - [spirv-tools](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/spirv-tools/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, compiler-toolchain, developer-tools. - [actionlint](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/actionlint/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, static-analysis. - [alive2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/alive2/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, llvm. - [cargo-binutils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cargo-binutils/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, llvm. - [cargo-llvm-cov](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cargo-llvm-cov/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, llvm. - [cpplint](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cpplint/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: checker, cli, developer, developer-tools, python. - [cmake-lint](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake-lint/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: analysis, checker, cli, developer, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/wllvm.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/wllvm.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - 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