# Install xe with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Simple xargs and apply replacement. Version 1.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:xe
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install xe
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install xe
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: xe from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#xe
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/xe/xe/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:xe
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Package manager page:** <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/xe>
- **Version:** 1.0
- **Source summary:** Simple xargs and apply replacement
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/leahneukirchen/xe>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/leahneukirchen/xe>
- **Upstream docs:** <https://github.com/leahneukirchen/xe#readme>
- **License:** LicenseRef-Homebrew-public-domain
- **Source archive:** <https://github.com/leahneukirchen/xe/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.tar.gz>
- **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00

## Executables

- xe (cli)
- xe (alias)

## Install behavior

- Post-install hook: not defined
- Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-07-08
- Package-manager version: 1.0
- Local data: ok
- Upstream repository: https://github.com/leahneukirchen/xe
- Upstream latest detected: v1.0 (current)
- info: No package-manager update timestamp was available.
## Project history and usage

xe is Leah Neukirchen's compact command-construction utility: a public-domain replacement-style tool that combines favored parts of xargs(1) and apply(1) for executing commands over argument lists.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in 2015, with the first tag v0.1 following in November 2015 and v1.0 tagged in August 2023. The README presents the project plainly as a simple xargs and apply replacement, and the manpage expands the name as 'execute for every ...'.

### Adoption history

xe's adoption appears modest and Unix-tool focused rather than platform-defining. It reached package managers such as Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu, and Nix because it is a tiny C command with a clear niche: predictable argument splitting, replacement, dry runs, parallel execution, and pattern-based command selection.

### How it is used

Users pipe newline- or NUL-separated arguments into xe, pass arguments directly on the command line, run shell snippets with -s when needed, or use -j for parallel jobs. The manpage examples include compressing files with all CPU cores, removing empty files from another listing command, and converting media with percent rules.

### Why package nerds care

xe is a package-nerd kind of tool because it exists in the gap between POSIX tradition and day-to-day ergonomics. It does not try to replace the shell; it packages a sharper default behavior for the common 'run this for every thing' pattern.

### Timeline

- 2015-10-24: GitHub repository is created.
- 2015-11-02: v0.1 is tagged.
- 2023-08-01: The xe manpage date records the mature command interface.
- 2023-08-05: v1.0 is tagged.

### Related projects

- xargs is the standard command-construction tool xe explicitly improves on.
- apply is the older utility whose replacement model xe also borrows from.
- GNU parallel and xapply are listed in xe's SEE ALSO section.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/leahneukirchen/xe>
- <https://github.com/leahneukirchen/xe>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leahneukirchen/xe/master/xe.1>


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal

## Source Database Details

- **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API
- **Tap:** homebrew/core
- **Full Name:** xe
- **Version Scheme:** 0
- **Revision:** 0
- **Head Version:** HEAD
- **Bottle Stable Root URL:** <https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core>
- **Deprecated:** no
- **Disabled:** no
- **Keg Only:** no
- **URL Keys:** head, stable

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - xe - 0.11-5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: xe from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple alternative to xargs and apply | https://git.vuxu.org/xe/about/
- Nix - xe: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/xe/xe/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - xe - 0.11-5: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: xe from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple alternative to xargs and apply | https://git.vuxu.org/xe/about/


## Related links

- [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family.
- [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals.
- [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.
- [xpipe](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xpipe/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, unix, xargs.
- [fzy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fzy/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, unix.
- [grafanactl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/grafanactl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: automation, cli, developer-tools.
- [mongocli](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mongocli/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: automation, cli, developer-tools.
- [pyp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pyp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: automation, cli, developer-tools.
- [recur](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/recur/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: automation, cli, developer-tools.
- [teip](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/teip/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, unix.
- [pyinvoke](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pyinvoke/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: automation, cli, command-execution, developer-tools.
- [gaze](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gaze/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: automation, cli, command-runner, developer, developer-tools.
- [mask](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mask/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: automation, cli, developer, developer-tools, runner.

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/xe.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/xe.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