# Install xmq with Homebrew Tool and language to work with xml/html/json. Version 4.2.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-24. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:xmq ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install xmq ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:xmq - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 4.2.0 - **Source summary:** Tool and language to work with xml/html/json - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-05-24T18:54:31Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - xmq (cli) - xmq (alias) ## Build dependencies - pkgconf ## Uses from macOS - libxml2 - libxslt ## 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: 4.2.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-05-24 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/libxmq/xmq - Upstream latest detected: 4.2.0 (current) ## Project history and usage XMQ is both a command-line tool and a compact markup syntax for working with XML, HTML, JSON, and related transforms. Its niche is making tree-shaped markup readable, editable, pretty-printable, and pipe-friendly without giving up round-tripping back to XML/HTML or JSON. ### Project history The GitHub repository was created in 2019 and describes XMQ as a converter between XML/HTML and a more human-readable XMQ/HTMQ form, with JSON support, syntax highlighting, pretty printing, a pager, HTML and TeX rendering, and Invisible XML grammar support. The project documentation and 2025 PDF by Fredrik Ohrstrom frame the design as a response to XML's editing pain: closing tags, significant whitespace, comments, attributes, entities, and transforms are represented in a syntax intended to remain visibly structured and always pretty-printable. ### Adoption history XMQ is a modern niche tool rather than a broad standard. Its public adoption signal is mostly package-manager availability, GitHub activity, and command-line discussion among users who want XML/HTML/JSON inspection to feel more like jq-era terminal work. The tool's practical appeal grew as it added more than one format conversion. The homepage examples show pretty-printing XML, HTML, and JSON; using an internal pager; deleting nodes with XPath; converting between xmq/xml/htmq/html/json; applying XSLT/XSLQ-style transforms; rendering to HTML or TeX; and parsing arbitrary input with ixml grammars. ### How it is used Typical xmq usage starts as a pretty-printer: run xmq pom.xml, xmq data.json, cat rss.xml | xmq, or pipe a web page through deletion and pager commands to inspect the structure. The same executable can convert back out with commands such as to-xml, to-html, and to-json. Its more package-nerd use is as a bridge between tree formats and Unix text workflows. XMQ's compact form and clines-style output make it easier to grep, diff, store, or log structured markup while still keeping enough structure to reconstruct the original document. ### Why package nerds care XMQ is interesting because it treats XML not as obsolete, but as a powerful tree model with bad ergonomics. The package gives terminal users a reversible shorthand plus tools around XPath, transforms, paging, and rendering. It also sits near a family of command-line format shims such as jq, yq, xq, xmlstarlet, and pup, but takes a different route: instead of only querying a source format, it introduces an alternate readable surface syntax for markup. ### Timeline - 2019-09-02: The libxmq/xmq GitHub repository is created. - 2020s: The tool expands around XML, HTML, JSON, syntax highlighting, paging, conversion, XSLT/XSLQ transforms, and ixml parsing. - 2025-08-04: The XMQ/HTMQ PDF presents the rationale and compact specification for the syntax. - 2026: The project is packaged in Homebrew and documented at libxmq.org as a standalone xmq tool plus embeddable C source. ### Related projects - jq is the obvious JSON-side comparison for command-line structured-data inspection. - xmlstarlet and xq are adjacent XML command-line tools, though they query or transform existing formats rather than introducing XMQ as a reversible syntax. - Invisible XML is supported by xmq for parsing non-XML input through grammars. - libxml2 and libxslt are related XML infrastructure used throughout the broader XML tooling ecosystem. ### 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:** xmq - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## 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. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [html-xml-utils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/html-xml-utils/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, html, markup, xml. - [discount](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/discount/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, html, markup. - [hjson](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hjson/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data-format, developer-tools, json. - [htmlcleaner](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/htmlcleaner/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, html, markup, xml. - [htmlcompressor](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/htmlcompressor/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, html, markup, xml. - [json5](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/json5/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data-format, developer-tools, json. - [markdown](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/markdown/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, html, markup. - [pandoc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pandoc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, html, markup. - [libwbxml](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libwbxml/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: cli, data, data-format, developer, developer-tools. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/xmq.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/xmq.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 - cross-ecosystem install command graph