macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install yazlocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install yazMacPorts ports tree · net/yaz/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install yaz with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, pacman, zypper
Toolkit for Z39.50/SRW/SRU clients/servers. Version 5.37.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-20.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install libyaz-devDebian stable package indexes · libyaz-dev · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install libyazFedora Rawhide package metadata · libyaz · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S yazArch Linux sync databases · yaz · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install libyaz-developenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libyaz-devel · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Toolkit for Z39.50/SRW/SRU clients/servers
Project links
Commands and aliases
- yaz-asncomp
- yaz-client
- yaz-config
- yaz-iconv
- yaz-icu
- yaz-illclient
- yaz-json-parse
- yaz-marcdump
- yaz-record-conv
- yaz-url
- yaz-ztest
- zoomsh
history
Project history and usage
YAZ is Index Data's C toolkit for building Z39.50, SRW/SRU, and related library-search clients and servers. For package nerds it is infrastructure from the library-automation world: a protocol stack, command-line utilities, and bindings that keep old and specialized bibliographic search networks usable from modern systems.
Project history
Index Data states that YAZ has been a leading toolkit for Z39.50 clients and servers since its first release in 1995. Over three decades it grew from Z39.50 support into SRW/SRU, Z39.50-2003, SRU 1.1 through 2.0, Solr client access through the ZOOM API, and a family of related bindings and tools.
The GitHub repository describes the main output as the YAZ library, containing support functions for implementing server and client roles for Z39.50 and SRU. The repository was created on GitHub in 2016, but its copyright line and official product page make clear that the toolkit predates the GitHub era by decades.
Adoption history
YAZ was adopted in the library and information-retrieval niche because Z39.50 is complex, old, and still operationally important. The Library of Congress Z39.50 software page lists YAZ and YAZ++ as C/C++ toolkits for Z39.50/SRW/SRU clients and servers, including Z39.50-2003 and the industry-standard ZOOM API.
Index Data's page emphasizes both direct use in C applications and downstream language bindings or sibling tools: YAZ++, PHP/YAZ, SimpleServer, NET::Z3950, yaz4j, and ZOOM API bindings. That ecosystem made YAZ a base layer for metasearch gateways, catalogs, discovery tools, and vendor integrations.
How it is used
Developers use the library to implement Z39.50 and SRU client or server roles. Package users also get utilities such as yaz-client for interactive protocol testing, yaz-marcdump for inspecting MARC records, yaz-iconv and yaz-record-conv for record conversion, and zoomsh for ZOOM-based client work.
In practice, YAZ often appears when integrating library catalogs, debugging remote bibliographic services, converting MARC data, or maintaining older discovery systems that still speak Z39.50/SRU alongside newer HTTP APIs.
Why package nerds care
YAZ matters because it is a living bridge between pre-web library protocols and contemporary open-source packaging. It is not fashionable infrastructure, but it is exactly the sort of deeply specialized C library that keeps institutional data systems interoperable.
It is also a good reminder that package ecosystems are not only developer fashion cycles. Some packages persist because standards, public institutions, and long-lived catalogs persist.
Timeline
- 1995: Index Data releases the first YAZ toolkit.
- 2000: Library Technology Guides lists YAZ as an open-source Z39.50v3 programmer's toolkit.
- 2016: The indexdata/yaz GitHub repository is created.
- 2020s: Index Data describes YAZ as supporting Z39.50, SRW/SRU, SRU 1.1 through 2.0, ZOOM, and Solr client access.
Related projects
- YAZ++ is the C++ toolkit related to YAZ.
- PHP/YAZ, SimpleServer, NET::Z3950, and yaz4j are bindings or wrappers in the YAZ ecosystem.
- ZOOM is the higher-level API used by YAZ and related language bindings for Z39.50 work.
- Zebra, Pazpar2, and other Index Data tools commonly live near YAZ in library-search deployments.
Sources
security posture
No protected-tool coverage found yet
No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for yaz. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 2 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
yaz-asncomp | cli | global executable | |
yaz-client | cli | global executable | |
yaz-config | cli | global executable | |
yaz-iconv | cli | global executable | |
yaz-icu | cli | global executable | |
yaz-illclient | cli | global executable | |
yaz-json-parse | cli | global executable | |
yaz-marcdump | cli | global executable | |
yaz-record-conv | cli | global executable | |
yaz-url | cli | global executable | |
yaz-ztest | cli | global executable | |
zoomsh | 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 version5.37.3
manager updated2026-05-20
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:yaz |
|---|---|
| Version | 5.37.3 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/yaz |
| Homepage | https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/indexdata/yaz |
| Upstream docs | https://software.indexdata.com/yaz/doc/index.html |
| License | BSD-3-Clause |
| Source archive | https://ftp.indexdata.com/pub/yaz/yaz-5.37.3.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-05-20T17:39:04Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | gnutls, icu4c@78 |
| Build dependencies | pkgconf |
| Uses from macOS | libxml2, libxslt |
| 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 | yaz |
| 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 |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
libyaz-dev 5.34.4-1+b1
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (development files)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install libyaz-dev- Section: libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 5 dependencies
- 2 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Debian apt95%
libyaz5 5.34.4-1+b1
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (libraries)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install libyaz5- Section: libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 6 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Debian apt95%
yaz 5.34.4-1+b1
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (utilities)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Debian apt95%
yaz-doc 5.34.4-1
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (documentation)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz-doc- Section: doc
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: yaz
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Debian apt95%
yaz-icu 5.34.4-1+b1
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (command-line client for ICU)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz-icu- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Debian apt95%
yaz-illclient 5.34.4-1+b1
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (command-line client for ILL)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz-illclient- Section: utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Ubuntu apt95%
libyaz-dev 5.34.0-1build4
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (development files)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install libyaz-dev- Section: universe/libdevel
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 5 dependencies
- 1 provides
- 2 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Ubuntu apt95%
libyaz5 5.34.0-1build4
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (libraries)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install libyaz5- Section: universe/libs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 6 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Ubuntu apt95%
yaz 5.34.0-1build4
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (utilities)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz- Section: universe/devel
- Architecture: amd64
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Ubuntu apt95%
yaz-doc 5.34.0-1build4
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (documentation)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz-doc- Section: universe/doc
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: yaz
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Ubuntu apt95%
yaz-icu 5.34.0-1build4
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (command-line client for ICU)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz-icu- Section: universe/utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 4 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
Ubuntu apt95%
yaz-illclient 5.34.0-1build4
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit (command-line client for ILL)
https://www.indexdata.com/resources/software/yaz/
sudo apt install yaz-illclient- Section: universe/utils
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: yaz
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
dnf95%
libyaz 5.37.3-2.fc45
Shared libraries for yaz
sudo dnf install libyaz- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: yaz
- 10 dependencies
- 4 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
dnf95%
libyaz-devel 5.37.3-2.fc45
Development files for yaz
sudo dnf install libyaz-devel- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: i686
- Source Package: yaz
- 8 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
dnf95%
yaz 5.37.3-2.fc45
Z39.50/SRW/SRU toolkit
sudo dnf install yaz- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: yaz
- 10 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
dnf95%
yaz-doc 5.37.3-2.fc45
Documentation for yaz
sudo dnf install yaz-doc- License: BSD-3-Clause
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: noarch
- Source Package: yaz
- 1 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Yaz
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.
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