convert-apps-to-homebrew

A CLI tool for macOS that automatically discovers applications in your /Applications directory and converts them to Homebrew-managed installations.

Features

• Automatic Discovery: Scans /Applications directory and identifies available Homebrew packages
• Interactive Selection: Checkbox interface for selecting apps to install
• Dry-Run Mode: Preview changes without executing them
• Flexible Filtering: Pre-ignore specific applications and/or App Store apps

Quick Start

Installation

# Run directly with npx (recommended)
npx convert-apps-to-homebrew@latest

# Or install globally
npm install -g convert-apps-to-homebrew
convert-apps-to-homebrew

Requirements

• macOS: This tool is designed specifically for macOS
• Node.js 16+: Required for running the application (bun required for development)
• Homebrew: Must be installed and accessible in PATH
• mas-cli (optional): For Mac App Store integration - install with brew install mas
  • Required for detecting if apps are installed via Mac App Store.

Command-line options

Option	Description	Example
--ignore <apps...>	Ignore specific applications	--ignore "Adobe Photoshop" "Microsoft Word" google-chrome
--ignore-app-store	Ignore apps installed via App Store (requires mas)
--dry-run	Preview changes without executing
--verbose	Enable detailed logging
--applications-dir <path>	Custom applications directory	--applications-dir /Applications
--help	Show help information
--version	Show version number

Development

Building from source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/deepfriedmind/convert-apps-to-homebrew.git
cd convert-apps-to-homebrew

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Install commit hooks
bunx simple-git-hooks

# Run the project
bun start

# Build the project
bun run build

# Run tests
bun test

# Run tests with coverage
bun test --coverage

# Run all checks
bun run check

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Development guidelines

1. TypeScript: All code must be written in TypeScript
2. Testing: New features must include comprehensive tests
3. Documentation: Update README.md for new features
4. Code Style: Follow the existing code style and linting rules

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS
• Commander.js - Command-line interface framework
• Consola - Elegant Console Logger for Node.js and Browser

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Homebrew is not installed"

Install Homebrew:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

"Node.js version <installed version> is not supported. Please use Node.js <required version> or later."

Install latest Node.js:

brew install node

"Permission denied"

• Ensure you have read access to /Applications
• For cask installations, Homebrew's --force flag is used to overwrite existing applications

"No applications found"

• Check that applications exist in /Applications
• Try using --applications-dir to specify a different path

For more help, run with --verbose flag for detailed error information.

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