HomeBrewMe

HomeBrewMe helps replace manually installed macOS applications with their Homebrew cask versions. It scans /Applications, checks for matching casks, and lets you review each replacement. Use dry-run mode to preview actions before making changes.

Features

• Finds applications in /Applications that are not marked as Homebrew-managed.
• Compares installed app versions with available cask versions.
• Supports dry-run, interactive ordering, and verbose output.
• Prompts before replacing apps and summarizes results.

Requirements

• macOS with Zsh
• Homebrew
• jq
• Python 3
• osascript (included with macOS)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/joseph1020/HomeBrewMe.git
cd HomeBrewMe
chmod +x HomeBrewMe.sh

Usage

Run the script and follow the prompts:

./HomeBrewMe.sh

Preview without making changes, or use the other supported options:

./HomeBrewMe.sh --dry-run
./HomeBrewMe.sh --order
./HomeBrewMe.sh --verbose
./HomeBrewMe.sh --help

Options can be combined, for example ./HomeBrewMe.sh --dry-run --order --verbose.

Safety and behavior

The script asks before replacing each app. A replacement can quit the app, remove its existing /Applications bundle, and install the matching cask. Removal may request administrator access through sudo. --dry-run previews operations without carrying them out.

Limitations

Only applications found in /Applications are scanned. An app without a matching Homebrew cask cannot be replaced automatically.

License

HomeBrewMe is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.