glu
gluInstall

Built on Homebrew's package ecosystem

The modern
package managerfor macOS

Install command-line tools and their dependencies faster, with a simpler interface for you and your agent.

Install glu v0.1.1

curl -fsSL https://glu.run/install | bash
Available for Apple Silicon MacsQuick Start
  • 2.3× faster than Homebrew
  • 8,000+ packages available
  • Concise output by default
  • JSON Schema and plan mode for agents

Installing node

Cold cache · including all dependencies

Median elapsed timeSeconds · lower is better
  1. glu8.88s — median of 76 validated successful installs
  2. Homebrew20.76s — median of 76 validated successful installs
  3. nanobrew23.11s — median of 76 validated successful installs

674 successful installs · 6 network environments

Methodology & results

A simpler way to manage your packages

Commands follow modern package-manager conventions, with concise output by default.

Download and install packages in parallel

zsh · glu
Image

8,000+ packages available

Packages come from Homebrew’s prebuilt collection. Search for the tools you use.

How it works

glu trace view
A recorded vips install in glu’s trace viewer, showing concurrent download lanes alongside preparation, linking, and shared postinstall work.
A recorded vips install in glu’s trace viewer.About install traces
More about performance Read the engineering story
glu trace view

  • One-shot server-side resolution

    Fetch the complete dependency graph and install metadata in one round trip. No brew update step or local index to refresh.

    Deep Dive: One-Shot Resolve

  • Built-in observability

    Every install records a local trace, showing where time goes without uploading data.

    Reference: Traces

  • Critical-path scheduling

    Prioritize downloads that unlock expensive work.

    Deep Dive: Orchestrator

  • Parallel, multipart downloads

    Fetch packages concurrently and split large downloads into chunks.

    Deep Dive: Orchestrator

  • Overlapping stages

    Download, extract, prepare, and install concurrently where dependencies allow.

    Deep Dive: Orchestrator

  • Shared resource limits

    Coordinate network, CPU, memory, and filesystem work.

    Deep Dive: Orchestrator

  • Coalesced postinstall work

    Rebuild shared caches once, after all contributing packages are ready.

    Deep Dive: Postinstall

  • Written in Rust

    Native performance, with explicit control over concurrency and memory.

More about performance Read the engineering story

Package correctness

Homebrew/opt/homebrew
glu/opt/glustore

Compare normalized results

Files
Contents, types, permissions
Links
Targets and prefix layout
Mach-O
Load commands and signatures
Commands
Package-specific probe output
Differential testing compares real installations, accounting for expected differences such as prefixes and generated cache files.

Upstream behavior, ported to Rust

Relocation, signing, linking, and postinstall behavior follow Homebrew’s implementation. Ported postinstall code records the original commit, file, and line.

Inspect the implementation

Verification through completion

Downloaded artifacts and reused cache entries are checksum-verified. Setup runs in sandboxed workers. Required transformations fail rather than being silently skipped.

Correctness and testing
Image

Your next install can be faster

Install glu, then try a package you use.

curl -fsSL https://glu.run/install | bash
Available for Apple Silicon MacsQuick Start