install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install ubi

local Homebrew formula metadata

Windows

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id houseabsolute.ubi -e

Windows Package Manager source index · houseabsolute.ubi · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

Universal Binary Installer

Project links

Commands and aliases

ubi

history

Project history and usage

ubi, the Universal Binary Installer, is a small CLI for installing prebuilt binaries from GitHub releases and similar release pages. It belongs to the newer generation of package-helper tools that automate the common shell-script pattern of selecting the right OS and CPU asset, downloading it, and putting the binary on PATH.

Project history

The official repository describes ubi as the Universal Binary Installer. Its release page shows a 0.x project with signed tags, many platform-specific release assets, and continuing changes around asset selection, platform matching, Android support, libc matching, private-repository downloads, and supply-chain safety.

The project is maintained by Dave Rolsky under the houseabsolute namespace and is distributed under Apache-2.0 OR MIT in the batch input. Its own releases are themselves a demonstration of the problem it solves: the v0.9.0 release publishes many per-platform archives and checksum assets.

Adoption history

ubi is adopted in package-nerd workflows where users want a lightweight installer for GitHub-release binaries without writing a custom curl, tar, and grep script for each tool. The batch input lists Homebrew and winget availability, reflecting its cross-platform installer niche.

Release notes show the project responding to real packaging edge cases: asset names that contain misleading numbers, Android targets, musl versus glibc Linux assets, private repositories, and minimum release age to reduce supply-chain risk.

How it is used

ubi is used to pick a matching release artifact for the current platform, download it, and install the contained binary. Its package-nerd use case is bootstrapping CLI tools from upstream release assets when a native package does not exist or when the user wants upstream's current binary.

The v0.9.0 release added a --min-age-days flag to consider only releases at least a specified age, explicitly framed by the project as useful for mitigating supply-chain attacks.

Why package nerds care

ubi matters because GitHub Releases became an unofficial binary distribution layer for many small CLIs. A generic installer for those releases sits between full package managers and one-off install scripts.

For Homebrew users, the amusing recursion is that a package manager can install ubi, and ubi can then install tools that are not packaged or are wanted directly from upstream release artifacts.

Timeline

2024-2026: The visible release history is in the 0.x series, with repeated changes around release-asset matching and platform support.
2026: v0.9.0 is released with --min-age-days for release-age filtering.

Related projects

GitHub Releases are the primary ecosystem surface for ubi's installer model.
Homebrew and winget provide native package-manager distribution for ubi itself according to the batch input.

Sources

https://github.com/houseabsolute/ubi identifies the project as The Universal Binary Installer.
https://github.com/houseabsolute/ubi/releases documents release history, platform assets, asset-matching changes, private-repository handling, Android support, libc matching, and the --min-age-days supply-chain feature.
source_facts.package-manager identifies Homebrew and winget availability.

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 2 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
`ubi`	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 generated2026-08-04

manager version0.10.0

manager updated2026-07-26

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.10.0

https://github.com/houseabsolute/ubi

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:ubi
Version	0.10.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ubi
Homepage	https://github.com/houseabsolute/ubi
Repository	https://github.com/houseabsolute/ubi
License	Apache-2.0 OR MIT
Source archive	https://github.com/houseabsolute/ubi/archive/refs/tags/v0.10.0.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-07-26T21:15:45Z
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	xz
Build dependencies	pkgconf, rust
Uses from macOS	bzip2
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	ubi
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	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

winget95%

houseabsolute.ubi

winget install --id houseabsolute.ubi -e

normalized package name match
Matched by: Ubi

Windows Package Manager source index · cdn.winget.microsoft.com · Windows Package Manager source index: houseabsolute.ubi from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

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.

combined/ubi.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment
pkg.so package database
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install ubi with Homebrew, winget