# Install adapterremoval with Homebrew, apt

Rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging. Version 3.0.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-08-02. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install adapterremoval.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:adapterremoval
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install adapterremoval
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install adapterremoval
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: adapterremoval from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:adapterremoval
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.0.1
- **Source summary:** Rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval>
- **Last updated:** 2026-08-02T00:19:40+09:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- adapterremoval3 (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.0.1
## Project history and usage

AdapterRemoval is a bioinformatics command-line tool for trimming adapter sequences, trimming low-quality bases, merging overlapping paired-end reads, demultiplexing barcoded reads, and producing sequencing QC reports.

### Project history

The README cites the original AdapterRemoval publication by Lindgreen in 2012 and the AdapterRemoval v2 paper by Schubert, Lindgreen, and Orlando in 2016. Version 3 is described as a major revision of version 2 focused on simpler defaults, more features, and higher throughput.

The GitHub repository was created in 2014 and now publishes the `adapterremoval3` command with documentation hosted on Read the Docs.

### Adoption history

AdapterRemoval became a common sequencing utility because adapter trimming and read merging are routine preprocessing steps for high-throughput sequencing FASTQ data. Its README notes precompiled binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and the supplied input lists Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu packages.

### How it is used

Users run `adapterremoval3` with input FASTQ files and an output prefix; default behavior can automatically detect adapters, trim low-quality bases, filter reads, write compressed FASTQ, and generate HTML and JSON reports.

### Why package nerds care

For package maintainers, AdapterRemoval is a good example of a scientific CLI where reproducibility, CPU-specific acceleration, compression libraries, and manpage/docs installation all matter. Version 3 adds SIMD acceleration and broader platform packaging concerns.

### Timeline

- 2012: Original AdapterRemoval publication appeared in BMC Research Notes.
- 2014: GitHub repository `MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval` was created.
- 2016: AdapterRemoval v2 paper described rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging.
- 2022: First AdapterRemoval v3 alpha release was published.
- 2026: AdapterRemoval v3.0.0 was published.

### Related projects

- Related tools and domains include FASTQ preprocessing pipelines, adapter trimming utilities, Illumina sequencing workflows, SAM/BAM output handling, and QC report generators.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval/releases>
- <https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval#readme>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for adapterremoval. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.


## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - adapterremoval - 2.3.4-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: adapterremoval from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging of gene sequences | https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval
- Debian apt - adapterremoval-examples - 2.3.4-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: adapterremoval-examples from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging (example data) | https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval
- Ubuntu apt - adapterremoval - 2.3.3-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: adapterremoval from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging of gene sequences | https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval
- Ubuntu apt - adapterremoval-examples - 2.3.3-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: adapterremoval-examples from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | rapid adapter trimming, identification, and read merging (example data) | https://github.com/MikkelSchubert/adapterremoval


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/adapterremoval.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/adapterremoval.yml)


## Sources

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