# Install bar with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Provide progress bars for shell scripts. Version 1.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-19. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install bar.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:bar
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install bar
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install bar
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#bar
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/bar/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:bar
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.4
- **Source summary:** Provide progress bars for shell scripts
- **Homepage:** <http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.html>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-19T13:03:28-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bar (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.4
## Project history and usage

bar is a small Bourne-shell utility that behaves like cat while showing an ASCII progress bar, aimed at portable Unix installation and scripting contexts.

### Project history

Henrik Theiling's project page frames bar as deliberately minimal shell code that needs no compilation and works across sh, ash, ksh, zsh, bash, and related Bourne-style shells. The design goal is portability first: when progress display cannot be supported safely, the script is intended to fall back toward plain cat behavior.

The upstream change log records a compact evolution from version 1.0's initial release through 1.1 percentage and terminal-width support, 1.2 robustness fixes across shells and systems, 1.3 feature additions such as ETA and configurable sizing, and 1.4 bug fixes.

### Adoption history

bar's adoption is narrow but very Unix-shaped: it appears in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, and Nix package metadata as a tiny helper for shell scripts rather than as a large standalone application.

### How it is used

The typical use is to pipe or copy data while presenting a text progress indicator in an install script or other shell workflow. Its upstream page emphasizes embedding or reusing the script body in portable installers.

### Why package nerds care

bar is interesting because it solves a common packaging-era problem without a compiled dependency, curses UI, or modern shell assumptions. It is the sort of small, old-school utility that package managers preserve because it remains useful in constrained Unix environments.

### Timeline

- Version 1.0: Initial beta release.
- Version 1.1: Adds percentage display and terminal-width detection.
- Version 1.2: Focuses on robustness across Bourne shells and operating systems.
- Version 1.3.1: Adds ETA, quiet mode, size overrides, and script-dumping features after a broken 1.3 prerelease.
- Version 1.4: Stable bug-fix release.

### Related projects

- bar overlaps with cat, dd, pv, and shell progress-bar snippets, but its upstream niche is stricter portability and embeddability in Bourne-shell install scripts.

### Sources

- <http://www.theiling.de/projects/bar.html>
- source_facts.description
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - bar - 1.11.1-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: bar from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Show information about a data transfer
- Nix - bar: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ba/bar/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - bar - 1.11.1-4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: bar from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Show information about a data transfer


## Combined YAML source

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