# Install bgrep with Homebrew

Like grep but for binary strings. Version 0.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-10.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:bgrep
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install bgrep
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:bgrep
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.3
- **Source summary:** Like grep but for binary strings
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/tmbinc/bgrep>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/tmbinc/bgrep>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-10T03:29:15Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bgrep (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.3
## Project history and usage

bgrep is a tiny binary-pattern search utility: grep-like in spirit, but aimed at byte sequences in binary files rather than text lines.

### Project history

The README gives the origin story plainly: the author was annoyed that grep could not look for binary strings and wrote a tool for that job. The GitHub repository was created in 2010, has a small tag history, and remains a compact C utility rather than a broad search framework.

### Adoption history

The input metadata records Homebrew packaging for bgrep. Its adoption is correspondingly modest and toolbelt-oriented: useful enough to package, but intentionally small.

### How it is used

bgrep searches for a hex byte pattern, can recurse through directories, can print before/after context bytes, can read a pattern from a file, and can apply a mask file for wildcard bytes. When no path is given, it reads standard input.

### Why package nerds care

The package is significant in the classic Unix sense: one C file, one executable, one missing behavior from grep filled without pulling in a larger forensic suite. It is handy for firmware, image, dump, and protocol-payload spelunking.

### Timeline

- 2010: Initial GitHub commit.
- 2011: bgrep-0.2 tag appears.
- 2026: bgrep-0.3 tag updates README usage around context flags.

### Related projects

- The obvious related tool is grep(1), which the README names as the motivation. It also overlaps with hex editors, hexdump/xxd workflows, and binary-analysis command-line tools.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/tmbinc/bgrep>
- <https://github.com/tmbinc/bgrep#readme>
- input.source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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