# Install bib-tool with Homebrew, apt, Nix, pacman, zypper, dnf, MacPorts

Manipulates BibTeX databases. Version 2.68 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install BibTool.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:bib-tool
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install bib-tool
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install BibTool
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: tex/BibTool/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install bibtool
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#bibtool
```

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

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S bibtool
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: bibtool from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install bibtool
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: bibtool from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install BibTool
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: BibTool from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:bib-tool
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.68
- **Source summary:** Manipulates BibTeX databases
- **Homepage:** <https://www.gerd-neugebauer.de/software/TeX/BibTool/en/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/ge-ne/bibtool>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- bibtool (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.68
## Project history and usage

BibTool is Gerd Neugebauer's C command-line tool for manipulating BibTeX databases beyond what BibTeX itself was designed to do.

### Project history

The BibTool manual and README frame the project as filling the gap between BibTeX's citation/bibliography generation role and the day-to-day management of BibTeX files. Its documented functions include pretty-printing, syntax and semantic checks, sorting, merging, reference-key generation, .aux-based extraction, regex-based selection and rewriting, macro expansion, and statistics.

The manual carries copyright years beginning in 1995, while the public GitHub history includes a 2007 initial revision and a 2013 repository reorganization/cleanup. The changelog records active 2.x maintenance through release 2.68 in April 2020.

### Adoption history

BibTool is distributed through TeX-oriented channels and general OS package managers. The README points users to CTAN and notes binary distributions via native package managers, while the input metadata lists Homebrew, Debian, Fedora/DNF, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE/Zypper packaging.

### How it is used

Users run bibtool to normalize, check, sort, merge, rewrite, select, and extract entries from .bib files. Configuration is resource-file driven: the manual documents $BIBTOOLRSC, the default .bibtoolrsc in the user's home directory, and resource search paths.

### Why package nerds care

BibTool matters because bibliography cleanup is both mundane and surprisingly exacting. Packaging it gives TeX users a scriptable, reproducible way to keep large .bib databases consistent without opening a GUI reference manager.

### Timeline

- 1995: BibTool manual copyright period begins.
- 2007: Public Git history records an initial revision.
- 2013: Repository reorganization and cleanup are recorded.
- 2016: Releases 2.63 through 2.66 add resource and biblatex-related work.
- 2017: Release 2.67 adds parsing/error-handling documentation and behavior.
- 2020: Release 2.68 adds checks, .aux extraction improvements, and resource updates.

### Related projects

- BibTool is related to BibTeX, LaTeX, CTAN tooling, biblatex-aware workflows, and other bibliography-processing utilities. Compared with bibclean, BibTool is broader: it is a BibTeX database manipulation engine, not just a pretty-printer and syntax checker.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/ge-ne/bibtool>
- <https://github.com/ge-ne/bibtool#readme>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ge-ne/bibtool/master/Changes.tex>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ge-ne/bibtool/master/doc/bibtool.tex>
- input.source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: $BIBTOOLRSC, ~/.bibtoolrsc, ./.bibtoolrsc
## Other Package-Manager Records

- MacPorts - BibTool: installed executable or alias match | MacPorts ports tree: tex/BibTool/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Debian apt - bibtool - 2.68+ds-3: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: bibtool from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | tool to manipulate BibTeX files | http://www.gerd-neugebauer.de/software/TeX/BibTool/index.en.html
- Nix - bibtool: installed executable or alias match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/bi/bibtool/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - bibtool - 2.68+ds-1: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: bibtool from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | tool to manipulate BibTeX files | http://www.gerd-neugebauer.de/software/TeX/BibTool/index.en.html
- dnf - BibTool - 2.68-30.fc45: installed executable or alias match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: BibTool from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | A Tool for manipulating BibTeX data bases | http://www.gerd-neugebauer.de/software/TeX/BibTool/
- pacman - bibtool - 2.68-7: installed executable or alias match | Arch Linux sync databases: bibtool from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A tool for manipulating BibTeX files | https://github.com/ge-ne/bibtool
- zypper - bibtool - 2.68-4.4: installed executable or alias match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: bibtool from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Tool for Manipulating BibTeX Databases | http://www.gerd-neugebauer.de/software/TeX/BibTool/index.en.html


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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