macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install byobuprovider-native install command
brew / rank 1640
Install byobu with Homebrew
Text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer. Version 7.15 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-09.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Text-based window manager and terminal multiplexer
Project links
Commands and aliases
- byobu
- byobu-config
- byobu-ctrl-a
- byobu-disable
- byobu-disable-prompt
- byobu-enable
- byobu-enable-prompt
- byobu-export
- byobu-janitor
- byobu-keybindings
- byobu-launch
- byobu-launcher
- byobu-launcher-install
- byobu-launcher-uninstall
- byobu-layout
- byobu-prompt
- byobu-quiet
- byobu-reconnect-sockets
- byobu-screen
- byobu-select-backend
- byobu-select-profile
- byobu-select-session
- byobu-shell
- byobu-silent
- byobu-status
- byobu-status-detail
- byobu-tmux
- byobu-ugraph
- byobu-ulevel
- col1
- ctail
- manifest
history
Project history and usage
Byobu is a GPLv3 terminal workspace layer for GNU Screen and tmux. It began as an Ubuntu Server-oriented set of enhancements around GNU Screen and grew into a portable session-management tool with status notifications, keybindings, profiles, and configuration helpers.
Project history
The upstream README describes Byobu as originally designed to make the plain but practical GNU Screen experience more elegant for the Ubuntu server distribution. Later releases added support for tmux while keeping Screen support, which made Byobu less a single multiplexer and more a curated terminal environment.
Dustin Kirkland is listed by the project as the primary author, with Nick Barcet, Raphael Pinson, and Derek Carter credited as emeritus authors. The project has long lived in the Ubuntu and Launchpad ecosystem while also accepting contributions through its GitHub repository.
Adoption history
Byobu became familiar to Ubuntu Server users because it packaged multiplexer defaults, status lines, and helper commands into a batteries-included command. Its presence across Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Alpine, MacPorts, Nix, and openSUSE packaging shows that the tool escaped its Ubuntu origin and became a general Unix terminal convenience.
Its adoption is tied to users who wanted persistent remote sessions without hand-maintaining large Screen or tmux configuration files. Byobu's value was not inventing multiplexing, but standardizing a useful opinionated profile that distributions could ship.
How it is used
Users typically launch `byobu` to start or attach to a managed Screen or tmux session, then use Byobu's keybindings and status widgets for windows, system information, and session control. The bundled commands such as `byobu-config`, `byobu-select-backend`, `byobu-enable`, and `byobu-disable` make it scriptable and friendly to login-shell workflows.
The documented configuration search path uses `$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR`, `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu`, and `~/.byobu`, so package users can keep personal status, keybinding, and backend preferences outside the system installation.
Why package nerds care
Byobu matters in package-manager culture because it is a wrapper that made two already-packaged workhorses, Screen and tmux, feel like a coherent product. It is the kind of package server people install immediately after provisioning a host because it smooths daily SSH work.
It is also a good example of distro-born tooling becoming cross-platform: an Ubuntu Server nicety that Homebrew and other Unix package ecosystems carry because the workflow is useful everywhere.
Timeline
- 2008: Byobu emerges from Ubuntu Server work around enhanced GNU Screen profiles.
- 2009: The project is known publicly as Byobu and shipped broadly in Ubuntu-era server workflows.
- 2011: tmux support becomes central enough that Byobu is described as supporting both GNU Screen and tmux.
- 2023: The upstream README still presents Byobu as a maintained cross-distribution multiplexer layer for Linux, BSD, and macOS.
Related projects
- GNU Screen is the original terminal multiplexer Byobu enhanced.
- tmux is the modern multiplexer backend Byobu also supports.
- Ubuntu Server and Launchpad are part of Byobu's historical packaging and contribution context.
Sources
- https://byobu.org/
- https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu/blob/master/README.md
- source_facts.package-manager
security posture
Risk level: yellow
generalized runtime or code generation signal.
Risk classifier
yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime
Why
- generalized runtime or code generation signal
Signals
- text:shell
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
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
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
$BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu~/.byobu
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
byobu | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-config | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-ctrl-a | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-disable | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-disable-prompt | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-enable | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-enable-prompt | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-export | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-janitor | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-keybindings | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-launch | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-launcher | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-launcher-install | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-launcher-uninstall | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-layout | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-prompt | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-quiet | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-reconnect-sockets | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-screen | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-select-backend | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-select-profile | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-select-session | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-shell | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-silent | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-status | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-status-detail | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-tmux | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-ugraph | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
byobu-ulevel | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
col1 | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
ctail | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
manifest | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
purge-old-kernels | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
trustmux | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
trustmuxd | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
vigpg | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
wifi-status | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
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 generated2026-08-03
manager version7.15
manager updated2026-07-09
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:byobu |
|---|---|
| Version | 7.15 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://byobu.org |
| Repository | https://github.com/dustinkirkland/byobu |
| Last updated | 2026-07-09T01:29:19Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
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.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation