# Install cava with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper, winget

Console-based Audio Visualizer for ALSA. Version 1.0.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install cava.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:cava
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install cava
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install cava
```

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

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add cava
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cava from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install cava
```

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

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install cava
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#cava
```

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

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S cava
```

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

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install cava
```

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

### Windows

- winget (92%):

```sh
winget install --id karlstav.cava -e
```

  Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: karlstav.cava from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:cava
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.0.0
- **Source summary:** Console-based Audio Visualizer for ALSA
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/karlstav/cava>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/karlstav/cava>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-25T13:37:38+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- cava (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.0.0
## Project history and usage

CAVA is the Cross-platform Audio Visualizer, a bar spectrum visualizer for terminal or desktop SDL output. The README says it works on Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, and Windows and is designed to look responsive and aesthetic for music visualization rather than scientific analysis.

### Project history

The README credits Karl Stavestrand and thanks several early contributors for major early-development work. Over time it grew beyond an ALSA-oriented console visualizer into a cross-platform project with PipeWire, PulseAudio, ALSA, Sndio, OSS, JACK, squeezelite, Core Audio, Windows, ncurses, SDL, raw output, and a cavacore library.

### Adoption history

The upstream README documents package-manager installs for Arch, Ubuntu/Debian, and Homebrew, and the supplied package facts add Alpine, Fedora, MacPorts, Nix, Ubuntu, Winget, and openSUSE. That is unusually broad adoption for a terminal visual-effect tool.

### How it is used

Users run cava to visualize audio input in the terminal, use -p to choose a config file, and control sensitivity, bar width, colors, reloads, and quit from the keyboard. A default config is created in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cava/config or ~/.config/cava/config on first launch.

### Why package nerds care

CAVA is significant because it turns terminal audio plumbing into visible feedback. For maintainers it touches many platform-specific audio stacks while remaining a familiar CLI package, which makes it a neat intersection of Unix terminals, desktop audio, and cross-platform packaging.

### Timeline

- 2026: The README documents Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, and Windows support.
- 2026: Homebrew formula packages CAVA 1.0.0 from the official release archive.
- 2026: Supplied package facts show CAVA available from Homebrew, Debian-family, RPM-family, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, Winget, and openSUSE package sets.

### Related projects

- Related project surfaces include cavacore for reusable processing and cava2sse for exposing raw values as server-sent events. Related system components include PipeWire, PulseAudio, ALSA, Sndio, OSS, JACK, Core Audio, ncurses, and SDL2.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/karlstav/cava>
- <https://github.com/karlstav/cava>
- <https://github.com/karlstav/cava#readme>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/cava.json>
- <https://github.com/karlstav/cava/releases>


## 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: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cava/config, ~/.config/cava/config
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - cava - 0.10.4+dfsg-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: cava from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Console-based Audio Visualizer for Alsa | https://github.com/karlstav/cava
- Debian apt - libcava-java - 0.6.0-2: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libcava-java from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Libraries and tools for blockchain and decentralized software | https://github.com/ConsenSys/cava
- Nix - cava: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ca/cava/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - cava - 0.7.4-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: cava from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Console-based Audio Visualizer for Alsa | https://github.com/karlstav/cava
- Ubuntu apt - libcava-java - 0.6.0-1.1ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libcava-java from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Libraries and tools for blockchain and decentralized software | https://github.com/ConsenSys/cava
- apk - cava - 1.0.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cava from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Console-based Audio Visualizer | https://github.com/karlstav/cava
- dnf - cava - 0.10.2-8.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: cava from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Console-based Audio Visualizer for Alsa | https://github.com/karlstav/cava
- pacman - cava - 0.10.7-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: cava from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Console-based Audio Visualizer with support for multiple backends | https://github.com/karlstav/cava
- zypper - cava - 1.0.0-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: cava from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Console-based Audio Visualizer for Alsa | https://github.com/karlstav/cava
- MacPorts - cava: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: audio/cava/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- winget - karlstav.cava: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: karlstav.cava from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix


## Combined YAML source

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