# Install cdi with Homebrew

C and Fortran Interface to access Climate and NWP model Data. Version 2.6.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:cdi
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install cdi
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:cdi
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.6.3
- **Source summary:** C and Fortran Interface to access Climate and NWP model Data
- **Homepage:** <https://code.mpimet.mpg.de/projects/cdi>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:02:59-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- cdi (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.6.3
## Project history and usage

CDI, the Climate Data Interface, is a C and Fortran library for accessing climate and numerical weather prediction model data in formats such as GRIB, netCDF, SERVICE, EXTRA, and IEG.

### Project history

The official MPI-M Redmine overview and wiki describe CDI as a C and Fortran interface to access Climate and NWP model data. The embedded C manual identifies Uwe Schulzweida of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology as the author and documents CDI C manual version 1.9.9 from October 2020.

The project news on the official overview shows recent release cadence: version 2.0.0 in 2021, 2.1.0 in 2022, 2.2.0 and 2.3.0 in 2023, and 2.4.0 in 2024.

### Adoption history

CDI appears as a specialized scientific package rather than a general CLI utility. Its official wiki lists software that uses CDI, including Climate Data Operators, ECHAM, MPIOM, ICON, afterburner, and MATLAB-CDI. Homebrew packaging gives macOS and Linux package-manager users access to the cdi executable and library.

### How it is used

CDI is used by climate and meteorology software to read, write, and transform model-data streams across GRIB, netCDF, SERVICE, EXTRA, and IEG formats. The manuals cover C and Fortran bindings, file formats, stream APIs, and compiling/linking with the CDI library.

### Why package nerds care

CDI is interesting in package-manager terms because it packages domain infrastructure from climate modeling: a format abstraction layer used by larger tools such as CDO and model workflows, not a standalone consumer application. Its value is in making scientific data formats available through distro and Homebrew dependency graphs.

### Timeline

- 2020-10: Embedded C manual version 1.9.9 published.
- 2021-10-11: Version 2.0.0 release news posted.
- 2022-10-07: Version 2.1.0 release news posted.
- 2023-07-13: Version 2.2.0 release news posted.
- 2023-10-20: Version 2.3.0 release news posted.
- 2024-02-21: Version 2.4.0 release news posted.

### Related projects

- The official wiki lists CDO, ECHAM, MPIOM, ICON, afterburner, and MATLAB-CDI as software using CDI.

### Sources

- <https://code.mpimet.mpg.de/projects/cdi>
- <https://code.mpimet.mpg.de/projects/cdi/embedded/index.html>
- <https://code.mpimet.mpg.de/projects/cdi/wiki>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/cdi.json>


## 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/cdi.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/cdi.yml)


## Sources

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