# Install defaultbrowser with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix Command-line tool for getting & setting the default browser. Version 1.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#defaultbrowser. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:defaultbrowser ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install defaultbrowser ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install defaultbrowser ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/defaultbrowser/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#defaultbrowser ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/de/defaultbrowser/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:defaultbrowser - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 1.1 - **Source summary:** Command-line tool for getting & setting the default browser - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - defaultbrowser (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 1.1 ## Project history and usage defaultbrowser is a small macOS command-line utility for listing and changing the system default web browser, specifically the HTTP handler. ### Project history The README presents defaultbrowser as a macOS X tool built around the macOS Launch Services API. Its scope is intentionally narrow: run without arguments to list browser handlers and run with a browser identifier to set the default. The repository has tagged commits for v1.0 in 2017 and 1.1 in 2018, matching the tool's stable, low-churn nature. ### Adoption history defaultbrowser is packaged by Homebrew, which fits its audience: Mac users and automation scripts that need a terminal-friendly way to change a desktop preference normally managed through system settings. ### How it is used The common usage is direct and scriptable: `defaultbrowser` shows available HTTP handlers and the current default, while commands such as `defaultbrowser chrome` set the default browser. ### Why package nerds care defaultbrowser is a classic package-manager utility because it wraps a platform preference in one tiny CLI. It is useful in dotfiles, setup scripts, and fleet/bootstrap workflows where opening a GUI preferences pane would be the wrong interface. ### Timeline - 2017: v1.0 tagged commit. - 2018: 1.1 tagged commit. - 2026: Homebrew continues to publish the formula. ### Related projects - The README points to the macOS Launch Services API as the underlying platform facility and to a separate bash-completion project for shell integration. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - defaultbrowser: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/de/defaultbrowser/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - MacPorts - defaultbrowser: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/defaultbrowser/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/defaultbrowser.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/defaultbrowser.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph