# Install ford with Homebrew, Nix

Automatic documentation generator for modern Fortran programs. Version 7.0.13 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-10. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#ford.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ford
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ford
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#ford
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ford
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 7.0.13
- **Source summary:** Automatic documentation generator for modern Fortran programs
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/Fortran-FOSS-Programmers/ford>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/Fortran-FOSS-Programmers/ford>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-10T11:59:18Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- ford (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 7.0.13
## Project history and usage

FORD is an automatic documentation generator for modern Fortran programs. The README expands the name as FORtran Documenter and frames the project as a Fortran-oriented alternative to Doxygen and other documentation generators.

### Project history

FORD was written because the maintainer found Doxygen's Fortran handling poor and other alternatives limited, proprietary, unattractive, or difficult to extend. The README specifically compares it with ROBODoc, f90doc, and Doxygen and states the goal of producing modern Fortran documentation that is informative, attractive, easy to write, and non-obtrusive.

The documentation site later formalized the user guide around project files, Markdown metadata, fpm.toml integration, command-line options, generated pages, and API documentation. The changelog shows an active 6.x and 7.x period, including Sphinx/Read the Docs documentation work and a v7.0.0 breaking-change release.

### Adoption history

The README documents pip as the simplest installation path, Homebrew as a macOS package-manager route, and additional system package availability. It also displays badges for PyPI, Homebrew, package status, downloads, GitHub license, and Zenodo, indicating packaging and citation concerns common in scientific Fortran projects.

### How it is used

Users write a Markdown project file, optionally put settings in fpm.toml, and run ford against the project file. FORD extracts documentation from Fortran comments, supports Markdown, MathJax, search, Bootstrap-based output, source links, static pages, and external project references.

### Why package nerds care

FORD matters to package and scientific-computing maintainers because it fills a language-specific documentation gap for modern Fortran while fitting normal Python packaging and Homebrew workflows. It also bridges Fortran Package Manager projects through fpm.toml support.

### Timeline

- 2022: changelog entry v6.1.17 includes adding Sphinx docs and a Read the Docs website.
- 2023: v6.2.5 released with fixes around bound procedure declarations and call graphs.
- v7.0.0: changelog records a breaking release updating Bootstrap to 5.3 and changing project-file metadata behavior.

### Related projects

- The README discusses Doxygen, ROBODoc, and f90doc as related documentation tools. The user guide also connects FORD to fpm.toml, Markdown, MathJax, Lunr Search, Bootstrap, and external FORD documentation projects.

### Sources

- <https://forddocs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user_guide/project_file_options.html>
- <https://forddocs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user_guide/writing_documentation.html>
- <https://github.com/Fortran-FOSS-Programmers/ford>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Fortran-FOSS-Programmers/ford/master/CHANGELOG.md>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Fortran-FOSS-Programmers/ford/master/README.md>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## 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: ./*.md
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - ford: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fo/ford/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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