# Install fsevents-tools with Homebrew, MacPorts

Command-line utilities for the FSEvents API. Version 1.0.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install fsevents-tools.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:fsevents-tools
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install fsevents-tools
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install fsevents-tools
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:fsevents-tools
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.0.0
- **Source summary:** Command-line utilities for the FSEvents API
- **Homepage:** <https://geoff.greer.fm/fsevents/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/ggreer/fsevents-tools>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- autorsync (alias)
- notifyloop (alias)
- notifywait (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

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

FSEvents Tools is a small macOS command-line package for watching directories through Apple's FSEvents API and triggering shell actions when changes occur.

### Project history

The project was created by Geoff Greer as an OS X counterpart to Linux inotify-tools. Its README describes the package as command-line tools and scripts around OS X FSEvents, and the project site distributes signed release tarballs.

The public GitHub repository metadata records the repository as created in 2012. The upstream release page lists the 0.2.x, 0.3.0, and 1.0.0 tarballs, indicating a compact release history rather than a large framework-style project.

### Adoption history

The package is mainly aimed at macOS users who want inotify-tools-like behavior without writing against the FSEvents API directly. In the supplied package data it is packaged by Homebrew and MacPorts, matching that macOS focus.

### How it is used

The README centers on three executables: notifywait for one-shot change notification, notifyloop for repeating a command after changes, and autorsync for rsync-based synchronization after file changes.

Common examples include sounding an alert when a directory changes, rebuilding LESS/CSS assets, and syncing a working tree to a remote server.

### Why package nerds care

FSEvents Tools matters to package-manager users because it fills the same shell-scriptable niche on macOS that inotify-tools fills on Linux. It is a small native watcher that can be composed with make, rsync, build scripts, and other Unix tools.

### Timeline

- 2012: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2015: Project site described FSEvents Tools as the OS X counterpart to inotify-tools and documented signed release tarballs.
- 2016: Upstream repository activity shows the compact toolset stabilized around its existing command-line utilities.

### Related projects

- The README names inotify-tools as the direct inspiration and related Linux counterpart.
- The README also mentions Lsyncd as related software for keeping files synchronized between systems.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/ggreer/fsevents-tools>
- <https://geoff.greer.fm/fsevents>
- <https://github.com/ggreer/fsevents-tools>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ggreer/fsevents-tools/master/README.md>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- MacPorts - fsevents-tools: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/fsevents-tools/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/fsevents-tools.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/fsevents-tools.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