# Install gnu-indent with Homebrew, MacPorts

C code prettifier. Version 2.2.13 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install gindent.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:gnu-indent
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install gnu-indent
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install gindent
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:gnu-indent
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.2.13
- **Source summary:** C code prettifier
- **Homepage:** <https://www.gnu.org/software/indent/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- gindent (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.2.13
## Project history and usage

GNU indent is the GNU Project's C source formatter, a command-line tool for changing whitespace and layout without changing program meaning. Its manual describes it as a formatter for C programs that can make code easier to read and convert between styles.

### Project history

The GNU manual records Free Software Foundation copyright years beginning in 1989 and describes behavioral changes across early GNU indent releases, including GNU-style indentation as the default from version 1.2 and a revised command format from version 1.3. The formatter retained compatibility concepts from older indent implementations, including an option preset for the original Berkeley style, while making GNU style a first-class default.

### Adoption history

GNU indent became part of the long-lived GNU command-line toolchain for projects that wanted reproducible C formatting before newer formatters became widespread. Its homepage points users to GNU mirrors, Savannah development, Info and man documentation, and the GNU bug-tracking workflow, placing it in the same distribution culture as other standalone GNU utilities.

### How it is used

Practitioners use GNU indent to reformat C source files, write formatted output to a separate file or standard output, and select known style presets such as GNU, K&R, Berkeley, or Linux. It also supports a profile file mechanism, so teams or individual developers can keep repeated formatting options outside the command line.

### Why package nerds care

For package maintainers, GNU indent is a small but characteristic GNU utility: mostly invoked as a build or maintenance tool, sensitive to C dialect details, and useful when a project wants GNU formatting behavior rather than the indent variant supplied by another Unix.

### Timeline

- 1989: GNU indent manual copyright history begins in the Free Software Foundation manual.
- Version 1.2: GNU style became the default indentation style.
- Version 1.3: GNU indent adopted the command forms documented in later manuals.
- 2023: Release notes for version 2.2.13 describe fixes and translation updates.

### Related projects

- GNU indent belongs to the family of Unix source-formatting tools and is often compared with BSD indent and newer C-family formatters such as clang-format.

### Sources

- <https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/indent.git/plain/NEWS>
- <https://www.gnu.org/software/indent/>
- <https://www.gnu.org/software/indent/manual/indent.html>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- MacPorts - gindent: installed executable or alias match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/gindent/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/gnu-indent.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/gnu-indent.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