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Install gobject-introspection with Homebrew
Generate introspection data for GObject libraries. Version 1.86.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-15.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Generate introspection data for GObject libraries
Project links
Commands and aliases
- g-ir-annotation-tool
- g-ir-compiler
- g-ir-doc-tool
- g-ir-generate
- g-ir-inspect
- g-ir-scanner
history
Project history and usage
GObject Introspection is GNOME infrastructure that turns C libraries using GObject conventions into machine-readable metadata. It provides GIR XML, compiled typelib files, scanner/compiler tools, and libgirepository so higher-level language bindings can call C APIs without each binding maintaining its own handwritten metadata.
For package maintainers it is not just another developer tool. It is build-time and runtime plumbing that many GNOME-adjacent packages need so Python, JavaScript, Vala, Perl, Ruby, Lua, Haskell, and other bindings can consume the same library metadata.
Project history
The project grew out of GNOME's long-standing need to share binding metadata instead of duplicating hand-maintained fixes across language bindings. The official goals page frames the work as a bridge between low-level C libraries and higher-level runtimes, and as a way to keep binding metadata inside the libraries through annotations.
GNOME's source archive records the 0.5.0 tarball on September 1, 2008. By the 1.30.0 release on September 20, 2011, the project had entered the 1.x line used alongside the GNOME 3 era. The documentation describes the core toolchain as g-ir-scanner, g-ir-compiler, g-ir-generate, g-ir-annotation-tool, GIR XML, typelib files, and libgirepository.
Adoption history
GObject Introspection became a shared foundation for language bindings rather than a user-facing app. The official users page lists bindings and consumers including Vala, Genie, PyGObject, GTK-Perl/Introspection, JGIR, GJS, Seed, GirFFI, Ruby-GNOME, Guile GI, lgi, node-gir, go-gir, haskell-gi, Common Lisp, Free Pascal, Prolog, Harbour, C++, and Crystal projects.
Distribution packaging reflects that infrastructure role. Homebrew packages it as gobject-introspection with dependencies on GLib, Cairo, pkgconf, and Python, while the input package facts map it across multiple Unix packaging systems under names such as gobject-introspection, gir1.2-freedesktop, and girepository-1_0.
How it is used
Library authors enable introspection during the build, annotate APIs, and generate GIR files and typelibs. Binding authors and runtime libraries then consume those artifacts to expose the same C APIs in languages such as Python via PyGObject or JavaScript via GJS.
Package builders care about it because it can affect cross-compilation, build ordering, and split packages: GIR development metadata and compiled typelibs often need to land in different package outputs. The official documentation includes dedicated build-system integration material for Meson and Autotools, and the changelog records build-system transitions such as the end of autotools support after the 1.60 line and the later drop of autotools in the 1.61 development series.
Why package nerds care
GObject Introspection is one of the packages that explains why GNOME stacks look the way they do in package managers: many applications do not depend on it directly for a command-line interface, but their language bindings, generated metadata, and typelibs depend on it being present and correctly split.
It is also a recurring example of packaging complexity caused by generated ABI metadata. The same package participates in compiler-like scanning, documentation, runtime reflection, language bindings, and cross-build work, so small changes in it can ripple through GTK, GStreamer, GJS, PyGObject, and desktop application builds.
Timeline
- 2008-09-01: GNOME source archive records gobject-introspection 0.5.0
- 2011-09-20: GNOME source archive records gobject-introspection 1.30.0
- 2018-02-08: GNOME GitLab project record created during GNOME's GitLab-hosted era
- 2019-03-10: 1.60.0 changelog notes the final release supporting autotools
- 2019-08-07: 1.61.1 changelog notes the autotools build system was dropped
- 2025-09-13: 1.86.0 appears in the official changelog and GNOME source archive
Related projects
- GLib and GObject are the underlying object-system layer whose APIs are described by introspection metadata.
- PyGObject, GJS, Vala, Ruby-GNOME, lgi, haskell-gi, and other bindings are documented users of the introspection repository.
- GTK and GStreamer are common examples of GObject-based libraries whose bindings and applications rely on introspection data in GNOME-oriented distributions.
Sources
- https://download.gnome.org/sources/gobject-introspection/
- https://download.gnome.org/sources/gobject-introspection/0.5/
- https://download.gnome.org/sources/gobject-introspection/1.30/
- https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/gobject-introspection
- https://gi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
- https://gi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changelog.html
- https://gi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/goals.html
- https://gi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/users.html
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gobject-introspection
security posture
No protected-tool coverage found yet
No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for gobject-introspection. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
g-ir-annotation-tool | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
g-ir-compiler | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
g-ir-doc-tool | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
g-ir-generate | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
g-ir-inspect | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
g-ir-scanner | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version1.86.0
manager updated2026-07-15
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:gobject-introspection |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.86.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://gi.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ |
| Last updated | 2026-07-15T13:46:57Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation