macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install gtk-docprovider-native install command
brew / rank 1611
Install gtk-doc with Homebrew
GTK+ documentation tool. Version 1.36.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
GTK+ documentation tool
Project links
Commands and aliases
- gtkdoc-check
- gtkdoc-depscan
- gtkdoc-fixxref
- gtkdoc-mkdb
- gtkdoc-mkhtml
- gtkdoc-mkhtml2
- gtkdoc-mkman
- gtkdoc-mkpdf
- gtkdoc-rebase
- gtkdoc-scan
- gtkdoc-scangobj
- gtkdocize
history
Project history and usage
GTK-Doc is a documentation generator for C APIs, especially GLib, GObject, GTK, and GNOME-style libraries. It extracts structured comments from C code, understands GObject signals and properties, produces DocBook XML, and transforms that output into HTML and other formats.
For package maintainers, GTK-Doc is the build-time tool that explains why GNOME library packages often have optional documentation flags, gtkdocize steps, DocBook dependencies, scanner binaries, and generated API reference artifacts.
Project history
The GTK-Doc repository has a 'start' tag dated 1998-11-24 and a GTK_DOC_1_0 tag dated 2003-01-20. The GNOME source archive also lists gtk-doc-1.0 tarballs dated 2003-01-20, giving a fixed early release anchor.
The project README says GTK-Doc is used to document C code, typically the public API of libraries such as GLib-based libraries, but also application code. It also notes that GTK-Doc was not originally intended as a general-purpose documentation tool and points to Doxygen for that broader role.
The project evolved from a DocBook-oriented GNOME documentation pipeline into a Python/Meson-era maintenance tool. The NEWS file records Python 3-related changes, an experimental gtkdoc-mkhtml2 toolchain in 1.30, Python 3 requirements in 1.29, and the removal of Autotools as a way to build GTK-Doc itself in 1.36.0.
Adoption history
GTK-Doc was adopted across the GNOME C library ecosystem because it understands GObject-specific concepts that generic C documentation tools may not: signals, properties, object scanners, and conventions used by GTK widgets and GObject classes.
The archived GNOME GtkDoc page describes it as a tool for extracting API documentation from C code like Doxygen, with special support for GObject, and describes HTML output by default with PDF and man-page output possible with extra work. GNOME project pages and coding-practice material refer to GTK-Doc annotations as part of documenting public C APIs.
How it is used
A project using GTK-Doc writes documentation blocks in C comments, keeps section and symbol metadata, runs tools such as gtkdoc-scan, gtkdoc-scangobj, gtkdoc-mkdb, gtkdoc-mkhtml, gtkdoc-fixxref, gtkdoc-mkman, gtkdoc-mkpdf, and often integrates gtkdocize with Autotools-era projects or Meson build definitions.
The README describes generated HTML as browsable in a normal browser or in Devhelp. The manual/wiki workflow also explains the package's role in local developer environments: it is not just a documentation renderer, but a scanner and cross-reference pipeline used while building source distributions.
Why package nerds care
GTK-Doc is a classic build dependency that users may never run directly but packagers recognize instantly. Enabling API docs in a GNOME library can pull in GTK-Doc, DocBook DTDs, DocBook XSL stylesheets, libxml2/libxslt, Python modules, and sometimes PDF tooling such as dblatex.
Its long tail matters because old projects may still expect gtkdocize and Autotools integration, while the GTK-Doc project itself moved its own build to Meson. That split between being built with Meson and still supporting Autotools integration in downstream projects is package-maintainer lore.
Timeline
- 1998: GTK-Doc repository has a start tag.
- 2003: GTK-Doc 1.0 tag and GNOME source tarballs appeared.
- 2018: GTK-Doc 1.29 NEWS records Python 3 requirement changes.
- 2019: GTK-Doc 1.30 NEWS records Pygments use and an experimental gtkdoc-mkhtml2 toolchain.
- 2020: GTK-Doc 1.33.0 NEWS records reproducible-build and GTK action documentation support.
- 2026: GTK-Doc 1.36.0 NEWS records that GTK-Doc can no longer be built with Autotools, while Autotools integration files remain for downstream projects.
Related projects
- GTK, GLib, GObject, GNOME libraries, Devhelp, DocBook, libxml2, libxslt, Meson, and Autotools are the central related projects in GTK-Doc's package history.
- gi-docgen is the related GNOME documentation generator associated with GObject Introspection-era API reference publishing; archived GNOME pages describe efforts to generate documentation from introspection data as a successor direction for parts of the GTK-Doc role.
Sources
- https://download.gnome.org/sources/gtk-doc/1.0/
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk-doc
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk-doc/-/raw/master/NEWS
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk-doc/-/raw/master/README.md
- https://gitlab.gnome.org/api/v4/projects/GNOME%2Fgtk-doc/repository/tags?per_page=100
- https://wiki.gnome.org/DocumentationProject/GtkDoc
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
gtkdoc-check | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-depscan | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-fixxref | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-mkdb | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-mkhtml | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-mkhtml2 | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-mkman | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-mkpdf | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-rebase | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-scan | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdoc-scangobj | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
gtkdocize | 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 version1.36.1
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:gtk-doc |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.36.1 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk-doc |
| 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