# Install libsail with Homebrew

Missing small and fast image decoding library for humans (not for machines). Version 1.1.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:libsail
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install libsail
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:libsail
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.1.0
- **Source summary:** Missing small and fast image decoding library for humans (not for machines)
- **Homepage:** <https://sail.software>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/HappySeaFox/sail>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- sail-imaging (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.1.0
## Project history and usage

libsail is the library component of SAIL, the Squirrel Abstract Imaging Library, a cross-platform C11 image decoding and encoding library with C, C++, and Python APIs. Its history is thinner than older desktop libraries, but the project documents a predecessor relationship to ksquirrel-libs.

### Project history

The SAIL FAQ says SAIL is a rebranded ksquirrel-libs rewritten in C, improved, and enhanced with high-level APIs, and dates the SAIL/ksquirrel-libs lineage to 2003. The GitHub repository was created in March 2020 and the release tags show pre-release development through the 0.9.0 series before 1.0.0 tags in June 2026.

### Adoption history

The README positions SAIL for image viewers, game developers, and applications that need a clean API for many image formats. It also documents installation through PyPI, Homebrew, Conan, and vcpkg, which is the main source-backed evidence for cross-platform packaging adoption.

### How it is used

Users link libsail from C or C++, use the Python binding, or invoke the sail command-line utility for conversion, resizing, frame extraction, and codec-tuning operations. The library loads codecs on demand and exposes multiple API levels for simple and advanced image handling.

### Why package nerds care

SAIL is interesting to packagers because it tries to sit between tiny single-header image loaders and large desktop imaging stacks: codec plugins, C11 portability, Python bindings, and package recipes all meet in one relatively young image-library package.

### Timeline

- 2003: The project's FAQ dates the SAIL/ksquirrel-libs lineage to this year.
- 2020: The GitHub repository was created in March and the v0.9.0-pre1 tag was made in June.
- 2023: The v0.9.0 tag was made in November.
- 2026: The v1.0.0 tag was published in June.

### Related projects

- Related projects include ksquirrel-libs, KSquirrel, FreeImage, DevIL, SDL_image, stb_image, Boost.GIL, gdk-pixbuf, imlib2, CImg, Conan, vcpkg, and sailpy.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/HappySeaFox/sail/releases?per_page=100>
- <https://github.com/HappySeaFox/sail>
- <https://github.com/HappySeaFox/sail/blob/master/FAQ.md>
- <https://github.com/HappySeaFox/sail/releases>


## Security Notes

library-like package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- library-like package without higher-risk signals


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph