brew / rank 632

Install libxkbcommon with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, apt, zypper

Keyboard handling library. Version 1.13.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install libxkbcommon-dev.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install libxkbcommon

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install libxkbcommon

MacPorts ports tree · devel/libxkbcommon/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add libxkbcommon

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · libxkbcommon · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install libxkbcommon

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · libxkbcommon · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#libxkbcommon

nixpkgs package indexes · libxkbcommon · source: raw.githubusercontent.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S libxkbcommon

Arch Linux sync databases · libxkbcommon · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install libxkbcommon-dev

Debian stable package indexes · libxkbcommon-dev · source: deb.debian.org

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install libxkbcommon-devel

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · libxkbcommon-devel · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Keyboard handling library

Project links

Commands and aliases

xkbcli

history

Project history and usage

libxkbcommon is the standard Wayland-era keymap handling library for XKB keyboard descriptions, keyboard state, Compose/dead keys, and keyboard-layout tooling.

Project history

libxkbcommon reworked the classic X Keyboard Extension concepts into a library API for clients, toolkits, compositors, and other system components. The project documentation says it processes XKB keymaps while omitting some legacy features, and the repository credits Dan Nicholson for early work getting xkbcommon started.

The 2020-09 libxkbcommon 1.0.0 announcement states that the first commit was on 2009-01-13 and that the first release with the present API was on 2012-10-24. Release notes then show the project moving through the 1.x line with continued API, tools, build-system, and keymap-format work.

Adoption history

libxkbcommon became central to Wayland because compositors, toolkits, and applications need to translate key events into characters and actions without relying on the X server as the keyboard interpreter. The documentation explicitly describes it as the standard keymap handling library on Wayland.

It also remained useful to X11 clients through the xkbcommon-x11 module, making it a bridge between old XKB data and newer compositor-centered desktop stacks.

How it is used

Developers use libxkbcommon to compile keymaps, track keyboard state, handle Compose sequences, and inspect layouts. Users see it indirectly through desktop environments and toolkits, while packagers also ship xkbcli tools such as compile-keymap, how-to-type, interactive-wayland, interactive-x11, and list.

Why package nerds care

libxkbcommon is a load-bearing desktop plumbing package: boring until it is missing, then every keyboard layout, dead key, and Wayland compositor path becomes suspect. It is also a rare case where a compatibility library helped define the practical boundary between X11 inheritance and Wayland-native behavior.

Timeline

2009-01-13: First xkbcommon commit, according to the 1.0.0 announcement.
2012-10-24: First release with the present API, according to the 1.0.0 announcement.
2013-04-01: libxkbcommon 0.3.0 appears in the project's release notes.
2020-09-05: libxkbcommon 1.0.0 released.
2025-08-08: libxkbcommon 1.11.0 introduced XKB_KEYMAP_FORMAT_TEXT_V2 for long-standing XKB ecosystem issues.

Related projects

Related projects include Wayland compositors, Xorg/X11 clients, xkeyboard-config, libX11 Compose data, libxcb, xorgproto, and desktop toolkits that process keyboard input.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

library-like package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

library-like package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:library-like

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
`xkbcli`	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 version1.13.2

manager updated

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:libxkbcommon
Version	1.13.2
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://xkbcommon.org/
Repository	https://github.com/xkbcommon/libxkbcommon
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

libxkbcommon-dev 1.7.0-2

library interface to the XKB compiler - development files