macOS
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brew install libxmlbprovider-native install command
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Install libxmlb with Homebrew
Library for querying compressed XML metadata. Version 0.3.29 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Library for querying compressed XML metadata
Project links
Commands and aliases
- xb-tool
history
Project history and usage
libxmlb is a small system library for compiling XML metadata into a binary representation that can be memory-mapped and queried quickly. It is most associated with desktop and firmware metadata workflows where large XML files need repeated lookups.
Project history
Richard Hughes' README frames the project around the cost of parsing XML and the inability to mmap normal XML strings directly. libxmlb converts XML into a structured binary format with a deduplicated string table and NUL-terminated strings, trading compactness for fast queries and near zero-copy access.
The first visible 0.1.0 GitHub tag points to a commit dated 2018-10-04. The design is intentionally narrow: it implements only a subset of XPath and ships xb-tool for compiling and querying binary XML.
Adoption history
libxmlb became useful in Linux desktop plumbing because projects such as AppStream and fwupd deal in large XML metadata collections. The same maintainer ecosystem around GNOME, fwupd, and LVFS made the binary metadata cache a practical dependency for package and firmware tooling.
How it is used
Typical usage is to compile XML metadata into an .xmlb file and query it with xb-tool or through the library API. It is a cache/query accelerator, not a general-purpose XML replacement.
Why package nerds care
libxmlb matters to package nerds because it sits where package metadata, desktop app metadata, and firmware metadata meet performance constraints. It turns text metadata into a binary cache that package managers and desktop software centers can query cheaply.
Timeline
- 2018: The 0.1.0 tag points to a commit dated 2018-10-04.
- 2019: AppStream discussions describe LVFS and fwupd as using AppStream metadata for firmware metadata.
- 2020s: libxmlb is packaged across Linux distributions and Homebrew as xb-tool and the libxmlb library.
Related projects
- fwupd, LVFS, AppStream, GNOME Software, and other metadata-heavy desktop tools are the neighboring ecosystem. libxml2 remains the broader XML library; libxmlb is the binary metadata cache layer.
Sources
security posture
No protected-tool coverage found yet
No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for libxmlb. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
xb-tool | 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 version0.3.29
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:libxmlb |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.3.29 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/hughsie/libxmlb |
| Repository | https://github.com/hughsie/libxmlb |
| 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