brew / rank 218

Install llama.cpp with Homebrew

LLM inference in C/C++. Version 10210 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-31.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install llama.cpp

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

LLM inference in C/C++

Project links

Commands and aliases

llama
llama-batched
llama-batched-bench
llama-bench
llama-cli
llama-completion
llama-debug
llama-debug-template-parser
llama-diffusion-cli
llama-embedding
llama-eval-callback
llama-finetune
llama-fit-params
llama-gen-docs
llama-gguf
llama-gguf-hash
llama-gguf-split
llama-idle
llama-imatrix
llama-lookahead
llama-lookup
llama-lookup-create
llama-lookup-merge
llama-lookup-stats
llama-mtmd-cli
llama-parallel
llama-passkey
llama-perplexity
llama-quantize
llama-results
llama-retrieval
llama-server

history

Project history and usage

llama.cpp is one of the defining packages of the local-LLM era: a C/C++ inference stack that made it practical to run quantized transformer models on laptops, desktops, servers, and small devices without a heavyweight Python runtime.

Project history

The repository was created on GitHub on March 10, 2023, shortly after Meta's LLaMA model release changed the center of gravity for local language-model experimentation. The README states the project goal as LLM inference with minimal setup and strong performance across local and cloud hardware.

The project is closely tied to ggml. Its README describes llama.cpp as the main playground for developing new ggml features, and the implementation grew around plain C/C++, integer quantization, CPU backends, and hardware accelerators such as Metal, CUDA, Vulkan, SYCL, HIP, and related GPU paths.

As model support broadened beyond the original LLaMA family, llama.cpp became a runtime and tooling umbrella: converters, quantizers, benchmarking tools, embedding tools, an OpenAI-compatible server, multimodal support, and many model-family loaders are represented in the command set and documentation.

Adoption history

Package adoption spread because llama.cpp lowered the cost of trying local inference: build from source, install from Homebrew, Nix, winget, conda-forge, Docker, or download release binaries, then run a model file or fetch one from Hugging Face-oriented workflows.

The README's bindings list shows the surrounding ecosystem that formed around the C/C++ core, including Python, Go, Node.js, Ruby, browser/Wasm, editor-completion plugins, and server clients. That ecosystem made llama.cpp both an end-user CLI and a library/runtime target for other packages.

Its high-frequency build-tag release pattern reflects active downstream pressure: package managers, bindings, model hubs, and local-AI applications all depend on fast propagation of backend, quantization, and model-format changes.

How it is used

Users run llama-cli for local prompts, llama-server for an OpenAI-compatible HTTP API, llama-bench for performance testing, llama-quantize for smaller model files, and many auxiliary tools for embeddings, perplexity, retrieval, tokenization, and model-file manipulation.

The package is especially useful when a developer wants a self-contained inference engine: compile once, point it at a model, and choose a CPU/GPU backend without adopting a full ML framework stack.

Why package nerds care

For package maintainers, llama.cpp is unusually dynamic: hardware backend flags, model-format transitions, CLI renames, bundled tools, and release cadence all matter. It turned local AI into something package managers had to treat like a fast-moving systems tool rather than a single Python application.

It is also a packaging bridge between model hubs and Unix tooling. The same project can be installed as a formula, used as a server daemon, linked by language bindings, wrapped by desktop apps, or embedded in another inference product.

Timeline

2023: ggml-org/llama.cpp repository created on March 10.
2023: The project manifesto discussion documented goals and direction for the early community.
2024: llama.cpp issue trackers began maintaining separate API changelogs for libllama and llama-server.
2025: Multimodal support reached llama-server through the upstream pull request and documentation referenced from the README.
2026: Homebrew, Nix, winget, conda-forge, Docker, and release binaries were documented installation paths in the upstream README.

Related projects

ggml is the closest related project, because llama.cpp is the main development playground for that tensor library.
Important downstream and adjacent projects include llama-cpp-python, node-llama-cpp, go-llama.cpp, wllama, llama.vscode, llama.vim, and applications that wrap llama-server's OpenAI-compatible API.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for llama.cpp. 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
`llama`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-batched`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-batched-bench`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-bench`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-cli`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-completion`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-debug`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-debug-template-parser`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-diffusion-cli`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-embedding`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-eval-callback`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-finetune`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-fit-params`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-gen-docs`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-gguf`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-gguf-hash`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-gguf-split`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-idle`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-imatrix`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-lookahead`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-lookup`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-lookup-create`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-lookup-merge`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-lookup-stats`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-mtmd-cli`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-parallel`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-passkey`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-perplexity`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-quantize`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-results`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-retrieval`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-server`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-simple`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-simple-chat`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-speculative`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-speculative-simple`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-template-analysis`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-tokenize`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`llama-tts`	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 version10210

manager updated2026-07-31

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:llama.cpp
Version	10210
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://llama.app
Repository	https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp
Last updated	2026-07-31T19:04:02Z
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.

combined/llama.cpp.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
curated package history
pkgdb category and tag curation