macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install mgbaprovider-native install command
brew / rank 3357
Install mgba with Homebrew
Game Boy Advance emulator. Version 0.10.5 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-18.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Game Boy Advance emulator
Project links
Commands and aliases
- mGBA
history
Project history and usage
mGBA is an open-source Game Boy Advance emulator created by Vicki Pfau, also known as endrift. The official FAQ says the project started in April 2013 with the goal of running on lower-end hardware without giving up accuracy or portability, and the ten-year retrospective ties that history to the first commit in the mGBA repository. The project site identifies it as copyright 2013-2026 Vicki Pfau.
Project history
Technically, mGBA set out to be faster and more accurate than many older GBA emulators while adding features they lacked. Its README and FAQ describe support not only for Game Boy Advance games but also Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles, with an emphasis on accuracy, portability, and practical extras. That combination made it useful both for players and for development/debugging workflows around Nintendo handheld software.
How it is used
Its adoption reaches beyond package managers. The project is distributed through its own site and GitHub, packaged by Homebrew and Linux distributions, and published for Windows through winget. It also appears inside other retro-gaming products and workflows: Wired's review of the Epilogue GB Operator notes that Epilogue Playback defaults to the mGBA emulator core while allowing users to select other cores. In package-manager terms, Homebrew's `mgba` formula gives macOS and Linux users a maintained route to the desktop emulator, while distro packages such as `libmgba-dev` expose the emulator library for software that embeds or integrates mGBA.
Sources
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
mGBA | 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 version0.10.5
manager updated2026-06-18
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:mgba |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.10.5 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://mgba.io/ |
| Repository | https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba |
| Last updated | 2026-06-18T02:28:59-04:00 |
| 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.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation