# Install osx-cpu-temp with Homebrew, Nix

Outputs current CPU temperature for OSX. Version 1.1.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#osx-cpu-temp.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:osx-cpu-temp
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install osx-cpu-temp
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#osx-cpu-temp
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/os/osx-cpu-temp/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:osx-cpu-temp
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.1.0
- **Source summary:** Outputs current CPU temperature for OSX
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- osx-cpu-temp (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

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

osx-cpu-temp is a small macOS command-line utility that reads Apple SMC sensor values and prints temperatures or fan speeds. Its appeal is the Unix shape: a single executable that reports hardware telemetry in a shell-friendly format.

### Project history

GitHub records `lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp` as created on 2012-05-14. The README describes the tool as an OSX CPU temperature reporter, maintained by Sébastien Lavoie, with source lineage from Apple's System Management Control tooling and inspiration from smcFanControl and its `smc-command` code.

The project reached tagged releases 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 in the GitHub releases API. The 1.1.0-era README documents a broader set of outputs than the original package description suggests: CPU, GPU, ambient temperature, fan speeds, Celsius/Fahrenheit selection, and an option to suppress units.

### Adoption history

The tool became a familiar small dependency for macOS users who wanted temperature readings without a full menu-bar monitor. The input metadata records Homebrew and Nix packages, and the GitHub README also documents installation through `clib`, giving it several lightweight distribution paths.

### How it is used

Users compile it with `make`, install it into `/usr/local/bin`, or install through a package manager, then run `osx-cpu-temp` to print a value such as `61.8 °C`. Its output format makes it easy to embed in shell prompts, status bars, scripts, and quick diagnostics.

Because it reads SMC-style hardware sensors, the useful behavior depends on Apple hardware exposing the expected keys. That hardware specificity is part of the package's identity: it is not a general cross-platform temperature library.

### Why package nerds care

osx-cpu-temp is the sort of tiny native utility package that survives because it does one platform-specific job better than a generic cross-platform abstraction. For package databases, it is a good example of a CLI whose package-manager value is mostly discoverability and easy installation.

### Timeline

- 2012-05-14: GitHub records creation of `lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp`.
- 2016-12-21: GitHub release 1.0.0 was published.
- 2018-09-11: GitHub release 1.1.0 was published.

### Related projects

- smcFanControl and its `smc-command` are listed as inspirations in the README.
- Other macOS SMC utilities such as iSMC and smctemp occupy the same hardware-monitoring niche, but osx-cpu-temp's package identity remains the minimal one-command temperature reader.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp/releases>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/osx-cpu-temp>
- <https://github.com/lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lavoiesl/osx-cpu-temp/master/README.md>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - osx-cpu-temp: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/os/osx-cpu-temp/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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