# Install sdedit with Homebrew, pacman

Tool for generating sequence diagrams very quickly. Version 4.2.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with pacman: sudo pacman -S sdedit.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:sdedit
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install sdedit
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S sdedit
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: sdedit from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:sdedit
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 4.2.1
- **Source summary:** Tool for generating sequence diagrams very quickly
- **Homepage:** <https://sdedit.sourceforge.net/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- sdedit (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 4.2.1
## Project history and usage

Quick Sequence Diagram Editor, commonly packaged as sdedit, generates UML sequence diagrams from a compact textual description of objects and messages. It automatically lays out lifelines and messages and exports to raster, vector, and document formats.

### Project history

The project was registered on SourceForge in September 2006 and developed as a Java desktop and command-line tool. Its historical change log records the addition of plugins, multithreading features, printing, titles and descriptions, Javadoc integration, and increasingly configurable diagram presentation.

Development later moved to the sdedit organization on GitHub. The repository includes the QSD application and library trees, and the SourceForge project page explicitly identifies that GitHub repository as the source-code host.

### Adoption history

The supplied package metadata records Homebrew and Arch-style pacman packaging. The project also supported use as a Javadoc taglet, which gave Java developers a way to generate sequence diagrams as part of API documentation.

### How it is used

Users write object declarations and message lines, preview the generated sequence diagram in the editor, or invoke sdedit from a shell with an input file and output format. The command-line interface can produce PDF, PostScript, SVG, PNG, and other formats for automated documentation workflows.

### Why package nerds care

sdedit is an early diagram-as-code tool: it trades free-form drawing for a small textual language and deterministic automatic layout. That makes the Java application useful both interactively and in scripted documentation builds.

### Timeline

- 2006: The SourceForge project was registered.
- 2017: The GitHub repository published the 4.2 beta series with HTML rendering.
- 2020: The SourceForge project recorded its latest listed update.

### Related projects

- The application uses FreeHEP VectorGraphics for export and includes a Javadoc taglet for embedding generated diagrams in Java documentation.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/sdedit/sdedit>
- <https://sdedit.sourceforge.net/>
- <https://sdedit.sourceforge.net/changelog/index.html>
- <https://sdedit.sourceforge.net/command_line/index.html>
- <https://sdedit.sourceforge.net/taglet/index.html>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/sdedit/>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- pacman - sdedit - 4.2.1-2: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: sdedit from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Lightweight sequence diagram editor | http://sdedit.sourceforge.net


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/sdedit.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/sdedit.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