# Install tectonic with Homebrew, apk, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop

Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine. Version 0.17.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#tectonic.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:tectonic
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install tectonic
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install tectonic
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: tex/tectonic/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add tectonic
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tectonic from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#tectonic
```

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

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S tectonic
```

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

### Windows

- Scoop (92%):

```sh
scoop install main/tectonic
```

  Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/tectonic.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:tectonic
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.17.0
- **Source summary:** Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine
- **Homepage:** <https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-27T04:14:39Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- nextonic (alias)
- tectonic (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.17.0
## Project history and usage

Tectonic is a modernized TeX/LaTeX engine built on XeTeX and TeX Live, packaged as a self-contained command-line tool. Its appeal to package-manager users is that it replaces large, mutable TeX installations with a reproducible binary that can fetch bundles and compile documents with fewer local setup steps.

### Project history

The Tectonic repository was created in 2016. The project describes itself as a modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine powered by XeTeX and TeX Live. Its documentation frames the project as an attempt to keep the strengths of TeX for technical documents while modernizing the software ecosystem around it.

Tectonic's repository documents a technical lineage from XeTeX through a staging repository used as reference source. Later releases increasingly exposed a Rust crate ecosystem around the engine and supporting functionality. The changelog records a 2024 release with the completion of a pure-Rust BibTeX engine port and a 2026 release after several years that reworked bundles, added a TeX Live 2024 bundle, and continued moving core pieces toward Rust.

### Adoption history

Tectonic entered package-manager culture as a smaller, more automatable answer to installing TeX Live for CI jobs, documentation builds, scientific writing, and reproducible PDFs. Its README displays packaging status through Repology and points to crates.io, system packages, and GitHub Actions that install or run Tectonic in workflows.

The project also became useful in CI-oriented niches because a single executable can compile TeX documents and obtain needed assets through bundle mechanisms. The README explicitly points to GitHub Actions powered by Tectonic and to a project that runs Tectonic against a subset of the arXiv corpus.

### How it is used

Typical use is invoking `tectonic` or the newer `tectonic -X` interface to compile TeX/LaTeX documents to PDF, often in a clean checkout or CI environment. The official book documents commands such as build, compile, init, new, show, watch, and the `Tectonic.toml` project file.

Package users value it because it can be installed through Homebrew, Cargo, Nix, and other package managers and then used in scripts without bootstrapping a full TeX distribution by hand.

### Why package nerds care

Tectonic is significant because it turns TeX from a sprawling distribution problem into a packageable compiler-like tool. For people who maintain docs, papers, resumes, manuals, or CI pipelines, that makes LaTeX builds feel closer to using a language runtime or compiler than managing a system-wide TeX tree.

### Timeline

- 2016: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2024: 0.15.0 release completed the pure-Rust BibTeX engine port and improved Linux builds.
- 2026: 0.16.0 release reworked bundles, added a TeX Live 2024 bundle, and resumed releases after several years.
- 2026: 0.16.9 fixed macOS and CLI/version issues.

### Related projects

- Related projects include TeX Live, XeTeX, BibTeX, LaTeX, tectonic-staging, and CI actions such as setup-tectonic and compile-latex.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/blob/master/README.md>
- <https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/blob/release/CHANGELOG.md>
- <https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/book/latest/>
- <https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/book/latest/introduction/>
- source_facts.description


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: Tectonic.toml
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - tectonic: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- apk - tectonic - 0.16.9-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tectonic from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tectonic is a modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine | https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io
- pacman - tectonic - 0.17.0-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: tectonic from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Modernized, complete, self-contained TeX/LaTeX engine, powered by XeTeX and TeXLive | https://tectonic-typesetting.github.io/
- MacPorts - tectonic: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: tex/tectonic/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Scoop - main/tectonic: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/tectonic.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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