# Install ugrep with Homebrew

Ultra fast grep with query UI, fuzzy search, archive search, and more. Version 7.8.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-30.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ugrep
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ugrep
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ugrep
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 7.8.3
- **Source summary:** Ultra fast grep with query UI, fuzzy search, archive search, and more
- **Homepage:** <https://ugrep.com/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/Genivia/ugrep>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-30T16:29:54Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- ug (alias)
- ug+ (alias)
- ugrep (alias)
- ugrep+ (alias)
- ugrep-indexer (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 7.8.3
## Project history and usage

ugrep is Genivia's modern grep-family file pattern searcher, positioned as a fast GNU/BSD grep-compatible replacement with Unicode, archive search, fuzzy search, Boolean queries, structured output, and an interactive query TUI.

### Project history

The public ugrep repository was created in 2019. Its README presents the project as compatible with GNU and BSD grep while adding features usually associated with newer search tools, including recursive source search, gitignore-style globs, compressed and nested archive search, document filters, hexdumps, and multi-line Unicode-aware regular expressions.

The project developed a split command model: ug for interactive use with optional .ugrep configuration files, ugrep for batch use without a configuration file, and plus variants that enable filters for PDFs, documents, e-books, and image metadata. That division is important to packagers because it exposes both script-stable and user-preference-oriented entry points.

Release metadata shows an active release stream: early 2.x releases appeared in 2020, and the repository had reached the 7.x series by 2026, with v7.8.2 published in May 2026.

### Adoption history

The supplied package data records ugrep across a broad package-manager set, including Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora/dnf, Arch/pacman, Alpine/apk, openSUSE/zypper, Chocolatey, Scoop, and winget. That spread matches the README's positioning as both a Unix grep replacement and a cross-platform search utility.

Official project material links to dedicated benchmark, testing, indexing, and user-guide resources, which helped ugrep become more than a single binary: it has an associated performance story, validation suite, and optional indexer for slower or cold filesystems.

### How it is used

Package users typically install ugrep as a faster grep-compatible search command while keeping the option to symlink or alias ug to grep, egrep, or fgrep when compatibility is desired. The README distinguishes this from grep alternatives that intentionally drop parts of grep's option and regex behavior.

Common package-nerd uses include searching source trees with globs and ignore files, querying compressed tarballs and archives without unpacking them, opening the -Q TUI for exploratory searches, using fuzzy or Boolean matching for approximate discovery, and emitting JSON, XML, CSV, or custom formats for scripts.

ug's .ugrep and ~/.ugrep support lets interactive users save preferred defaults, while ugrep remains the safer command for scripts that should not depend on per-user configuration.

### Why package nerds care

ugrep matters in the package-manager niche because grep replacements are unusually sensitive to compatibility, speed, and defaults. It tries to be installable as a modern search tool without forcing users to give up classic grep semantics.

Its packaging footprint also makes it a good example of a CLI that has to behave consistently across Unix, macOS, and Windows package ecosystems while still integrating with local helper tools such as file-type filters, pagers, and archive libraries.

### Timeline

- 2019: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2020: 2.x releases published on GitHub.
- 2026: v7.8.2 release published.
- 2026: Repository metadata described ugrep 7.8 as a grep-compatible searcher with TUI, Boolean search, fuzzy search, archive search, document search, and structured output.

### Related projects

- The README compares ugrep with GNU grep, BSD grep, ripgrep, the Silver Searcher, and ack.
- Official related repositories include ugrep-indexer for file indexing, ugrep-benchmarks for performance results, and ugrep-testing for validation.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/Genivia/ugrep>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/Genivia/ugrep/releases?per_page=5>
- <https://github.com/Genivia/ugrep>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Genivia/ugrep/master/README.md>
- <https://ugrep.com/>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for ugrep. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## 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: .ugrep, ~/.ugrep

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/ugrep.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/ugrep.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation