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brew / rank 14767

Install wait_on with Homebrew, MacPorts

Provides shell scripts with access to kqueue(3). Version 1.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install wait_on.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install wait_on

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install wait_on

MacPorts ports tree · sysutils/wait_on/Portfile · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Provides shell scripts with access to kqueue(3)

Commands and aliases

  • wait_on

history

Project history and usage

`wait_on` is a small FreeBSD-oriented command that exposes file and directory change notifications to shell scripts. It lets scripts sleep until a watched path changes instead of polling in a loop.

Project history

The FreeBSD manual page gives the clearest project history: `wait_on` was written by Andrew Stevenson in January 2002 under FreeBSD 4.4. Its design is tied directly to kqueue, the BSD kernel event-notification facility that had recently made file, directory, and descriptor events available without busy polling.

How it is used

The command waits on one or more files or directories and exits when a requested event occurs. The manual gives examples such as watching a mailbox for writes, waiting for files to arrive in an incoming FTP directory, or using `-i` and `-t` so a script can tell which watched path changed or timed out.

Internally, `wait_on` uses kqueue's vnode notifications, including events for writes, extension, deletion, renames, link-count changes, attribute changes, and revocation. That makes it a compact bridge between shell scripting and kernel event delivery on systems with kqueue.

Why package nerds care

This is a classic small Unix package: one command, one system primitive, and a clean scripting use case. It is historically interesting because it predates the later wave of cross-platform file-watcher tools and shows early BSD users solving shell automation without periodic `stat` polling.

Timeline

  • January 2002: `wait_on` was written under FreeBSD 4.4 by Andrew Stevenson.
  • 2000s onward: the command remained useful as a shell-level wrapper around kqueue file and directory events.

Related projects

  • The closest related primitive is kqueue itself. In the broader file-watching family, `wait_on` overlaps conceptually with inotify-based Linux tools and higher-level cross-platform watchers, but it stays intentionally close to the FreeBSD kernel interface.

security posture

Risk level: yellow

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

Risk classifier

yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime

Why

  • generalized runtime or code generation signal

Signals

  • text:shell

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

CommandKindExposureNote
wait_onexecutableindexed executableDiscovered 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 version1.1
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
  • okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:wait_on
Version1.1
Package managerHomebrew
Homepagehttps://www.freshports.org/sysutils/wait_on/
Bottlenot recorded
Servicenone declared

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

MacPorts95%

wait_on

sudo port install wait_on
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Wait On
MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/wait_on/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Same workflow

  • wait-onSame normalized package name exists in another local package ecosystem.

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.

Used sources

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