# Install webarchiver with Homebrew, MacPorts

Allows you to create Safari .webarchive files. Version 0.13 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with macports: sudo port install webarchiver.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:webarchiver
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install webarchiver
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install webarchiver
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:webarchiver
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.13
- **Source summary:** Allows you to create Safari .webarchive files
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/newzealandpaul/webarchiver>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/newzealandpaul/webarchiver>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- webarchiver (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.13
## Project history and usage

Webarchiver is a small macOS command-line utility for creating Safari `.webarchive` files. Its niche is narrow but clear: it exposes Safari/WebKit's single-file web archive format to shell scripts.

### Project history

The public GitHub repository was created in November 2008, and the author's GitHub profile notes that the project was featured on the GitHub blog in December 2008. The README presents it as a simple Objective-C command-line tool that saves a URL and its associated page resources into a Safari webarchive file.

The project has stayed small and specialized rather than becoming a broad archiving framework. Later discussion of command-line Safari webarchives points back to it as prior art, while also noting that its Objective-C implementation uses older WebKit classes such as WebView and WebArchive.

### Adoption history

Adoption appears to be niche and Mac-specific: the repository has modest stars and forks, but it has persisted in package managers because Safari webarchives remain a recognizable local archival format. Its value is mostly for people who want scriptable capture into a format Safari can open.

### How it is used

The documented use is direct CLI capture, for example providing a source URL and an output `.webarchive` filename. This fits one-off page saving, shell loops over URLs, and personal archiving workflows where a Safari-compatible bundle is preferable to a directory of downloaded assets.

### Why package nerds care

Webarchiver is package-nerd interesting because it packages a tiny bridge into an Apple-specific file format. It is not a general crawler like wget or a preservation system like WARC tooling; it is a small command that makes Safari's single-file archive format reachable from Homebrew-era automation.

### Timeline

- 2008-11: The GitHub repository was created.
- 2008-12: The author's GitHub profile says the project was featured on the GitHub blog.
- 2024: A newer Safari webarchive CLI write-up cited newzealandpaul/webarchiver as prior art and contrasted it with newer WKWebView APIs.

### Related projects

- Related tools include Safari's own Save As Web Archive feature, newer WKWebView-based scripts for creating webarchives, and broader web-archiving tools such as wget, SingleFile, and WARC-oriented crawlers.

### Sources

- <https://alexwlchan.net/2024/creating-a-safari-webarchive/>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/newzealandpaul/webarchiver>
- <https://github.com/newzealandpaul>
- <https://github.com/newzealandpaul/webarchiver>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- MacPorts - webarchiver: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: www/webarchiver/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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