Features

Everything you need to deploy, manage, and secure `brew` at scale.

Least Privilege Homebrew

Workbrew lets developers use Homebrew without sudo, reducing risk without compromising developer experience.

15k tools at developers’ fingertips

Provide developers with fast, secure access to open source tools — maintaining security and compliance with minimal disruption.

Allowed and forbidden software policies

Built for regulated industries like finance, AI, and healthcare, Workbrew lets you define policies that balance developer productivity with strict security and compliance.

Workbrew Features

Zero-touch deployment of Homebrew within a secure wrapper

Workbrew is the easiest way to deploy Homebrew securely across your macOS fleet. It installs silently via your MDM, so developers open their machines with Homebrew ready to go — preconfigured in a managed environment.

Every install is policy-compliant from day one. You control what can be installed without granting full system access. Zero-touch for IT, zero-hassle for developers.

First-class MDM integrations

Workbrew works natively with all major MDMs, syncing device names and serial numbers while displaying the most identifiable label available. It also pulls in your MDM’s device groups, so you can target policies or run remote commands using the same structure you already manage elsewhere.

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Least privilege Homebrew

Workbrew lets developers use Homebrew without sudo, reducing risk without compromising developer experience — so that your entire team can now run their devices as macOS Standard Account Users.

Set up devices in either Standard workbrew access mode or Restricted and receive alerts when devices are out-of-policy.

  • Standard mode is ideal for developers who need to install allowed open source dependencies (“Formulae”), while desktop apps (“Casks”) remain centrally managed by administrators.
  • Restricted mode is ideal for highly-regulated organizations, who want complete, managed control of all packages on all devices.

15k tools at developers’ fingertips

Provide developers with fast, secure access to open source tools — maintaining security and compliance with minimal disruption.

Workbrew looks and feels just like the regular brew CLI. No permissions requests, no separate logins, no surprises.

Allowed and forbidden software policies

Built for regulated industries like finance, AI, and healthcare, Workbrew lets you define policies that balance developer productivity with strict security and compliance.

Allowed taps

Taps are how Homebrew organizes and distributes packages. Official Homebrew taps follow strict guidelines, reducing the risk of malicious or unmaintained software.

An allowed taps policy adds an extra layer of security by limiting installs to only official or trusted sources.

Forbidden packages and licenses

Building on allowed taps, administrators can further secure their fleet by building a blocking denylist of specific packages and licenses known to pose a risk — with the option to automatically uninstall any existing violations.

Help unblock developers right in the command line

Configure an escalation path for developers to request policy exceptions — right from the terminal.

Auto-upgrading outdated and vulnerable packages

Programmatically ensure your fleet is secure and up-to-date by setting a policy to automatically patch vulnerable and/or outdated packages.

Vulnerabilities are upgraded as soon as a CVE is detected. Outdated packages follow an upgrade schedule that you can set to minimise disruptions.

Insights and alerting across your organization

Get full visibility into Homebrew activity across your fleet — from security issues and policy violations to usage trends and command history.

Dashboard

See key insights at a glance: policy violations, outdated software, vulnerable packages, and more.

Vulnerability Alerts

Drill into CVEs and affected packages to assess. Remediate with just one-click.

Packages & Taps

Discover and vet the packages used across your fleet with detailed source and dependency information — so that you can “know the unknown” and adjust your policies accordingly.

Devices

Track Homebrew usage by device, including what’s installed, how it’s being used, and how frequently it’s updated.

Command analytics

View which brew commands are run across your org for deeper analysis.

Custom alerting

Get notified via Slack, email, or webhooks — so you’re always looped in when something needs attention.

Remote management and targeting

Workbrew gives you powerful, targeted control over your fleet. Run commands, push updates, and apply configurations from a single interface.

Brew commands

Use Workbrew’s command runner to execute Homebrew commands remotely on any device — with full command-line output and smart highlighting to make troubleshooting straightforward.

Device groups

Pull in groups from your MDM or create them manually to target any remote management action by team, role, or access level.

Automation Schedules

Run commands on a recurring schedule or set them to trigger at a specific time.

Brew configurations

Adjust how Homebrew behaves across your fleet — from update behaviour to CLI defaults.

Instant bootstrapping for developer environments

Workbrew makes it easy to get new machines production-ready.

Default Packages

Define a vetted list of Homebrew packages that every new device should receive on day one — customizing lists by team, role, or stack to ensure instant productivity.

You can use our GitHub Action to create a request & approval process for Default Packages. This way, your whole development team is empowered to configure the core packages each team should have on Day One!

Custom Bootstrap Script

For orgs without an MDM, Workbrew can generate a customized bootstrap script that installs key tools and applies secure macOS settings. It’s everything a new developer machine needs to hit the ground running.

Distribute internal tools easily and securely

Homebrew gives your developers access to 14k open source developer tools and Workbrew ensures that access is secure and compliant. But what about your companies’ closed source tooling?

Use GitHub to connect a private tap to your workspace and give enrolled devices instant access — no token juggling or custom setup required.

Data export and full REST API

Access everything in your Workbrew workspace — however and wherever you need it. In JSON or CSV format.

Build custom tooling

Use the API to trigger remote Homebrew commands, build workflows and dashboards, or integrate with your preferred analytics platform.

Manual exports

Download tables or perform full data dumps for offline analysis and auditing.

Enterprise-ready identity and access management

Workbrew meets the needs of security-conscious organizations with enterprise-grade access controls and deployment flexibility.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Integrate with your identity provider to streamline and secure access across your organization.

Allowed Domains

Restrict access to approved email domains — for stricter authentication without full SSO.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Assign fine-grained roles to manage who can view, change, or administer your workspace.

Custom deployments

Support internal infrastructure, data residency, or compliance requirements with flexible hosting options.

Start Free Today

Start using brew at work with our Free Plan. Deploy to unlimited devices via our hassle-free installer, seamlessly integrated with your MDM for zero-touch setup.