--- last_review_date: "2025-04-12" --- # Support Tiers Homebrew has three support tiers. These tiers set expectations for how well Homebrew will run on a given configuration. ## Tier 1 A Tier 1 supported configuration is one in which: - you'll have the best experience using Homebrew - we will aim to fix reproducible bugs affecting this configuration - we will not output warnings about running on this configuration - we have CI coverage for automated testing and building bottles for this configuration - your support is best met through Homebrew's issue trackers - Homebrew may block merging a PR if it doesn't build properly on this configuration ### macOS For Tier 1 support, Homebrew on macOS must be all of: - running on official Apple hardware (e.g. not a "Hackintosh" or VM) - running the latest patch release of a macOS version supported by Apple on that hardware - running a version of macOS with Homebrew CI coverage (i.e. the latest stable or prerelease version, two preceding versions) - installed in the default prefix (i.e. `/opt/homebrew` on Apple Silicon, `/usr/local` on Intel x86_64) - running on a supported architecture (i.e. Apple Silicon or Intel x86_64) - not building official packages from source - installed on your Mac's built-in hard drive (i.e. not external/removable storage) - you have `sudo` access on your system - the Xcode Command Line Tools are installed and fully up-to-date ### Linux For Tier 1 support, Homebrew on Linux must be all of: - running on Ubuntu or a Homebrew-provided Docker image - have a system `glibc` >= 2.35 - have a Linux kernel >= 3.2 - if running Ubuntu, using an Ubuntu version in "standard support": - installed in the default prefix (i.e. `/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew`) - running on a supported architecture (i.e. Intel x86_64) - not building official packages from source - you have `sudo` access on your system ## Tier 2 A Tier 2 supported configuration is one in which any of: - you get a subpar but potentially still usable experience using Homebrew - we review PRs that fix bugs affecting this configuration but will not aim to fix bugs - we will output `brew doctor` warnings running on this configuration - we have partial CI coverage for testing and building bottles for this configuration so some bottles will not be available - we will close issues only affecting this configuration - your support is best met through Homebrew's Discussions Tier 2 configurations include: - macOS prereleases before we state they are Tier 1 (e.g. in March 2025, macOS 16, whatever it ends up being called) - Linux versions with a system `glibc` version < 2.35 (but >= 2.13), requiring the Homebrew `glibc` formula to be installed automatically - using official packages that need to be built from source due to installing Homebrew outside the default prefix (i.e. `/opt/homebrew` on Apple Silicon, `/usr/local` on Apple Intel x86_64, `/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew` for Linux) - running on a not-yet-supported architecture (i.e. Linux ARM64/AARCH64) - devices using OpenCore Legacy Patcher with a Westmere or newer Intel CPU ## Tier 3 A Tier 3 supported configuration is one in which: - you get a poor but not completely broken experience using Homebrew - we strongly recommend migrating to a Tier 1 or 2 configuration or a non-Homebrew tool - we will only review PRs with a very high bar: any changes must be proven by the author to fix (not work around) an issue and not come with high maintainability costs (no patches) - we will generally not aim to fix bugs ourselves affecting this configuration - we may intentionally regress functionality on this configuration if it e.g. improves things for other configuration - we will output noisy warnings running on this configuration - we are lacking any CI coverage for testing or building bottles for this configuration so few bottles will be available - we will close without response issues only affecting this configuration - your support is best met through Homebrew's Discussions Tier 3 configurations include: - macOS versions for which we no longer provide CI coverage and Apple no longer provides most security updates for (e.g. as of March 2025, macOS Monterey/12 and older) - building official packages from source when binary packages are available - installing Homebrew outside the default prefix (i.e. `/opt/homebrew` on Apple Silicon, `/usr/local` on Apple Intel x86_64, `/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew` for Linux) - installing formulae using `--HEAD` - installing deprecated or disabled formulae - devices using OpenCore Legacy Patcher with an Intel CPU older than Westmere ## Unsupported An unsupported configuration is one in which: - Homebrew will refuse to run at all without third-party patching - You must migrate to another tool (e.g. Tigerbrew, MacPorts, Linux system package managers etc.) Unsupported configurations include: - FreeBSD - macOS 10.6 - Beowulf clusters - Nokia 3210s - CPUs built inside of Minecraft - toasters ## Unsupported Software All packages installed from third-party taps outside of the Homebrew GitHub organisation are unsupported by default. We may assist the maintainers/contributors/developers of such packages to fix bugs with the Homebrew formula/cask/tap system, but we are not responsible for resolving issues when using that software. Bugs that only manifest when using third-party formulae/casks may be closed.