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CLI Open source 3,086 installs/mo Trending 1.87×

chafa for Mac

Versatile and fast Unicode/ASCII/ANSI graphics renderer

Quick answer: chafa is a design tool for macOS. Install it with brew install chafa. It is distributed under the LGPL-3.0-or-later licence. It has 3,086 Homebrew installs in the last 30 days.

What chafa is

chafa is a design tool for macOS: versatile and fast Unicode/ASCII/ANSI graphics renderer.

It is distributed as a Homebrew formula, which builds or pours a binary and puts it on your PATH. It is distributed under the LGPL-3.0-or-later licence.

How to install chafa

  1. Open Terminal (press ⌘ + Space and type “Terminal”).
  2. If Homebrew is not installed yet, run the installer below once.
  3. Run brew install chafa.

Homebrew installer, if you need it:

Prefer a graphical installer? Download it from the official site. MacPicks never hosts or mirrors binaries — the Homebrew command always pulls from the vendor's own release.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I install chafa on Mac?

Run brew install chafa in Terminal. This requires Homebrew; if you do not have it, install it first with the command below.

Is chafa open source?

Yes — Homebrew distributes it under the LGPL-3.0-or-later licence.

Does chafa run on Apple silicon?

Homebrew publishes this formula for macOS. If upstream does not ship an Apple silicon build, Rosetta 2 handles the Intel binary.

How popular is chafa?

It was installed 3,086 times in the last 30 days according to Homebrew analytics, ranking #492 in this catalogue.

What version of chafa is current?

The latest packaged version is 1.18.3.