Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap

[fannheyward]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.6.4-46-ga7e338d
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: a7e338d5202d7851849132a3d7dbffe09b4b383e
Last commit: 6 hours ago
Branch: main
Core tap HEAD: a7eaffac4c8a655e141ba6a74177c24a68f358ef
Core tap last commit: 27 minutes ago
Core tap JSON: 19 Aug 02:01 UTC
Core cask tap JSON: 19 Aug 02:01 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: nvim
HOMEBREW_FORBID_PACKAGES_FROM_PATHS: set
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 8
HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS: set
HOMEBREW_SORBET_RUNTIME: set
Homebrew Ruby: 3.4.5 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.4.5/bin/ruby
CPU: octa-core 64-bit arm_firestorm_icestorm
Clang: 17.0.0 build 1700
Git: 2.50.1 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 15.6-arm64
CLT: 16.4.0.0.1.1747106510
Xcode: N/A
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew doctor

Please note that these warnings are just used to help the Homebrew maintainers
with debugging if you file an issue. If everything you use Homebrew for is
working fine: please don't worry or file an issue; just ignore this. Thanks!

Warning: Some installed formulae are deprecated or disabled.
You should find replacements for the following formulae:
  mdcat

Description of issue

brew install neovim --HEAD output error:

Error: Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap, rejecting:
  /Users/fannheyward/Library/Caches/Homebrew/api-source/Homebrew/homebrew-core/d21a70d69ad05be8eff8db82ebdf23dd0837f281/Formula/neovim.rb (/Users/fannheyward/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/609f722f152cbf27adcd0f19821f1524ada974e9f633c1f055e8caf988020e98--neovim.rb)

To create a tap, run e.g.
  brew tap-new <user|org>/<repository>
To create a formula in a tap run e.g.
  brew create <url> --tap=<user|org>/<repository>

[LoSunny]

I'm also having the same issue

==> Fetching boost
Error: Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap, rejecting:
  /Users/sunnylo/Library/Caches/Homebrew/api-source/Homebrew/homebrew-core/a7eaffac4c8a655e141ba6a74177c24a68f358ef/Formula/boost.rb (/Users/sunnylo/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/4313b1fc09fb326e80624e469875de1e0d870a5644d13683688b172d6c772981--boost.rb)

To create a tap, run e.g.
  brew tap-new <user|org>/<repository>
To create a formula in a tap run e.g.
  brew create <url> --tap=<user|org>/<repository>

[carlocab]

This looks related to Homebrew/brew#20487. CC @Bo98

Feel free to file an issue at Homebrew/brew.

[Bo98]

Already fixed here Homebrew/brew#20507

[fannheyward]

Already fixed here Homebrew/brew#20507

This patch fixed the issue.

[goya]

nope not fixed.

[goya]

still cant install local formulas, same error.

ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: aeb42b2614e018b58a3e81c0a784831820a95c32```

[goya]

had to downgrade homebrew to v4.6.3

[4kbyte]

e.g.

cd /opt/homebrew
git checkout 4.6.3
# ... install local .rb formula ...
# ... and `brew pin FORMULA` if it was a downgrade ...
cd /opt/homebrew
git checkout main

[SMillerDev]

That is intentional, it throwing errors reinstalling was not.

[otaviolima]

We are also facing this issue with a local formula.

Our brew command:

brew reinstall --formula fixtures/custom_xclogparser.rb --build-from-source

Our brew version:

% brew --version
Homebrew 4.6.6

error:

Error: Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap, rejecting:
  path/to/formula (<redacted absolute path>)

To create a tap, run e.g.
  brew tap-new <user|org>/<repository>
To create a formula in a tap run e.g.

[TreeOfLearning]

I've created a simple script that returns the possibility of installing formulas/casks from paths in one command brew install-path ./path.rb: https://github.com/nikitabobko/brew-install-path

Thanks for this! I know absolutely nothing about homebrew apart from how to install things with it. And that functionality broke for me recently (when following instructions from another repo to install an old version of libomp) because of an automatic homebrew update. Your script unblocked me without me having to learn what a "tap" is. Much appreciated!

[AldoMX]

Reintroducing this behavior encourages broken workflows and will lead to bug reports for something we no longer support. That wastes our limited time as volunteers trying to keep Homebrew stable for our users, and maintainable for us.

Unfortunately, you don't get to play the "we have limited time" card while deliberately wasting hundreds or thousands of hours from users by introducing breaking changes, especially in a minor version. This level of disruption deserves a v5 bump. (Are you even following semver?)

And let’s be honest: whining that "users have broken workflows" completely sidesteps the elephant in the room. Users have a simple, legitimate use case:

As a user, I want to install an old version of something.

They’re following the path of least resistance to achieve that. They never wanted to run brew install <url>, they want to run brew install package@version, but only a handful of packages support that syntax, so users are forced into workarounds.

All this gaslighting "your workflow is broken", "don't restore the 'undesired' behavior" is doing the completely opposite:

1. You're fighting windmills. The "broken workflows" were never intended.
2. You’re refusing to engage with actual user pain points.
3. The status-quo is better for maintainers, but worse for users.

Users want a straightforward way to install older versions. They don’t want to spend an afternoon deciphering brewery metaphors. WTF is a tap? Why do I need to create one? I just want to install the old version of X.

So here's an idea: Hold the breaking changes until v5. Create a default local tap. Add a fallback to brew install package@version that actually runs brew extract into that tap behind the scenes.

Homebrew is critical infrastructure. It’s time to stop treating it like a weekend hobby project. You could easily monetize support contracts and hire full-time engineers to stop relying on "volunteers with limited time".

Users are rightfully pushing back against decisions that add more friction to them.

[nicolasnoble]

Even as a minor version, the right method would've been to "deprecate" it, disabling the behavior with a flag to re-enable it, in order to allow time for people to migrate. This, at the very least, would've been the bare minimum. At least I would've noticed it in my CI, and allow for a transition strategy for my users who are on MacOS. The trick here being I'm not. I only provide brew features for people other than me. Here, for me one day, my CI just stopped working, and users started to complain, and I had to rush to provide a solution. That really wasn't acceptable.

[SMillerDev]

Unfortunately, you don't get to play the "we have limited time" card while deliberately wasting hundreds or thousands of hours from users by introducing breaking changes, especially in a minor version.

Yes we do:

https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/blob/5f1241b953ffda1c39e55f5687e3857bfab0acc4/LICENSE.txt#L16

They’re following the path of least resistance to achieve that.

If brew extract is hard to use you can always create a discussion to get people to help you with it.

The status-quo is better for maintainers, but worse for users.

That's fine, without users Homebrew will still exist, without maintainers it won't.

[p-linnane]

@AldoMX Here's some reading that may help you.

An evergreen article from our Project Leader @MikeMcQuaid: Open Source Maintainers Owe You Nothing.

Additionally, Homebrew is licensed under the 2-Clause BSD License. You may want to read this section:

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

There's also a company called Workbrew, which is not run by the Homebrew project, that provides the paid enterprise support you're talking about.

Finally, check out our guide for avoiding maintainer burnout, specifically the section about prioritizing maintainers over users.

We work on this project because it's fun for us. It's not our job. Your sense of entitlement about a piece of free software is astounding. If you want to see a change, contribute code.

[ns-jsu]

also encountered the same issues when execute the scripts below
(we need to install the specific version of teleport

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/fe3d2edc8711f6402b70bbdc01848669ef96d614/Formula/t/teleport.rb
brew install teleport.rb

it return

Error: Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap, rejecting:
  teleport.rb (/xxx/teleport.rb)

To create a tap, run e.g.
  brew tap-new <user|org>/<repository>
To create a formula in a tap run e.g.
  brew create <url> --tap=<user|org>/<repository>

And I installed the latest version

brew --version
>> Homebrew 4.6.10

Hope to know how to resolve

[gromgit]

brew extract is your friend. Read the last few paragraphs of https://docs.brew.sh/Versions#acceptable-versioned-formulae, especially the example command therein.

[StudioMaX]

I get this error despite the fact that I already install the formula from my local tap (it is also available on GitHub). Moreover, the formula installation is completed correctly, and the problem occurs only at the postinstall step, which is ignored for some reason.

$ brew reinstall studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
==> Fetching downloads for: elasticsearch-full
==> Fetching studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
==> Downloading https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-7.17.28-linux-x86_64.tar.gz?tap=elastic/homebrew-tap
Already downloaded: <path>/storage/Homebrew/cache/downloads/26ffa421a0ad35fec841825fd7b0ce4e8d707c700127c3480a21d49bd649cda6--elasticsearch-7.17.28-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
==> Reinstalling studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
Warning: Tried to install empty array to /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d
Warning: The post-install step did not complete successfully
You can try again using:
  brew postinstall studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
Warning: Removed Sorbet lines from backtrace!
Rerun with `--verbose` to see the original backtrace
==> Caveats
Data:    /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var/lib/elasticsearch/elasticsearch_linuxbrew/
Logs:    /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var/log/elasticsearch/elasticsearch_linuxbrew.log
Plugins: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var/elasticsearch/plugins/
Config:  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc/elasticsearch/

To start studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full now and restart at login:
  brew services start studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
Or, if you don't want/need a background service you can just run:
  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/elasticsearch-full/bin/elasticsearch
==> Summary
🍺  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/elasticsearch-full/7.17.28: 940 files, 517.3MB, built in 9 seconds
==> Running `brew cleanup elasticsearch-full`...
Disable this behaviour by setting `HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP=1`.
Hide these hints with `HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS=1` (see `man brew`).
==> No outdated dependents to upgrade!

With HOMEBREW_DEVELOPER=1:

$ HOMEBREW_DEVELOPER=1 brew reinstall studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
==> Fetching downloads for: elasticsearch-full
==> Fetching studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
==> Downloading https://artifacts.elastic.co/downloads/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-7.17.28-linux-x86_64.tar.gz?tap=elastic/homebrew-tap
Already downloaded: <path>/storage/Homebrew/cache/downloads/26ffa421a0ad35fec841825fd7b0ce4e8d707c700127c3480a21d49bd649cda6--elasticsearch-7.17.28-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
==> Reinstalling studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
Warning: Tried to install empty array to /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc/elasticsearch/jvm.options.d
==> Caveats
Data:    /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var/lib/elasticsearch/elasticsearch_linuxbrew/
Logs:    /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var/log/elasticsearch/elasticsearch_linuxbrew.log
Plugins: /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/var/elasticsearch/plugins/
Config:  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/etc/elasticsearch/

To start studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full now and restart at login:
  brew services start studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
Or, if you don't want/need a background service you can just run:
  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/elasticsearch-full/bin/elasticsearch
==> Summary
🍺  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/elasticsearch-full/7.17.28: 940 files, 517.3MB, built in 10 seconds
==> Running `brew cleanup elasticsearch-full`...
Disable this behaviour by setting `HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_CLEANUP=1`.
Hide these hints with `HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS=1` (see `man brew`).
==> No outdated dependents to upgrade!

postinstall with debug:

$ brew postinstall studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full --debug --verbose
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb (Formulary::FromTapLoader): loading studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
==> Postinstalling elasticsearch-full
Warning: The post-install step did not complete successfully
You can try again using:
  brew postinstall studiomax/elastic-linux/elasticsearch-full
==> Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap, rejecting:
  /home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/opt/elasticsearch-full/.brew/elasticsearch-full.rb (/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Cellar/elasticsearch-full/7.17.28/.brew/elasticsearch-full.rb)

To create a tap, run e.g.
  brew tap-new <user|org>/<repository>
To create a formula in a tap run e.g.
  brew create <url> --tap=<user|org>/<repository>

/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/utils/path.rb:38:in 'Utils::Path.loadable_package_path?'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/_methods.rb:277:in 'block in Utils::Path._on_method_added'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:731:in 'Formulary::FromPathLoader.try_new'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/_methods.rb:277:in 'block in Formulary::FromPathLoader._on_method_added'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:1370:in 'block in Formulary.loader_for'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:1369:in 'Array#each'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:1369:in 'Formulary.loader_for'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:179:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:179:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call_skip_block_type'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:121:in 'block in Formulary.create_validator_slow_skip_block_type'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formulary.rb:1137:in 'Formulary.factory'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:179:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:179:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call_skip_block_type'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:121:in 'block in Formulary.create_validator_slow_skip_block_type'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formula_installer.rb:1331:in 'FormulaInstaller#post_install_formula_path'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/_methods.rb:277:in 'block in FormulaInstaller#_on_method_added'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/formula_installer.rb:1351:in 'FormulaInstaller#post_install'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/_methods.rb:277:in 'block in FormulaInstaller#_on_method_added'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/postinstall.rb:26:in 'block in Homebrew::Cmd::Postinstall#run'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/postinstall.rb:21:in 'Array#each'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/cmd/postinstall.rb:21:in 'Homebrew::Cmd::Postinstall#run'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'UnboundMethod#bind_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/call_validation.rb:282:in 'T::Private::Methods::CallValidation.validate_call'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.4.0/gems/sorbet-runtime-0.6.12521/lib/types/private/methods/_methods.rb:277:in 'block in Homebrew::Cmd::Postinstall#_on_method_added'
/home/linuxbrew/.linuxbrew/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/brew.rb:101:in '<main>'

[rdong8]

Also having this issue trying to install LLVM@head:

brew install llvm --HEAD

...

Warning: The post-install step did not complete successfully                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
==> Homebrew requires formulae to be in a tap, rejecting:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
/home/dev/.cache/Homebrew/api-source/Homebrew/homebrew-core/cbfe4800dd14914fc1f31f5dcbceef07f5f0a42a/Formula/llvm.rb (/home/dev/.cache/Homebrew/downloads/28363d2161c57601c0eaaaca460b49a7f82a137817820ea168b5a249a09dfabd--llvm.rb)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
To create a tap, run e.g.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 brew tap-new <user|org>/<repository>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
To create a formula in a tap run e.g.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 brew create <url> --tap=<user|org>/<repository> 

4 hour docker build :(