packaging-installers

name	packaging-installers
description	Package CLI tools for Homebrew, APT (deb), and RPM distribution. Use when creating a Homebrew formula, building .deb packages, writing RPM spec files, or automating package builds with GoReleaser nfpms. Do not use for container images (prefer Docker skills) or language registries (npm, PyPI, crates.io).
license	Apache-2.0
compatibility	{"clients":["openai-codex","gemini-cli","opencode","github-copilot"]}
metadata	{"owner":"codex","domain":"packaging-installers","maturity":"draft","risk":"low","tags":["packaging","homebrew","apt","rpm"]}

Purpose

Package CLI tools and binaries for distribution via Homebrew, APT (.deb), and RPM (.rpm).

When to use this skill

• creating a Homebrew formula or tap for a CLI tool
• building a .deb package for Ubuntu/Debian
• writing an RPM .spec file for Fedora/RHEL
• automating package builds in CI with GoReleaser nfpms

Do not use this skill when

• publishing to a language registry (npm, PyPI, crates.io) — different workflows
• building Docker/OCI container images — different domain
• cross-compiling binaries without packaging — prefer release-binaries

Procedure

1. Choose target formats — Homebrew for macOS/Linux dev tools, .deb for Ubuntu servers, .rpm for RHEL/Fedora.
2. Write Homebrew formula — define class MyTool < Formula with url, sha256, depends_on, and install method.
3. Build .deb — create directory structure: DEBIAN/control, usr/local/bin/mytool. Run dpkg-deb --build.
4. Write RPM spec — define Name, Version, Release, %install, %files. Build with rpmbuild -ba.
5. Automate with GoReleaser — add nfpms: section to .goreleaser.yaml for deb/rpm; add brews: for Homebrew tap.
6. Set up Homebrew tap — create homebrew-tap repo with Formula/mytool.rb. Update SHA on each release.
7. Test installation — install from local package, verify binary runs, check completions are placed correctly.

Homebrew formula

class MyTool < Formula
  desc "Short description of my tool"
  homepage "https://github.com/org/mytool"
  url "https://github.com/org/mytool/releases/download/v1.2.0/mytool-1.2.0.tar.gz"
  sha256 "abc123..."
  license "MIT"
  depends_on "go" => :build

  def install
    system "go", "build", *std_go_args(ldflags: "-s -w")
    bash_completion.install "completions/mytool.bash"
  end

  test do
    assert_match version.to_s, shell_output("#{bin}/mytool --version")
  end
end

Debian control file

Package: mytool
Version: 1.2.0
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: You <[e-mail]>
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.31)
Section: utils
Priority: optional
Description: Short description of my tool

Decision rules

• Always include a test block in Homebrew formulas — brew audit requires it.
• Pin sha256 for every download URL — never use head for stable releases.
• In .deb, set Depends for shared libraries; use ldd to discover them.
• Use GoReleaser nfpms to auto-generate deb/rpm from a single config.
• Include shell completions and man pages in every package.

References

• https://docs.brew.sh/Formula-Cookbook
• https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/
• https://goreleaser.com/customization/nfpm/

Related skills

• release-binaries — cross-compiling before packaging
• cli-development-go — building the Go binary
• linux-ubuntu-ops — installing packages on target systems