ack ☆
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Description:
Search tool like grep, but optimized for programmers
Type: Formula  |  Latest Version: 3.9.0@0  |  Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Developer tools
Tags: search grep command-line developer-tools regex
Install: brew install ack
About:
ack is a command-line search tool designed as a faster, more powerful alternative to grep. It is optimized for searching source code repositories by automatically ignoring version control directories and binary files. The tool uses Perl-compatible regular expressions and provides colored output for improved readability.
Key Features:
  • Optimized for searching source code
  • Automatic .ignore file support
  • Colored output and line numbers
  • Faster than grep for code searches
Use Cases:
  • Finding function or variable definitions in large codebases
  • Searching for specific patterns across multiple file types
  • Quickly locating TODO or FIXME comments
Alternatives:
  • ripgrep – ripgrep is generally faster and written in Rust, while ack is Perl-based and focuses on programmer-friendly defaults
  • grep – grep is more universally available but requires manual filtering of version control files
License: Artistic-2.0
Bottles available for: all
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Dec 21, 2024 4:48am 0 VERSION_BUMP 723b8052
Jul 30, 2024 3:50pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 98dfb13b
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