htslib ☆
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Description:
C library for high-throughput sequencing data formats
Type: Formula  |  Tracked Since: Dec 16, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Developer tools
Tags: genomics bioinformatics c-library data-formats sequencing
Install: brew install htslib
About:
htslib is a foundational C library providing a high-level API and tools for reading and writing genomic data formats. It serves as the core engine for many bioinformatics applications, offering robust support for SAM, BAM, CRAM, VCF, and BCF files. Its primary value is efficient, standardized access to high-throughput sequencing data.
Key Features:
  • Unified API for SAM/BAM/CRAM formats
  • Support for indexing and random access
  • Comprehensive VCF/BCF variant calling support
  • Command-line utilities (e.g., samtools, bcftools)
Use Cases:
  • Parsing genomic alignment files in custom bioinformatics pipelines
  • Implementing variant calling analysis workflows
  • Building genomic data visualization tools
Alternatives:
  • BioPython – Python-based; higher-level but generally slower for large-scale processing than native C.
  • Picard – Java-based; offers similar functionality but requires a JVM runtime.
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Dec 16, 2025 5:11pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 3bd21d99
Sep 13, 2024 12:07am 0 VERSION_BUMP 926e4c0d
Sep 12, 2024 10:11pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 469922cf
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