Tap Maintenance

The tap is a release-distribution layer. Updating it means aligning a formula or cask file with the release artifacts that already exist in a component repository.

Formula Update Flow

1. Release the component in its own repository.
2. Confirm the expected release archives exist for each supported platform.
3. Update the formula version.
4. Update every platform url.
5. Replace every sha256 with the checksum for that exact archive.
6. Verify def install installs every binary and bundled library the archive actually contains.
7. Run the formula's Homebrew test locally when possible.

For release-backed CLI tools, the formula test should continue to assert that <binary> --version works after install.

Search Template

Formula/a3s-search.rb.template uses placeholders for version and platform hashes. It is useful for regenerating the concrete a3s-search.rb formula after a Search release.

Cask Maintenance

The safeclaw cask installs a macOS .app from a DMG release asset and declares zap paths for application support, caches, preferences, and logs. Cask updates should verify the DMG asset name, minimum macOS version, app bundle name, and zap paths.

Readiness Checks

Before treating a tap entry as ready, check for:

• empty checksum fields
• placeholder checksum values
• stale formula versions
• URLs that point to missing release artifacts
• archives that do not contain the binary names listed in def install
• tests that call a binary not installed by the formula

Boundary

The tap should not patch product behavior. Product fixes belong in the component repository and release artifact. The tap should only describe how Homebrew downloads, verifies, installs, and tests that artifact.