Add Homebrew 4.6.0 blog post

Author: MikeMcQuaid

_posts/2025-08-05-homebrew-4.6.0.md

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+---
+title: 4.6.0
+author: MikeMcQuaid
+redirect_from: /blog/4.6.0/
+---
+
+Today, I'd like to announce Homebrew 4.6.0.
+The most significant changes since 4.5.0 are opt-in concurrent downloads with `HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY`, preliminary macOS 26 (Tahoe) support and a built-in `brew mcp-server`.
+
+Major changes and deprecations since 4.5.0:
+
+- [`HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY` is a new environment variable that allows opt-in to Homebrew's new download concurrency support](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20342).
+  [We recommend using `HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY=auto` as a starting point](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20329).
+  This will become the default behaviour in a later version of Homebrew (with an opt-out).
+- [Homebrew provides preliminary macOS 26 (Tahoe) support.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20062)
+  It will be officially supported after Apple’s public release.
+- [`brew mcp-server` is an MCP server for Homebrew and is available in Homebrew by default.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20041)
+- [Miscellaneous additional code deprecations, disables and removals scheduled for Homebrew 4.6.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20331)
+
+Other changes since 4.5.0 I'd like to highlight are the following:
+
+- All repositories in the Homebrew organisation, including e.g. [Homebrew/brew](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20164),
+  [Homebrew/homebrew-cask](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20172) and
+  [Homebrew/homebrew-core](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20171), now use `main` as their default branch.
+- [Homebrew prohibits non-ASCII characters in URLs.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/19977)
+- [Homebrew now allows users in Tier 2/3 to file some types of issues.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20185)
+- [Homebrew's `.pkg` and official/shell installers will now add Homebrew to the default `PATH` if possible.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20159)
+- [Third-party Homebrew GitHub Packages mirrors that do not require authentication now work as expected.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/19885)
+- [`HOMEBREW_FORBID_CASKS` is a new environment variable that forbids all casks.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/19865)
+- [`HOMEBREW_VERIFY_ATTESTATIONS` must be explicitly set again, even for `HOMEBREW_DEVELOPER`s.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20229)
+- [`brew` no longer copies across zeroed environment-variable values.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20053)
+- [`brew` resets the `sudo` timestamp later so it’s not done by e.g. `brew --prefix` or `brew shellenv` but remains done by e.g. `brew install`.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20037)
+- [`brew --debug` output is a bit quieter by default.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20311)
+- [`brew bundle` no longer uses the `brew tap --force-auto-update` option as it was removed.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20090)
+- [`brew bundle` better handles cask renames for `brew bundle` and `brew bundle dump`.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20224)
+- [`brew bundle` refers to "formulae" rather than "brews" for consistency with other parts of Homebrew.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20209)
+- [`brew bundle add` will create a `Brewfile` if it doesn't exist.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/19922)
+- [`brew cleanup` doesn't warn when loading a renamed cask.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20256)
+- [`brew install` outputs a better error message when there are tap conflicts.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20304)
+- [`brew install --ask` will also prompt before installing casks.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/19892)
+- [`brew uninstall` won't suggest deleting configuration files that belong to other formulae.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/19959)
+- [`brew update` displays descriptions for new formulae and casks.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20167)
+- [`brew update` will migrate taps from `master` to `main` when necessary.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20073)
+- [`brew pin` returns a non-zero exit code if pinning formulae that are not installed.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20213)
+- [`brew sh` and `brew bundle sh` use more of the user's configuration but provide a custom prompt.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20047)
+- [`brew audit` ensures that official formula and cask names don't conflict.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20134)
+- [`brew deps` outputs a warning when runtime dependencies are not used (so results may be inconsistent or confusing).](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20071)
+- [`env_script_all_files` in formulae won't overwrite existing files.](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/20281)
+
+Finally:
+
+- Homebrew is now [on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/brew.sh).
+- [Homebrew accepts donations through GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/Homebrew) and [still accepts donations through Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/homebrew).
+  If you can afford it, please consider donating.
+  If you'd rather not use GitHub Sponsors or Patreon (our preferred donation methods), [check out the other ways to donate in our README](https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/#donations).
+
+Thanks to all our hard-working maintainers, contributors, sponsors and supporters for getting us this far.