brew-updates

A small GNOME shell extension to check for outdated brew packages on linux.

Target GNOME version: 45 – 49 (tested on GNOME 49)

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Prerequisites
3. Installation
4. Configuration (Preferences)
5. How It Works
6. Troubleshooting
7. Development & Contribution
8. License

Overview

The Homebrew Updates extension adds a small panel icon that shows the number of pending Homebrew upgrades on your system. You can either get automaticly check and get a notification or set the extension into the manual mode, where you can start the checkup by clicking on "Check for Update" in the icon menu.

Features:

Feature	Description
Automatic periodic checks (configurable interval)	Set the interval in minutes; the extension polls brew outdated.
Manual refresh	“Check for Update” menu entry forces an immediate scan.
Visual cue	Icon changes to an Icon to indicate avaliable upates when updates exist, otherwise an idle icon.
Notification	Fires a native notification if updates exists.
Settings UI	Toggle automatic checking, enables/disables notifications and adjust the interval via the GNOME Extensions preferences dialog.

Prerequisites

• GNOME Shell 48 and 49 (the extension uses the modern ES‑module import syntax, which requires GJS ≥ 1.78 – shipped with GNOME 48+).
• Homebrew installed and available in the user’s $PATH (the command brew outdated must succeed).
• GNOME Extensions infrastructure (installed via your distribution’s package manager).

Installation

1. Download / Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/nischcodes/brew-updates.git
cd brew-updates

2. Compile the GSettings schema

glib-compile-schemas schemas/

3. Install the extension Copy the entire directory to the local extensions folder:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/brew-updates@nischcodes.github.io
cp -r * ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/brew-updates@nischcodes.github.io/

4. Enable the extension

gnome-extensions enable brew-updates@nischcodes.github.io

Or use GNOME Extensions (or Extension Manager) GUI to toggle it on.

5. Restart GNOME Shell (optional) Press Alt + F2, type r, and press Enter (on Xorg) or log out/in (on Wayland).

Configuration (Preferences)

Open the preferences dialog:

• Via GNOME Extensions UI → find Brew Updates → click the gear icon.
• Or run gnome-extensions prefs brew-updates@nischcodes.github.io.

You will see three options:

Setting	Control	Effect
Activate auto update check	Switch (ON/OFF)	Enables/disables the periodic timer.
Activate notifications for auto update	Switch (ON/OFF)	Enables/disables the notification.
Interval (minutes)	Spin button (1 – 1440)	How often the extension runs brew outdated. Default is 60 min.

Changes take effect immediately; the timer is recreated on each modification.

How It Works

1. Timer initialization – When the extension starts (or when the “Activate auto update check” setting changes), a GLib.timeout_add_seconds timer is created based on the configured interval.
2. Update check – The timer (or a manual request) runs brew outdated. The JSON output is parsed into an array of objects {name, current_version, latest_version}.
3. UI update –
   • If the array is empty, the panel icon switches to idle icon and the label is cleared.
   • If updates exist, the icon becomes shield with exclamation mark and the label shows the count.
   • If notifications are active the extensions fires a notification.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
No icon appears after enabling the extension	Extension not loaded or schema not compiled	Run gnome-extensions list to confirm it’s enabled; re‑run glib-compile-schemas schemas/.
“Check for Update” does nothing / console shows errors	brew not in PATH for the GNOME shell process	Ensure Homebrew is installed for the same user; add export PATH=$HOME/.linuxbrew/bin:$PATH to ~/.profile and restart GNOME.
Icon stays the same even after upgrades	Cached state not refreshed	Click “Now check” after upgrading, or temporarily disable “Activate auto update check” and re‑enable it.

Check the GNOME Shell log for detailed messages:

journalctl /usr/bin/gnome-shell -f

Development & Contribution

1. Clone the repo (see Installation).
2. Watch for changes while developing:

gnome-extensions enable brew-updates@nischcodes.github.io

3. Submit PRs – please update metadata.json if you add support for newer GNOME versions.

License

GNU GPL Version 2 – feel free to fork, modify, and redistribute. Attribution to the original author (nisch) is appreciated.

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Enjoy staying up‑to‑date with Homebrew right from your GNOME panel!