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wtf is xar?

fastlane/xar — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-05 · repo last pushed 2019-12-05

★ 2Audience · developerComplexity · 2/5DormantLicenseSetup · moderate

TL;DR

xar is a command-line tool for creating and extracting compressed archive files, similar to zip or tar. This enhanced fork adds modern checksums, signature support, and improved compatibility for working with xar-format archives, especially on macOS.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Create archives
      Extract archives
      Sign archives
      Verify checksums
    Tech stack
      C language
      Configure and make
      Python bindings
      Cygwin support
    Use cases
      Inspect pkg files
      Sign xar archives
      Programmatic file access
    Audience
      Developers
      System admins
      macOS users

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Inspect or extract files from macOS .pkg installer archives from the command line.

REASON 2

Create and sign xar-format archives to verify file authenticity.

REASON 3

Extract archive contents directly to standard output or strip directory paths in scripts.

REASON 4

Work with xar files programmatically using the included Python bindings.

What's in the stack?

CPythonUnix makeCygwin

How it stacks up

fastlane/xar0-bingwu-0/live-interpreter0xkaz/llm-governance-dashboard
Stars222
Language—PythonPython
Last pushed2019-12-05——
MaintenanceDormant——
Setup difficultymoderatemoderatehard
Complexity2/52/54/5
Audiencedevelopergeneralops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires a standard Unix-style configure-and-make build process, which may need build tools like gcc installed.

Use, modify, and redistribute freely for any purpose, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

Wtf does this do

xar (short for eXtensible ARchiver) is a tool for creating and extracting compressed archive files, similar to how zip or tar files work. This particular version is an enhanced fork of the original xar project, bringing bug fixes and new features to the table. The tool packages files into a single compressed archive, and this fork adds several practical improvements. Notable additions include command-line signature support (for verifying file authenticity), options to extract files directly to standard output or strip directory paths, and support for modern checksum algorithms like SHA-256 and SHA-512. There are also compatibility improvements for compression libraries and build support for Cygwin (a Unix-like environment for Windows). This project would appeal to developers or system administrators who work with xar-format archives, particularly on macOS, where xar has historically been used for package installers (.pkg files). Someone who needs to inspect, create, or sign these archives from the command line would find this useful. The Python bindings, while noted as potentially outdated, could also interest someone wanting to work with xar files programmatically. The repository also includes several macOS-specific plugins for integrating xar with system features like QuickLook and Spotlight, though the README notes these may be outdated or not release quality. The main command-line tool and library are the primary focus, built using a standard configure-and-make process familiar to Unix-style development. The project is released under the permissive BSD license, which means it can be freely used, modified, and redistributed with few restrictions.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to use the xar command-line tool to list the contents of a macOS .pkg file.
Prompt 2
Write a shell script that uses xar to extract a .pkg archive and then extract the resulting payload.
Prompt 3
How do I create a signed xar archive from a folder of files using this fork's command-line signature support?
Prompt 4
Demonstrate how to use the Python bindings from this xar fork to programmatically list and extract files from an archive.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is xar?

xar is a command-line tool for creating and extracting compressed archive files, similar to zip or tar. This enhanced fork adds modern checksums, signature support, and improved compatibility for working with xar-format archives, especially on macOS.

Is xar actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2019-12-05).

What license does xar use?

Use, modify, and redistribute freely for any purpose, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is xar to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is xar for?

Mainly developer.

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