Homeboy can orchestrate releases for any platform, but building native binaries requires access to that platform’s toolchain.

What Works Anywhere

What Requires Platform Access

Why?

Native binaries require platform-specific system libraries. For example, Rust crates like keyring and security-framework link against macOS frameworks (Security.framework, CoreFoundation.framework). These aren’t available on Linux without the macOS SDK.

Options for Cross-Platform Releases

Option 1: Hybrid (Recommended)

Use homeboy for orchestration, GitHub Actions for cross-platform builds:

homeboy version bump → triggers GitHub Actions → builds all platforms → uploads release
homeboy extension run homebrew → publishes formula to tap

cargo-dist handles the cross-platform builds and generates the Homebrew formula with correct sha256 hashes.

Option 2: Platform-Specific Build Servers

Run homeboy on each platform:

• macOS server builds macOS binaries
• Windows server builds Windows binaries
• Linux server builds Linux binaries

Coordinate via fleet commands or post-release hooks.

Option 3: osxcross (Linux → macOS)

Install osxcross to cross-compile for macOS from Linux:

# Install dependencies
apt-get install clang cmake libssl-dev libxml2-dev

# Clone and build osxcross (requires macOS SDK)
git clone https://github.com/tpoechtrager/osxcross
cd osxcross
# Download Xcode and extract SDK (see osxcross docs)
./build.sh

# Configure Rust
rustup target add x86_64-apple-darwin aarch64-apple-darwin

Note: The macOS SDK is ~1GB and Apple’s license restricts redistribution. Many open-source projects use osxcross, but be aware of the legal gray area.

Option 4: cargo-zigbuild (Partial)

Zig can cross-compile C code for macOS, but Rust crates with deep SDK dependencies (like security-framework) still fail:

# Install zig and cargo-zigbuild
cargo install cargo-zigbuild

# Works for simple crates
cargo zigbuild --release --target x86_64-apple-darwin

# Fails for crates needing Security.framework, etc.

Homebrew Extension

The homebrew extension publishes formulas to your tap. It does not build binaries or generate formulas — it assumes:

1. Binaries are already built and uploaded (to GitHub Releases, etc.)
2. A formula file exists with correct download URLs and sha256 hashes

For full automation with cargo-dist:

1. cargo-dist builds binaries and generates homeboy.rb
2. Formula is uploaded as a release asset
3. homeboy extension run homebrew or post-release hook publishes to tap

Recommended Setup

For Rust CLI projects distributing via Homebrew:

1. cargo-dist in GitHub Actions for cross-platform builds
2. homeboy for release orchestration (bump, changelog, deploy)
3. homebrew extension for tap publishing

This separates concerns:

• GitHub provides free macOS/Windows runners
• Homeboy handles the workflow you control
• No SDK licensing concerns

Future

If Apple ever allows SDK redistribution or Rust improves cross-compilation support, homeboy could handle everything. Until then, the hybrid approach is pragmatic.