Problem
Following the documented macOS install commands for the Viam CLI fails on current Homebrew:
brew tap viamrobotics/brews
brew install viam
fails with:
Error: Refusing to load formula viamrobotics/brews/viam from untrusted tap viamrobotics/brews
Homebrew 6.0.0 made tap trust mandatory: formulae from third-party taps refuse to load until the user explicitly trusts them.
Following the error message's own suggestion also fails, because formula-level trust does not extend to dependencies from the same tap:
brew trust --formula viamrobotics/brews/viam
brew install viam
Error: Refusing to load formula viamrobotics/brews/nlopt-static from untrusted tap viamrobotics/brews
(viam depends on nlopt-static from the same tap.) The working sequence trusts the whole tap:
brew tap viamrobotics/brews
brew trust viamrobotics/brews
brew install viam
Reported by Nat in Slack, 2026-07-14; hit both failures following the docs verbatim.
Affected docs
Every brew-based install of viam or viam-server hits the same refusal:
static/include/how-to/install-cli.md — canonical CLI install include, macOS tab and the Linux x86_64 brew alternative. Embedded on 5 pages: docs/cli/overview.md, docs/set-up-a-machine/with-cli.md, docs/data/export-data.md, docs/data/visualize-data.md, docs/tutorials/custom/custom-base-dog.md.
docs/try/part-3.md — inline copy of the same two commands.
docs/reference/viam-server.md — brew tap viamrobotics/brews && brew install viam-server (macOS tab).
Proposed fix
Add brew trust viamrobotics/brews between the tap and install commands in all three files:
brew tap viamrobotics/brews
brew trust viamrobotics/brews
brew install viam
Trusting the whole tap (rather than per-formula) is required because of the same-tap nlopt-static dependency, and is scoped to viamrobotics formulae only. brew trust exists since Homebrew 5.1.15 and is a no-op-safe addition for users who have already trusted the tap.
Problem
Following the documented macOS install commands for the Viam CLI fails on current Homebrew:
fails with:
Homebrew 6.0.0 made tap trust mandatory: formulae from third-party taps refuse to load until the user explicitly trusts them.
Following the error message's own suggestion also fails, because formula-level trust does not extend to dependencies from the same tap:
(
viamdepends onnlopt-staticfrom the same tap.) The working sequence trusts the whole tap:Reported by Nat in Slack, 2026-07-14; hit both failures following the docs verbatim.
Affected docs
Every brew-based install of
viamorviam-serverhits the same refusal:static/include/how-to/install-cli.md— canonical CLI install include, macOS tab and the Linux x86_64 brew alternative. Embedded on 5 pages:docs/cli/overview.md,docs/set-up-a-machine/with-cli.md,docs/data/export-data.md,docs/data/visualize-data.md,docs/tutorials/custom/custom-base-dog.md.docs/try/part-3.md— inline copy of the same two commands.docs/reference/viam-server.md—brew tap viamrobotics/brews && brew install viam-server(macOS tab).Proposed fix
Add
brew trust viamrobotics/brewsbetween the tap and install commands in all three files:Trusting the whole tap (rather than per-formula) is required because of the same-tap
nlopt-staticdependency, and is scoped to viamrobotics formulae only.brew trustexists since Homebrew 5.1.15 and is a no-op-safe addition for users who have already trusted the tap.