Homebrew Cask Packages Not Updating Properly

[ozdenfurkan]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.4.21
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 2e57f8f794af60804dcc185d1807c6d6ca10418c
Last commit: 4 days ago
Branch: stable
Core tap JSON: 21 Feb 12:06 UTC
Core cask tap JSON: 21 Feb 12:06 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 8
Homebrew Ruby: 3.3.7 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.3.7/bin/ruby
CPU: octa-core 64-bit arm_firestorm_icestorm
Clang: 16.0.0 build 1600
Git: 2.39.5 => /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 15.3.1-arm64
CLT: 16.2.0.0.1.1733547573
Xcode: N/A
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew doctor

Your system is ready to brew.

Description of issue

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing an issue with Homebrew where the brew upgrade and brew upgrade --cask commands do not update cask packages. Despite having several outdated packages, these commands don’t update the cask packages. However, there is no issue with Formulae packages, which are updating correctly.

When I run brew upgrade --cask <package_name>, it updates the specific package just fine. But for bulk updates, i.e., using brew upgrade or brew upgrade --cask, it doesn’t seem to affect cask packages.

Has anyone encountered this issue or have any suggestions on how to resolve it?

Thanks in advance!

Relevant casks

all casks

[gromgit]

https://docs.brew.sh/FAQ#why-arent-some-apps-included-during-brew-upgrade

[SMillerDev]

Those casks, or at least the one in your screenshot, update themselves so brew doesn't touch them.

[ozdenfurkan]

Those casks, or at least the one in your screenshot, update themselves so brew doesn't touch them.

Is there no way to change this behavior? I would like to update all of my casks regularly through Homebrew, instead of relying on each application’s internal update mechanism.

Does using the brew upgrade --greedy command do exactly what I want?

[gromgit]

Yes, but...

brew upgrade --greedy will install the latest versions that have been committed to the Homebrew cask repository. If a particular application is zealously updating itself, it's possible that brew upgrade --greedy would downgrade that application instead.

This is why --greedy is not the default mode; if you plan to rely on it, you should also disable auto-updates (if possible) in all the apps you install via Homebrew.

[p-linnane]

This is why --greedy is not the default mode; if you plan to rely on it, you should also disable auto-updates (if possible) in all the apps you install via Homebrew.

This is what I do. You can also set HOMEBREW_UPGRADE_GREEDY=1 so that you don't have to pass --greedy each time.

[ozdenfurkan]

This is what I do. You can also set HOMEBREW_UPGRADE_GREEDY=1 so that you don't have to pass --greedy each time.

I already have the following in my .zshrc:

eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
export HOMEBREW_CASK_UPGRADE_GREEDY=1

However, even with this, the brew upgrade command still doesn’t seem to work as expected. I still have to run brew upgrade --greedy manually.

Any ideas on what might be causing this or how to fix it?

[gromgit]

The variable name is HOMEBREW_UPGRADE_GREEDY, not HOMEBREW_CASK_UPGRADE_GREEDY. This is documented in the brew man page.