Brew edit doesn't open formula anymore?

[ricardobeat]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 5.0.12-24-g414e0da
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: 414e0da6a8e5008596e79bd8b274f3be251ff45c
Last commit: 25 hours ago
Branch: main
Core tap JSON: 27 Jan 16:11 UTC
Core cask tap JSON: 27 Jan 16:11 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_DOWNLOAD_CONCURRENCY: 28
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: nano
HOMEBREW_FORBID_PACKAGES_FROM_PATHS: set
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 14
HOMEBREW_SORBET_RUNTIME: set
Homebrew Ruby: 3.4.8 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.4.8/bin/ruby
CPU: 14-core 64-bit arm_brava
Clang: 17.0.0 build 1700
Git: 2.52.0 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 8.7.1 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 26.2-arm64
CLT: 26.2.0.0.1.1764812424
Xcode: N/A
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew doctor

Your system is ready to brew.

Description of issue

Running brew edit xx use to open the .rb formula.

For example, brew edit ghostty doesn't open the formula anymore, instead it opens /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/ghostty/.metadata/1.2.3/20260128110153.494/Casks/ghostty.json.

Is this a bug?

[bevanjkay]

If you don't have HOMEBREW_DEVELOPER set and the homebrew-cask repo "tapped" then it won't open the ruby file anymore. General usage of Homebrew happens through a minimal JSON API, so the git repository is no longer stored on your computer by default.

[ricardobeat]

Thank you, after running brew tap homebrew/cask --force the brew edit command automatically enabled developer mode

$ brew edit ghostty
Warning: edit is a developer command, so Homebrew's
developer mode has been automatically turned on.
To turn developer mode off, run:
  brew developer off

Editing /opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/g/ghostty.rb
To test your local edits, run:
  HOMEBREW_NO_INSTALL_FROM_API=1 brew install --verbose --debug ghostty

I was only able to partially piece the situation together from all of these pages, might be useful to document it somewhere directly related to the brew edit command?

• https://docs.brew.sh/Updating-Software-in-Homebrew
• https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#getting-set-up-to-contribute
• https://docs.brew.sh/How-To-Open-a-Homebrew-Pull-Request#cask-related-pull-request
• https://docs.brew.sh/Adding-Software-to-Homebrew