install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install extract_url

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#extract_url

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ex/extract_url/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Perl script to extracts URLs from emails or plain text

Project links

Commands and aliases

extract_url

history

Project history and usage

extract_url.pl is a Perl utility that extracts URLs from MIME email messages or plain text, designed especially for use with the mutt email client and as a replacement or pre-parser for urlview.

Project history

The official homepage documents version 1.6.1 and says the source repository moved from Google Code to GitHub. The GitHub repository description records it as automatically exported from code.google.com/p/extracturl.

Adoption history

The supplied package metadata lists Homebrew and Nix packages. The official homepage also notes packaging-oriented changes such as a distribution-friendly package layout in the 1.5.7 release history.

How it is used

The homepage documents piping email through extract_url.pl, using it with urlview, invoking it on message files, and configuring mutt macros. It also documents options for help, man output, list mode, plain-text mode, quoted-printable decoding, config file selection, and version output.

Why package nerds care

extract_url.pl is a classic small Unix email helper: it composes through pipes, integrates with mutt, has a dotfile configuration path, and fills gaps in older URL selectors around MIME, quoted-printable, duplicate URLs, and shell-safe URL handling.

Timeline

2008: Official NEWS records 1.3.x and 1.4 releases.
2009: Official NEWS records 1.5 release.
2013: Official NEWS records distribution-friendly packaging work in 1.5.7.
2015: GitHub repository was created from the former Google Code project.
2017: Official NEWS records 1.6.2 with dependency-location fixes and ALTSELECT default change.

Related projects

The official homepage compares extract_url.pl with urlview and urlscan.
The documented workflow is primarily tied to mutt, while optional Perl modules such as URI::Find and Curses::UI broaden URL detection and interface behavior.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 8 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ~/.extract_urlview~/.urlview

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`extract_url`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-04

manager version1.6.2

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv1.6.2

https://github.com/m3m0ryh0l3/extracturl

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:extract_url
Version	1.6.2
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/extract_url
Homepage	https://www.memoryhole.net/~kyle/extract_url/
Repository	https://github.com/m3m0ryh0l3/extracturl
Upstream docs	https://www.memoryhole.net/~kyle/extract_url/
License	BSD-2-Clause
Source archive	https://github.com/m3m0ryh0l3/extracturl/archive/refs/tags/v1.6.2.tar.gz
Uses from macOS	ncurses, perl
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sequoia, sonoma, tahoe, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	extract_url
Version Scheme	0
Revision	4
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Nix95%

extract_url

nix profile install nixpkgs#extract_url

normalized package name match
Matched by: Extract URL

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ex/extract_url/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/extract_url.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment
pkg.so package database
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install extract_url with Homebrew, Nix