# Install kn with Homebrew, Nix Command-line interface for managing Knative Serving and Eventing resources. Version 1.23.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-29. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#kn. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:kn ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install kn ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#kn ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/kn/kn/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:kn - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.23.0 - **Source summary:** Command-line interface for managing Knative Serving and Eventing resources - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-29T18:10:56Z - **Generated:** 2026-08-04T22:13:35+00:00 ## Executables - kn (cli) - kn (alias) ## Build dependencies - go ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-04 - Package-manager version: 1.23.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-29 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/knative/client - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage `kn` is the official Knative command-line client, built to let users create and manage Knative Serving and Eventing resources without writing Kubernetes YAML by hand. ### Project history Knative was released by Google in July 2018 as a serverless application layer on Kubernetes, with early collaboration from VMware, IBM, Red Hat, and SAP. The `kn` client emerged as the developer-facing command surface for that ecosystem; GitHub release data shows Knative Client v0.1.0 published on 2019-05-18. The client documentation describes `kn` as an interface for Knative Services and Event Sources, including higher-level operations such as autoscaling and traffic splitting. The repository README also documents support for Serving resources, growing Eventing support, plugin architecture, and use from scripts or Tekton tasks. ### Adoption history The client tracks Knative's own maturation. Knative 1.0 was announced in 2021 with over 600 contributors and described Knative as the most widely installed serverless layer on Kubernetes. CNCF accepted Knative as an incubating project on 2022-03-02 and later listed it as graduated on 2025-09-11, which strengthened `kn` as the default CLI interface for a vendor-neutral cloud-native project. ### How it is used Users run `kn` to create services, list and inspect resources, split traffic between revisions, work with Eventing sources and triggers, and script Knative workflows. Its documented configuration uses `~/.config/kn/config.yaml` on Unix systems, while cluster credentials usually come from Kubernetes kubeconfig handling such as `~/.kube/config` or `KUBECONFIG`. ### Why package nerds care `kn` matters because it packages a complex Kubernetes CRD ecosystem into a small Go CLI. For package maintainers, it is part of the broader pattern where cloud-native projects ship a narrowly scoped binary that wraps Kubernetes APIs while still relying on kubeconfig and shell completion conventions users already know. ### Timeline - 2018-07: Google released Knative, later described by Knative 1.0 materials as developed with VMware, IBM, Red Hat, and SAP. - 2019-05-18: Knative Client v0.1.0 published on GitHub. - 2020-10-07: Knative Client v0.18.0 released with additional Eventing support. - 2021: Knative 1.0 announced as a production-readiness milestone with over 600 contributors. - 2022-03-02: CNCF accepted Knative as an incubating project. - 2025-09-11: CNCF project page lists Knative as moving to graduated maturity. ### Related projects - `kn` is related to Knative Serving, Knative Eventing, Kubernetes, kubectl plugin conventions, Tekton, CloudEvents, and distribution-specific serverless platforms such as OpenShift Serverless. ### Sources - - - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## 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 - Unix: ~/.config/kn/config.yaml ## Credential files - Unix: ~/.kube/config ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** kn - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - kn: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/kn/kn/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Cloud CLI packages](https://pkg.so/cloud-clis/) - Belongs to a cloud or infrastructure command family. - [Source-control packages](https://pkg.so/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://pkg.so/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://pkg.so/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [go](https://pkg.so/brew/go/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [kubernetes-cli](https://pkg.so/brew/kubernetes-cli/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [k9s](https://pkg.so/brew/k9s/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [k3d](https://pkg.so/brew/k3d/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [aws-sam-cli](https://pkg.so/brew/aws-sam-cli/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, serverless. - [ctlptl](https://pkg.so/brew/ctlptl/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [openshift-cli](https://pkg.so/brew/openshift-cli/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [eksctl](https://pkg.so/brew/eksctl/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [skaffold](https://pkg.so/brew/skaffold/) - Shares pkgdb curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, kubernetes. - [click](https://pkg.so/brew/click/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, cloud, cloud-infrastructure, command-line, infrastructure. - [kconf](https://pkg.so/brew/kconf/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, cloud, cloud-infrastructure, infrastructure, kubernetes. - [kor](https://pkg.so/brew/kor/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, cloud, cloud-infrastructure, infrastructure, kubernetes. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/kn.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/kn.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - pkgdb category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph