macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install poshlocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install poshMacPorts ports tree · shells/posh/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew / rank 8121
Install posh with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts
Policy-compliant ordinary shell. Version 0.14.6 via Homebrew; verified 2026-09-13. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install posh.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install poshDebian stable package indexes · posh · source: deb.debian.org
overview
Package summary
Policy-compliant ordinary shell
Project links
Commands and aliases
- posh
history
Project history and usage
posh is a compact Bourne-style command interpreter for interactive use and shell scripts, maintained with Debian policy compatibility as a central goal.
Project history
posh is a reimplementation of the Bourne shell based on pdksh. Its name expands to Policy-compliant Ordinary SHell, reflecting its focus on behavior suitable for Debian policy and broadly portable shell scripting.
Adoption history
posh is distributed by Debian and Ubuntu and is also available through Homebrew and MacPorts. Its strongest association remains Debian, where policy compliance and portable maintainer scripting are recurring packaging concerns.
How it is used
Users can invoke posh interactively, run a script file, read commands from standard input, or pass a command with `-c`. Login shells read `/etc/profile` and `~/.profile`; privileged shells use `/etc/suid_profile`.
Why package nerds care
posh is valuable as a deliberately conservative shell and as a portability check: scripts that accidentally depend on Bash-specific behavior are more likely to fail visibly when tested under a smaller Bourne-style implementation.
Timeline
- Before posh: pdksh supplied the implementation base.
- 2011: The official manual revision documents posh's Debian-policy and SUSv3 compatibility goals.
- 2018: The current official Salsa repository was created during Debian's GitLab-era source-hosting transition.
Related projects
- pdksh is the codebase on which posh is based.
- dash is another small Bourne/POSIX-oriented shell widely associated with Debian scripting.
- The Bourne shell and POSIX shell specification define the programming model posh targets.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: yellow
generalized runtime or code generation signal.
Risk classifier
yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime
Why
- generalized runtime or code generation signal
Signals
- text:shell
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Build metadata lists 2 build dependencies.
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
/etc/profile~/.profile/etc/suid_profile
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
posh | 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 generated2026-09-19
manager version0.14.6
manager updated2026-09-13
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://salsa.debian.org/clint/posh
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://salsa.debian.org/clint/poshnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:posh |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.14.6 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/posh |
| Homepage | https://salsa.debian.org/clint/posh |
| Upstream docs | https://salsa.debian.org/clint/posh |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://salsa.debian.org/clint/posh/-/archive/debian/0.14.6/posh-debian-0.14.6.tar.bz2 |
| Last updated | 2026-09-13T11:48:08Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Build dependencies | autoconf, automake |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, 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 | posh |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
posh 0.14.1
Policy-compliant Ordinary SHell
sudo apt install posh- Section: shells
- Architecture: amd64
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Posh
Ubuntu apt95%
posh 0.14.1
Policy-compliant Ordinary SHell
sudo apt install posh- Section: universe/shells
- Architecture: amd64
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Posh
MacPorts95%
posh
sudo port install posh- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Posh
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.
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