Install recon-ng with Homebrew, apk, apt, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• recon-cli
• recon-ng
• recon-web

Project history

Recon-ng was created as a full-featured, modular framework for web-based open-source reconnaissance. Version 5 moved to a new source repository and substantially changed the framework, requiring users of source installations to migrate their Git remote or replace their checkout.

The fifth-generation design moved modules into a marketplace rather than bundling them with the core. It also provides three principal interfaces: the interactive recon-ng shell, recon-cli for automation, and recon-web for analysis and visualization.

Adoption history

Recon-ng is distributed through multiple Unix-oriented package ecosystems, including Homebrew, Alpine Linux, Debian, and Nix, according to the supplied package-manager metadata. Its official installation guide also discusses distribution-managed installations such as Kali Linux alongside source and Docker deployments.

How it is used

Operators seed workspace databases with domains, contacts, or other records, install relevant marketplace modules, and chain module output into subsequent reconnaissance steps. Resource files and recon-cli support automation, while recon-web supports analysis, visualization, and export.

Third-party service credentials are stored independently in ~/.recon-ng/keys.db. Workspace data and persisted module options live under ~/.recon-ng/workspaces/.

Why package nerds care

Recon-ng is notable to package enthusiasts as a modular, Metasploit-like OSINT environment packaged across several Unix ecosystems. Its separation of the core framework, module marketplace, persistent workspaces, and credential database makes packaging more involved than wrapping a single-purpose command.

Timeline

• Version 4 era: Modules were bundled in the traditional framework layout.
• Version 5: The project moved to a new repository and adopted a substantially revised architecture.
• 2019: The official Features guide documented the marketplace-based architecture, persistent workspaces, recon-cli, and recon-web.
• 2020: The official Getting Started guide documented version 4-to-5 migration and the independent keys database.

Related projects

• The project explicitly compares its interface with the Metasploit Framework while emphasizing that Recon-ng is designed for reconnaissance rather than exploitation.
• Its module marketplace is maintained separately from the framework core and supplies installable reconnaissance, discovery, exploitation, and reporting modules.

Sources

• Official Features guide: https://github.com/lanmaster53/recon-ng/wiki/Features
• Official Getting Started guide: https://github.com/lanmaster53/recon-ng/wiki/Getting-Started
• Official repository: https://github.com/lanmaster53/recon-ng
• Package availability: source_facts.package-manager