macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install reposurgeonlocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install reposurgeonMacPorts ports tree · devel/reposurgeon/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew / rank 7322
Install reposurgeon with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix
Edit version-control repository history. Version 5.11 via Homebrew; verified 2026-09-11. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install reposurgeon.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install reposurgeonDebian stable package indexes · reposurgeon · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install reposurgeonFedora Rawhide package metadata · reposurgeon · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#reposurgeonnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/re/reposurgeon/package.nix · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Edit version-control repository history
Project links
Commands and aliases
- repobench
- repocutter
- repomapper
- reposurgeon
- repotool
history
Project history and usage
reposurgeon is an interactive and scriptable tool for editing and converting version-control history. It can alter metadata and topology, remove or split history, graft repositories, and translate histories between multiple VCS families.
Project history
Eric S. Raymond launched reposurgeon in October 2010 and published version 0.1 on 1 November 2010. Its original motivation was cleaning artifacts produced by repository conversions. It grew into an interactive and scriptable history editor plus a suite containing repocutter, repomapper, repotool, and conversion workflows.
The implementation supports fast-export and fast-import streams as a common interchange model and also uses extractors for systems without suitable exporters. This enables both surgical history editing and conversions spanning centralized and distributed version-control systems.
Adoption history
Reposurgeon has been used in conversions of historically important repositories, including Emacs, Blender, NUT, Battle for Wesnoth, groff, and GCC. The GCC conversion handled roughly 280,000 Subversion commits and cut over in January 2020.
How it is used
Operators import a repository or history stream, inspect its event graph, apply scripted or interactive edits, and write a new history or repository. The tool deliberately writes results separately rather than modifying or deleting the source repository.
Why package nerds care
Repository migrations preserve the provenance on which source packages depend. Reposurgeon matters to package historians because it can recover, translate, and repair authorship, branches, tags, and ancient RCS/CVS/Subversion strata instead of merely copying snapshots into Git.
Timeline
- 2010-10-22: Project launched.
- 2010-11-01: First public release, version 0.1.
- 2011: Used in the multi-layer Emacs history conversion.
- 2020-01-12: GCC completed its Subversion-to-Git cutover using reposurgeon workflows.
Related projects
- repocutter performs specialized Subversion dump-file operations.
- repomapper helps prepare contributor identity maps.
- repotool supplies VCS-independent operations and conversion-workflow scaffolding.
- cvs-fast-export is commonly used as a front end for CVS and RCS conversions.
Sources
- Official README: https://www.catb.org/~esr/reposurgeon/README.html
- Official conversion manual: https://www.catb.org/~esr/reposurgeon/repository-editing.html
- Official development news: https://www.catb.org/~esr/reposurgeon/NEWS.html
- Official project page: https://www.catb.org/~esr/reposurgeon/
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 6 platform targets.
- Build metadata lists 3 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.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
repobench | cli | global executable | |
repocutter | cli | global executable | |
repomapper | cli | global executable | |
reposurgeon | cli | global executable | |
repotool | 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 version5.11
manager updated2026-09-11
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
http://www.catb.org/esr/reposurgeon/
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.http://www.catb.org/esr/reposurgeon/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:reposurgeon |
|---|---|
| Version | 5.11 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/reposurgeon |
| Homepage | http://www.catb.org/esr/reposurgeon/ |
| Upstream docs | http://www.catb.org/esr/reposurgeon/ |
| License | BSD-2-Clause |
| Source archive | https://gitlab.com/esr/reposurgeon/-/archive/5.10/reposurgeon-5.10.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-09-11T21:00:25Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Build dependencies | asciidoctor, go, ruby |
| 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 | reposurgeon |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| 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%
reposurgeon 4.38-2+b5
Tool for editing version-control repository history
http://www.catb.org/esr/reposurgeon/
sudo apt install reposurgeon- Section: vcs
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: reposurgeon
- 3 dependencies
- 8 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Reposurgeon
Nix95%
reposurgeon
nix profile install nixpkgs#reposurgeon- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Reposurgeon
Ubuntu apt95%
reposurgeon 4.38-1
Tool for editing version-control repository history
http://www.catb.org/esr/reposurgeon/
sudo apt install reposurgeon- Section: universe/vcs
- Architecture: amd64
- 2 dependencies
- 8 optional deps
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Reposurgeon
dnf95%
reposurgeon 5.9-3.fc45
SCM Repository Manipulation Tool
https://gitlab.com/esr/reposurgeon
sudo dnf install reposurgeon- License: Apache-2.0 AND BSD-2-Clause AND BSD-3-Clause AND ISC AND MIT
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: reposurgeon
- 4 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Reposurgeon
MacPorts95%
reposurgeon
sudo port install reposurgeon- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Reposurgeon
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 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