# Install asimov with Homebrew

Automatically exclude development dependencies from Time Machine backups. Version 0.12.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-30.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:asimov
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install asimov
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:asimov
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.12.0
- **Source summary:** Automatically exclude development dependencies from Time Machine backups
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/AsimovMac/asimov>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/AsimovMac/asimov>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-30T19:37:44Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- asimov (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.12.0
## Project history and usage

Asimov is a macOS command-line utility that excludes development dependency directories from Time Machine backups. It is deliberately narrow: scan for restorable dependency trees such as `node_modules`, then ask Apple's `tmutil` to exclude them so backups waste less space.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in October 2017. The README presents the motivating problem for developers using Time Machine: project dependency directories can be large, generated, and recoverable from package manifests, so backing them up is often unnecessary.

Release metadata shows v0.1.0 in October 2017, v0.2.0 in November 2017, and v0.3.0 in June 2020. The README continues to describe a small shell-oriented utility rather than a daemon-heavy system service.

### Adoption history

Asimov's adoption is Homebrew-centered. The official README calls Homebrew the easiest installation route, documents `brew install asimov`, and shows `sudo brew services start asimov` for running the scheduled job automatically once a day.

The input facts list only Homebrew packaging, which matches the macOS-only scope. It is a package-manager convenience wrapper around native macOS backup controls rather than a cross-platform backup system.

### How it is used

Users either run `asimov` on demand or install it as a Homebrew service. Asimov scans for recognized dependency directories next to corresponding project files, checks whether they are already excluded, and uses `tmutil` to mark them as excluded from Time Machine.

### Why package nerds care

Asimov matters to package nerds because it encodes a practical truth about dependency managers: generated dependency directories are expensive to back up and cheap to recreate. It turns that convention into a small macOS maintenance package.

### Timeline

- 2017: GitHub repository created.
- 2017: v0.1.0 and v0.2.0 releases published.
- 2020: v0.3.0 release published.
- 2024: Repository still received pushes.

### Related projects

- Apple Time Machine is the backup system Asimov configures.
- `tmutil` is the native macOS command Asimov wraps.
- Homebrew services is documented as the scheduled-run installation path.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/stevegrunwell/asimov/releases>
- <https://github.com/stevegrunwell/asimov>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. formula declares a Homebrew service.

- **Geiger risk:** orange / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
- formula declares a Homebrew service


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/asimov.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/asimov.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph