# Install boot-clj with Homebrew

Build tooling for Clojure. Version 2.8.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:boot-clj
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install boot-clj
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:boot-clj
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.8.3
- **Source summary:** Build tooling for Clojure
- **Homepage:** <https://boot-clj.github.io/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/boot-clj/boot>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:02:54-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- boot (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.8.3
## Project history and usage

Boot is a Clojure build framework and command-line script runner built around the idea that builds are programs. Its historical niche was giving Clojure projects programmable build pipelines, immutable filesets, classloader isolation, and ad-hoc scripting before the newer Clojure CLI tooling became common.

### Project history

Boot's own README describes it as both a Clojure build framework and an ad-hoc Clojure script evaluator. Instead of treating a build as a static project map, Boot evaluates Clojure scripts in a runtime environment that can add dependencies, compose tasks, and pass managed filesets between task middleware.

The public release line visible in the official GitHub releases starts with 2.0.0 prereleases in late 2014, moves through 2.0 release candidates in early 2015, and continues through the 2.7 and 2.8 series. The 2.8.3 release in April 2019 is the last stable release shown in the sampled GitHub release metadata.

### Adoption history

Boot was adopted inside the Clojure community as an alternative to Leiningen-style project configuration, especially for workflows needing composable pipelines, ClojureScript builds, REPL-driven automation, and single-file scripts. The official README lists package-manager installation paths through Homebrew, Nix, AUR, Docker, Chocolatey, and Scoop, showing that it crossed from library ecosystem tooling into OS package collections.

### How it is used

Users run `boot` with tasks such as `repl`, `pom`, `jar`, and `install`, or write a `build.boot` script that composes tasks in Clojure. The wrapper script or executable is a thin launcher that downloads and runs Boot's JARs from Maven, so `boot -u` historically handled updating the runtime bits.

### Why package nerds care

Boot is interesting to package nerds because it is both a package and a package bootstrapper: the installed command is a shim, while the real tool comes from Maven coordinates. It also illustrates a Clojure-era preference for programmable build logic, fileset immutability, and REPL-friendly build automation rather than declarative-only project files.

### Timeline

- 2014: Boot 2.0.0 prereleases appear on GitHub.
- 2015: Boot 2.0.0 release-candidate series continues.
- 2016: Boot 2.6.0 and 2.7.x releases published.
- 2018: Boot 2.8.0 and 2.8.x releases published.
- 2019: Boot 2.8.3 published on GitHub.

### Related projects

- Related projects include Clojure itself, Maven repositories used for dependency resolution, Leiningen credentials compatibility noted in the curation data, boot-bin wrapper releases, and ClojureScript build workflows documented by the Boot project.

### Sources

- <https://boot-clj.github.io/>
- <https://github.com/boot-clj/boot#readme>
- <https://github.com/boot-clj/boot/releases/tag/2.0.0-pre28>
- <https://github.com/boot-clj/boot/releases/tag/2.8.3>


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal


## 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: $BOOT_HOME/boot.properties, ./boot.properties, $BOOT_HOME/profile.boot, ./profile.boot, ./build.boot, ./.bootignore

## Credential files

- Unix: $BOOT_HOME/credentials.gpg, ~/.lein/credentials.clj.gpg

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/boot-clj.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/boot-clj.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation