# Install censys with Homebrew, apt

Command-line interface for the Censys APIs (censys.io). Version 2.2.19 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-20. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install python3-censys.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:censys
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install censys
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install python3-censys
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: python3-censys from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:censys
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.2.19
- **Source summary:** Command-line interface for the Censys APIs (censys.io)
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/censys/censys-python>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/censys/censys-python>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-20T11:27:44Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- censys (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.2.19
## Project history and usage

The Homebrew censys package installs the legacy Censys Python library CLI, a command-line interface and API wrapper for Censys Search and ASM data.

### Project history

Censys began as a University of Michigan research project in 2013 and grew into an internet intelligence platform built around internet-wide scanning data. The censys-python repository packages that platform access for Python users and exposes a CLI named censys.

### Adoption history

Censys' own documentation positions the data as useful for security operations, exposure management, and research access. The package facts show the Python CLI distributed through Homebrew as well as Debian and Ubuntu as python3-censys.

### How it is used

Users configure Search credentials with censys config or CENSYS_API_ID and CENSYS_API_SECRET. The CLI and Python library can search, view, aggregate, and work with Censys host and certificate data, while ASM APIs remain supported.

### Why package nerds care

This package is a good example of a security-data CLI whose command name outlived an API generation. The official README now warns that legacy Search v1/v2 APIs are being deprecated and points users toward the newer Censys Platform SDK and cencli, while ASM support in this library continues.

### Timeline

- 2013: Censys started as a University of Michigan research project.
- 2017: Public censys-python GitHub repository created.
- 2026: Official README warns that Censys Search v1/v2 APIs are being deprecated and points to the Censys Platform SDK and cencli.

### Related projects

- cencli is the newer Censys Platform CLI documented by Censys.
- censys-platform is the newer Python SDK named in the official censys-python deprecation notice.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/censys/censys-python>
- <https://github.com/censys/censys-python>
- <https://docs.censys.com/docs/search-and-asm-python-cli>
- <https://github.com/censys/censys-python#readme>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/censys.json>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for censys. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## 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: ~/.config/censys/censys.cfg

## Credential files

- Unix: ~/.config/censys/censys.cfg
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - python3-censys - 2.2.17-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: python3-censys from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | easy-to-use and lightweight API wrapper for Censys APIs (censys.io) | https://github.com/censys/censys-python
- Ubuntu apt - python3-censys - 2.2.11-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: python3-censys from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | easy-to-use and lightweight API wrapper for Censys APIs (censys.io) | https://github.com/censys/censys-python


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph