# Install chain-bench with Homebrew, Nix

Software supply chain auditing tool based on CIS benchmark. Version 0.1.10 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#chain-bench.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:chain-bench
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install chain-bench
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#chain-bench
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ch/chain-bench/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:chain-bench
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.1.10
- **Source summary:** Software supply chain auditing tool based on CIS benchmark
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/aquasecurity/chain-bench>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/aquasecurity/chain-bench>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-27T19:20:58+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- chain-bench (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.1.10
## Project history and usage

Chain-bench is Aqua Security's open-source CLI for auditing software supply-chain posture against the CIS Software Supply Chain Security Guide. Its history is bound to the 2022 CIS/Aqua push to make supply-chain controls measurable across source code, build pipelines, dependencies, artifacts, and deployment.

### Project history

Aqua announced Chain-bench on June 22, 2022 alongside the CIS Software Supply Chain Security Guide, describing it as an open-source auditing tool for the new CIS guidelines. The official README says Chain-bench scans the software delivery lifecycle from code time through deploy time and implements CIS Software Supply Chain Benchmark checks.

### Adoption history

The official README documents installation through Homebrew, Nix, Docker, GitHub releases, and GitHub Actions, with GitLab CI support described as beta. Aqua's July 2022 blog also listed GitHub Action, Docker image, executable releases, and NixOS package routes, showing the project was designed to be consumed both locally and in CI.

### How it is used

Users provide a repository URL and an SCM access token, then run chain-bench scan to collect organization, repository, branch protection, member, and pipeline settings and report pass/fail results for CIS controls. The README documents GitHub and GitLab SCM support, personal access token requirements, Docker usage, and CI integration.

### Why package nerds care

Chain-bench is interesting to package maintainers because it packages a compliance benchmark as a CLI, Docker image, GitHub Action, and distro package instead of only as a SaaS feature. That makes it part of the post-SolarWinds/log4j supply-chain tooling wave where checklists became runnable developer tools.

### Timeline

- 2022: Aqua and CIS released the Software Supply Chain Security Guide and Aqua unveiled Chain-bench.
- 2022: Aqua published a getting-started blog for auditing CIS compliance with Chain-bench.
- 2026: The README documents Brew, Nix, Docker, release binaries, GitHub Actions, and beta GitLab CI usage.

### Related projects

- Chain-bench is related to the CIS Software Supply Chain Security Guide, Aqua Vulnerability Database compliance checks, Trivy-family Aqua open-source tooling, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and SCM platforms such as GitHub and GitLab.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/aquasecurity/chain-bench#readme>
- <https://github.com/aquasecurity/chain-bench/tree/main/docs>
- <https://www.aquasec.com/news/software-supply-chain-security-guide-cis-aqua-security/>
- <https://www.aquasec.com/blog/cis-software-supply-chain-compliance/>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - chain-bench: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ch/chain-bench/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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