# Install chalk-cli with Homebrew, Nix

Terminal string styling done right. Version 6.0.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#chalk.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:chalk-cli
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install chalk-cli
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#chalk
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:chalk-cli
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 6.0.0
- **Source summary:** Terminal string styling done right
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/chalk/chalk-cli>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- chalk (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 6.0.0
## Project history and usage

chalk-cli is the command-line wrapper for Chalk-style terminal text formatting. It lets shell users apply ANSI color and style formatting to arguments or standard input without writing a Node.js script.

### Project history

The GitHub repository and npm package were created in July 2015. The README presents it as terminal string styling for the command line and points users to the main chalk package for supported styles.

GitHub releases show a v5 line in 2021 and 2023, followed by v6.0.0 in 2025.

### Adoption history

The package is published on npm as chalk-cli, and the Homebrew input identifies a Homebrew formula plus a Nix package mapping. Its adoption mostly follows the larger Chalk ecosystem rather than a separate application ecosystem.

### How it is used

The CLI accepts one or more styles plus a string, or it can read piped input with --stdin. It also supports style templates and a demo mode for showing available Chalk styles.

### Why package nerds care

chalk-cli is a small but tidy example of a JavaScript library becoming a Unix-style command. It matters to package nerds because it turns a popular Node terminal-formatting API into a composable shell filter.

### Timeline

- 2015: GitHub repository and npm package created.
- 2021: v5.0.0 release published on GitHub.
- 2023: v5.0.1 release published.
- 2025: v6.0.0 release published.

### Related projects

- chalk/chalk is the API package that chalk-cli wraps and the README links for supported styles.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/chalk/chalk-cli#readme>
- <https://github.com/chalk/chalk-cli/releases>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/chalk/chalk-cli>
- <https://registry.npmjs.org/chalk-cli>


## 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 - chalk: installed executable or alias match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ch/chalk/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/chalk-cli.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/chalk-cli.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