install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install checkbashisms

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

Checks for bashisms in shell scripts

Project links

Homepage

Commands and aliases

checkbashisms

history

Project history and usage

checkbashisms is a Debian devscripts command that scans shell scripts for possible bash-specific constructs in scripts intended to run as /bin/sh.

Project history

The Debian manpage says checkbashisms was originally written as a shell script by Yann Dirson and rewritten in Perl by Julian Gilbey. The current script says it is based on a Lintian scripts check with copyright ancestry from Richard Braakman, Josip Rodin, and Julian Gilbey.

Adoption history

checkbashisms entered devscripts as a new script in the August 2003 changelog. Because devscripts is a standard Debian developer utility package, the command spread first through Debian and Ubuntu workflows, then through repackaging in Homebrew, Alpine, Nix, Arch, and openSUSE as recorded in the batch input.

How it is used

Users run `checkbashisms script ...` to warn about constructs not required by POSIX, with options for stricter POSIX checking, force-checking, lint-style editor output, extra context, and early failure.

Why package nerds care

checkbashisms is package-nerd folklore because it encodes Debian Policy and POSIX shell portability expectations into a tiny linter, catching scripts that accidentally require bash when packaged as /bin/sh-compatible.

Timeline

1997: devscripts split off from debmake.
1998: Lintian-era scripts checks provide part of checkbashisms' ancestry.
2003: checkbashisms added to devscripts.
2018: Debian devscripts repository created on Salsa.
2026: devscripts 2.26.9 source published in Debian unstable.

Related projects

devscripts is the Debian utility collection that ships checkbashisms.
Lintian is the source of the original check logic described in the script and manpage.
dash, POSIX sh, Debian Policy, and bash are the compatibility context for the command.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: yellow

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

Risk classifier

yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime

Why

generalized runtime or code generation signal

Signals

text:shell

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`checkbashisms`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-03

manager version2.26.10

manager updated2026-07-06

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:checkbashisms
Version	2.26.10
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/devscripts/
Last updated	2026-07-06T15:26:54Z
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/checkbashisms.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
curated package history
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install checkbashisms with Homebrew