install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install clojure

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

Dynamic, general-purpose programming language

Project links

Commands and aliases

clj
clojure

history

Project history and usage

Clojure is a dynamic, general-purpose Lisp hosted on the JVM. Its official rationale frames it as a pragmatic language design effort for Java-class infrastructure, functional programming, persistent immutable data, and built-in concurrency support.

Project history

Clojure was created by Rich Hickey as a modern Lisp for an established host platform. The official rationale says it embraces the JVM, modernizes Lisp, fosters functional programming with immutable persistent data structures, and provides concurrency support through software transactional memory and agents.

The official releases page lists Clojure 1.0.0 in July 2009 and current stable Clojure 1.12.5 in May 2026. The official history page points to Rich Hickey's HOPL-IV paper, 'A History of Clojure,' as the project's long-form historical record.

Adoption history

Clojure adoption is tied to both JVM library distribution and command-line tools. The official downloads page gives Maven and deps.edn coordinates for the language artifact, and the Clojure CLI reference describes clj and clojure commands that run programs, start REPLs, invoke functions, run tools, and construct classpaths from deps.edn sources.

The supplied input shows broad package-manager distribution for the CLI package: apk, Homebrew, Debian, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, Ubuntu, and zypper.

How it is used

The Clojure CLI is invoked as clojure or clj. Official CLI docs describe using deps.edn files to configure dependencies and classpaths, starting a REPL, executing functions with -X, running tools with -T, and running main namespaces or scripts with -M.

The deps.edn reference describes project paths, dependencies, aliases, Maven dependencies, Git dependencies, local dependencies, and tool definitions. User configuration lives in the Clojure CLI config directory, computed from CLJ_CONFIG, XDG_CONFIG_HOME, or ~/.clojure.

Why package nerds care

Clojure is package-nerd significant because the language runtime is a Maven artifact, the CLI is an OS-packageable tool, and deps.edn makes dependency coordinates a plain data file. That split lets the CLI version, the language artifact version, and project dependencies be reasoned about separately.

For Unix package managers, the brew formula ships the clj and clojure commands, while real Clojure programs commonly resolve org.clojure/clojure and libraries from Maven repositories. The official CLI docs also make tools executable through the same dependency-resolution model.

Timeline

2009: Clojure 1.0.0 listed on the official older releases page.
2010: Clojure 1.1.0 and 1.2.x listed on the official older releases page.
2017: Clojure 1.9.0 released with official release notes.
2018: Clojure 1.10.0 released with official release notes.
2021: HOPL-IV conference talk and Q&A for 'A History of Clojure.'
2024: Clojure 1.12.0 released with official release notes.
2026: Clojure 1.12.5 listed as stable release on May 12, 2026.

Related projects

Officially related projects include ClojureScript, ClojureCLR, tools.deps, the Clojure CLI, and the broader JVM/Maven ecosystem. clojure-lsp and ClojureScript build on Clojure's language and tooling conventions.

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:programming language

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.

local files

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

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: deps.edn$CLJ_CONFIG/deps.edn$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clojure/deps.edn~/.clojure/deps.edn

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`clj`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`clojure`	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 version1.12.5.1664

manager updated2026-07-28

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:clojure
Version	1.12.5.1664
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://clojure.org
Repository	https://github.com/clojure/brew-install
Last updated	2026-07-28T01:13:52Z
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/clojure.yml

Used sources

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

Install clojure with Homebrew