# Install colortail with Homebrew, apt

Like tail(1), but with various colors for specified output. Version 0.3.5 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install colortail.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:colortail
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install colortail
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install colortail
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:colortail
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.3.5
- **Source summary:** Like tail(1), but with various colors for specified output
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/joakim666/colortail>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/joakim666/colortail>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- colortail (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.3.5
## Project history and usage

Colortail is a Unix log-watching utility that follows files like `tail` while applying colors to lines or line fragments matched by regular expressions.

### Project history

Joakim Ek's README says the idea came from watching multiple log files in an IRC session and wanting unusual lines to stand out quickly. Version 0.1 used a simpler wildcard-style configuration, version 0.2 moved to regular expressions, and later patch activity led to a C++ rewrite.

### Adoption history

The README credits external patches for multicolored lines, FreeBSD and OpenBSD compatibility, Debian packaging, and 64-bit testing. The supplied package-manager metadata lists Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu, reflecting a small but persistent Unix utility footprint.

### How it is used

Users run `colortail` against one or more log files and pass config files with `-k`; a single config can apply globally, or multiple comma-separated configs can be mapped to multiple tailed files.

### Why package nerds care

Colortail is package-nerd useful because it preserves the mental model of `tail -f` while adding configurable color rules. It predates many modern log viewers and remains a compact example of log highlighting as a Unix filter-style tool.

### Timeline

- 2000s: Initial versions evolved from wildcard matching to regular-expression matching.
- 2009: README for Colortail 0.3.5 carries Joakim Ek copyright notice.
- 2009: README credits Debian packaging and portability patches from contributors.

### Related projects

- Colortail is directly related to `tail`, `regex(7)`, syslog-style log files, and terminal color highlighting tools.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/joakim666/colortail>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/joakim666/colortail/master/README>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## 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: ~/.colortail/
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - colortail - 0.3.4+git20191125.ad3bc53-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: colortail from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | log colorizer that makes log checking easier | https://github.com/joakim666/colortail
- Ubuntu apt - colortail - 0.3.3-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: colortail from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | log colorizer that makes log checking easier | http://joakimandersson.se/projects/colortail/


## Combined YAML source

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