# Install coreutils with Homebrew GNU File, Shell, and Text utilities. Version 9.11 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:coreutils ``` ## Agent safety answer coreutils supplies file utilities that can read, delete, and transform local data at scale. - **Credential access:** Can read files and environment exposed to the agent session. - **Remote mutation:** Primarily local, but can prepare data for other remote tools. - **Publish/artifact risk:** Can delete or rewrite build outputs and generated artifacts. - **Recommended control:** Gate destructive file operations over broad or sensitive paths. - **Agent-use guidance:** Allow narrow reads; require approval for recursive deletes, overwrites, and secret-path reads. Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install coreutils ``` Evidence: provider-native install command ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:coreutils - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 9.11 - **Source summary:** GNU File, Shell, and Text utilities - **Homepage:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00 ## Executables - b2sum (alias) - base32 (alias) - basenc (alias) - dir (alias) - dircolors (alias) - factor (alias) - g[ (alias) - gb2sum (alias) - gbase32 (alias) - gbase64 (alias) - gbasename (alias) - gbasenc (alias) - gcat (alias) - gchgrp (alias) - gchmod (alias) - gchown (alias) - gchroot (alias) - gcksum (alias) - gcomm (alias) - gcp (alias) - gcsplit (alias) - gcut (alias) - gdate (alias) - gdd (alias) - gdf (alias) - gdir (alias) - gdircolors (alias) - gdirname (alias) - gdu (alias) - gecho (alias) - genv (alias) - gexpand (alias) - gexpr (alias) - gfactor (alias) - gfalse (alias) - gfmt (alias) - gfold (alias) - ggroups (alias) - ghead (alias) - ghostid (alias) - gid (alias) - ginstall (alias) - gjoin (alias) - glink (alias) - gln (alias) - glogname (alias) - gls (alias) - gmd5sum (alias) - gmkdir (alias) - gmkfifo (alias) - gmknod (alias) - gmktemp (alias) - gmv (alias) - gnice (alias) - gnl (alias) - gnohup (alias) - gnproc (alias) - gnumfmt (alias) - god (alias) - gpaste (alias) - gpathchk (alias) - gpinky (alias) - gpr (alias) - gprintenv (alias) - gprintf (alias) - gptx (alias) - gpwd (alias) - greadlink (alias) - grealpath (alias) - grm (alias) - grmdir (alias) - gseq (alias) - gsha1sum (alias) - gsha224sum (alias) - gsha256sum (alias) - gsha384sum (alias) - gsha512sum (alias) - gshred (alias) - gshuf (alias) - gsleep (alias) - gsort (alias) - gsplit (alias) - gstat (alias) - gstdbuf (alias) - gstty (alias) - gsum (alias) - gsync (alias) - gtac (alias) - gtail (alias) - gtee (alias) - gtest (alias) - gtimeout (alias) - gtouch (alias) - gtr (alias) - gtrue (alias) - gtruncate (alias) - gtsort (alias) - gtty (alias) - guname (alias) - gunexpand (alias) - guniq (alias) - gunlink (alias) - gusers (alias) - gvdir (alias) - gwc (alias) - gwho (alias) - gwhoami (alias) - gyes (alias) - hostid (alias) - md5sum (alias) - nproc (alias) - numfmt (alias) - pinky (alias) - ptx (alias) - realpath (alias) - sha1sum (alias) - sha224sum (alias) - sha256sum (alias) - sha384sum (alias) - sha512sum (alias) - shred (alias) - shuf (alias) - stdbuf (alias) - tac (alias) - timeout (alias) - truncate (alias) - vdir (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 9.11 ## Project history and usage GNU Coreutils is the GNU Project's distribution of the standard command-line file, shell, and text utilities used throughout Unix-like systems. In package-manager practice it is treated less as a single application than as a portable baseline for commands such as cat, chmod, cp, date, ls, sort, tail, tr, and many checksum and text-processing tools. ### Project history The package sits in the GNU system layer: its official description presents it as the GNU file, shell, and text utilities, and the GNU FTP archive shows coreutils release tarballs from the 5.x series onward, including coreutils 5.0 in April 2003. That release trail made the name 'coreutils' the umbrella package users and distributors expect when they want GNU behavior for the traditional small utilities. ### Adoption history Coreutils became a normal dependency surface for GNU/Linux distributions and a compatibility package on non-GNU systems. The Homebrew formula exposes many commands with a g-prefix on macOS so users can opt into GNU semantics without replacing the platform-provided BSD userland. ### How it is used Users normally install coreutils for scripts and interactive shell workflows that rely on GNU options or GNU extensions. On macOS the package is especially common in development environments where cross-platform shell scripts assume commands such as gdate, gsort, greadlink, or gtimeout. ### Why package nerds care Coreutils is one of the canonical examples of packaging a userland as a coherent compatibility layer. Its release cadence, prefixing strategy on macOS, GPL licensing, and overlap with POSIX and BSD utilities make it a frequent packaging-policy test case. ### Timeline - 2003: GNU FTP archive lists coreutils 5.0 release tarballs. - 2009: GNU FTP archive lists coreutils 8.x release tarballs, reflecting continued maintenance under the coreutils package name. - Present: Homebrew packages GNU Coreutils as a system utility collection with GNU-prefixed commands on macOS. ### Related projects - Related userland packages include BusyBox, Toybox, uutils coreutils, BSD userland utilities, and GNU findutils, grep, sed, and tar. ### Sources - - - - ## Security Notes broad file and shell utility collection. - **Geiger risk:** blue / high - broad file and shell utility collection - **Approval gate rules:** 8 ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/coreutils.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/coreutils.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - approval-gate seed metadata - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - curated agent safety answer