# Install detox with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman
Utility to replace problematic characters in filenames. Version 3.0.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-28. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install detox.
## Install
```sh
sudo av install brew:detox
```
Additional install commands:
### macOS
- Homebrew (100%):
```sh
brew install detox
```
Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata
- MacPorts (94%):
```sh
sudo port install detox
```
Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/detox/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
### Linux
- apk (92%):
```sh
sudo apk add detox
```
Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: detox from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
- Debian apt (92%):
```sh
sudo apt install detox
```
Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: detox from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
- dnf (92%):
```sh
sudo dnf install detox
```
Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: detox from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst
- Nix (92%):
```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#detox
```
Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/de/detox/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- pacman (92%):
```sh
sudo pacman -S detox
```
Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: detox from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
## Package facts
- **Package key:** brew:detox
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.0.1
- **Source summary:** Utility to replace problematic characters in filenames
- **Homepage:**
- **Repository:**
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-28T15:19:24Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00
## Executables
- detox (alias)
- inline-detox (alias)
## Install behavior
- Bottle: not available
## Freshness
- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.0.1
## Project history and usage
detox is a Unix-style filename cleanup utility. Its README and man page describe replacing awkward or unsafe filename characters, transcoding legacy encodings such as ISO-8859-1 and CP-1252 to UTF-8, and previewing changes with dry-run mode.
### Project history
Doug Harple's man page says detox began as a way to clean up files received from other operating systems, where spaces, parentheses, brackets, ampersands, and similar characters were easy to create but annoying in FreeBSD and Linux shells. The GitHub repository preserves older 1.x releases and modernized 2.x and 3.x lines.
### Adoption history
detox became a package-manager utility for users with messy download, transfer, media, or archival directories. Its README explicitly notes that many distributions include detox, and its package-manager footprint spans Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, MacPorts, and Nix-style ecosystems in the supplied facts.
### How it is used
The usual workflow is cautious batch renaming: run detox -n or --dry-run first, then apply a sequence to one file, a directory, or a recursive tree. The man page documents system and user detoxrc files for custom sequences and translation tables.
### Why package nerds care
detox is package-nerd bait because it is a small C utility that encodes decades of shell pain around filenames. Its 2.0 and 3.0 changes are also a tidy example of Unix tools adapting from ASCII-centric transliteration toward UTF-8-preserving behavior.
### Timeline
- 2008: GitHub release v1.2.0 is labeled as a legacy release from 2008.
- 2017: v1.3.0 migrated the build to the full autoconf suite.
- 2021: 2.0.0-beta1 changed default transliteration behavior and added built-in config support.
- 2024: 2.0.0 added XDG_CONFIG_HOME lookup and merged v1.4.5.
- 2025: 3.0.0 removed most transliteration from the default Unicode tables.
### Related projects
- The project belongs near renameutils, convmv, iconv-driven scripts, shell-safe filename tools, and other Unix file hygiene utilities.
### Sources
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## Security Notes
generalized runtime or code generation signal.
- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal
## 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: ~/.detoxrc, /etc/detoxrc, /usr/local/etc/detoxrc
## Other Package-Manager Records
- Debian apt - detox - 2.0.0-4: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: detox from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | replace problematic characters in filenames | https://github.com/dharple/detox
- Nix - detox: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/de/detox/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - detox - 1.4.5-5: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: detox from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | replace problematic characters in filenames | https://github.com/dharple/detox
- apk - detox - 2.0.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: detox from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Utility for cleaning up filenames | https://github.com/dharple/detox
- apk - detox-doc - 2.0.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: detox-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Utility for cleaning up filenames (documentation) | https://github.com/dharple/detox
- dnf - detox - 3.0.1-7.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: detox from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Utility to replace problematic characters in file names | https://github.com/dharple/detox
- pacman - detox - 3.0.1-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: detox from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | An utility designed to clean up filenames by replacing characters with standard equivalents | https://github.com/dharple/detox
- MacPorts - detox: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/detox/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
## Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/detox.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/detox.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