# Install direvent with Homebrew, apt, Nix, zypper

Monitors events in the file system directories. Version 5.5 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-18. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install direvent.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:direvent
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install direvent
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install direvent
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#direvent
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/di/direvent/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install direvent
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: direvent from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:direvent
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 5.5
- **Source summary:** Monitors events in the file system directories
- **Homepage:** <https://www.gnu.org.ua/software/direvent/direvent.html>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-18T05:16:21Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- direvent (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 5.5
## Project history and usage

GNU Direvent is a directory event monitoring daemon that runs configured commands when filesystem changes occur.

### Project history

GNU Direvent is maintained in Sergey Poznyakoff's GNU software area and documented as a daemon for reacting to events in preconfigured directories. Its manual emphasizes a uniform command-level interface over system-specific filesystem notification mechanisms.

### Adoption history

The project sits in the Unix systems-administration tradition rather than the application-framework world. Its official documentation targets Linux and BSD-style systems, including FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Darwin, where filesystem event APIs differ but automation needs are similar.

### How it is used

Users define watchers in /etc/direvent.conf or pass an alternate config file on the command line. Each watcher maps filesystem events to external commands, making the tool useful for immediate reactions to changes in important files or directories.

### Why package nerds care

Direvent is interesting to package maintainers because it packages a portable daemon around a notoriously non-portable problem: reacting to filesystem changes across Unix kernels.

### Timeline

- 2013: Documentation copyright period begins for GNU Direvent.
- 2019: Manual updated for GNU Direvent 5.2.
- 2026: Official project page remains maintained under the GNU Ukrainian software site.

### Related projects

- Direvent belongs near other filesystem event tools and init-adjacent automation daemons, but its official documentation focuses on its own watcher configuration model.

### Sources

- <https://www.gnu.org.ua/software/direvent/direvent.html>
- <https://www.gnu.org.ua/software/direvent/manual/direvent.html>
- <https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/direvent.git>


## 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: /etc/direvent.conf
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - direvent - 5.2-1+b3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: direvent from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | monitors events in the file system directories | https://www.gnu.org.ua/software/direvent/
- Nix - direvent: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/di/direvent/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - direvent - 5.2-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: direvent from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | monitors events in the file system directories | https://www.gnu.org.ua/software/direvent/
- zypper - direvent - 5.5-1.3: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: direvent from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | File system directory change monitoring tool | https://www.gnu.org/software/direvent/


## Combined YAML source

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