# Install doctl with Homebrew

Command-line tool for DigitalOcean. Version 1.166.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-31.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:doctl
```

## Agent safety answer

doctl controls DigitalOcean resources from local credentials.

- **Credential access:** Reads DigitalOcean tokens, kubeconfig, and environment credentials.
- **Remote mutation:** Can create, delete, and modify droplets, clusters, registries, and apps.
- **Publish/artifact risk:** Can deploy apps and push container registry artifacts.
- **Recommended control:** Gate mutating doctl commands and credential access.
- **Agent-use guidance:** Allow read-only listings; require approval for writes, deletes, deploys, and token changes.

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install doctl
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:doctl
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.166.0
- **Source summary:** Command-line tool for DigitalOcean
- **Homepage:** <https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-31T17:48:15Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- doctl (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.166.0
## Project history and usage

doctl is DigitalOcean's official command-line interface for the DigitalOcean API. It is the package-manager-facing form of DigitalOcean cloud automation: a Go binary that exposes account, compute, database, Kubernetes, registry, app, VPC, and billing workflows from a terminal.

### Project history

DigitalOcean created the public GitHub repository in May 2015. The README identifies doctl as a CLI for the DigitalOcean API and lists a broad command tree covering both early compute primitives and later platform services such as Kubernetes, Apps, databases, monitoring, registries, and VPCs.

### Adoption history

doctl has broad package-manager adoption. The official README documents Homebrew on macOS, Snap on supported Linux systems, Arch Linux, Fedora, Nix, Docker Hub images, GitHub release downloads, and source builds. Homebrew analytics show tens of thousands of annual installs, which is high for a provider-specific cloud CLI.

### How it is used

Users authenticate with `doctl auth init`, which stores API tokens and defaults in a YAML config file. The CLI is used both interactively and in scripts, often with JSON output, shell completion, multiple authentication contexts, and resource commands such as droplet listing, domain record creation, registry login, and Kubernetes configuration.

### Why package nerds care

doctl matters to package nerds because it is a well-maintained example of the cloud-provider CLI pattern: a single static Go program, packaged across Homebrew, Linux distros, Snap, Windows managers, Docker images, and GitHub releases, with API authentication and shell ergonomics as first-class concerns.

### Timeline

- 2015: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2010s: README documents install routes across Homebrew, Snap, distro packages, Docker Hub, and GitHub releases.
- 2026-06: v1.163.0 published with release assets for macOS, Linux, Windows, checksums, and source.

### Related projects

- doctl is tied to the DigitalOcean API and Control Panel. Its README also documents integration points with kubectl, Docker registry credentials, shell completion, and Docker Hub images.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/digitalocean/doctl/main/README.md>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/digitalocean/doctl>
- <https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl/releases/tag/v1.163.0>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/doctl.json>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for doctl. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.



## 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

- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/doctl/config.yaml
- Unix: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/doctl/config.yaml, ~/.config/doctl/config.yaml

## Credential files

- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/doctl/config.yaml
- Unix: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/doctl/config.yaml, ~/.config/doctl/config.yaml

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/doctl.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/doctl.yml)


## Sources

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