# Install dura with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

Backs up your work automatically via Git commits. Version 0.2.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#dura.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:dura
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install dura
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install dura
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/dura/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#dura
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:dura
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.2.0
- **Source summary:** Backs up your work automatically via Git commits
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/tkellogg/dura>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/tkellogg/dura>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- dura (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.2.0
## Project history and usage

Dura is a Rust developer tool that watches Git repositories and makes background snapshot commits without moving HEAD, changing the current branch, or touching the index. It belongs to the small family of tools that treat Git as a local safety net rather than only as a collaboration system.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created at the end of 2021, and the README says people had been using it since January 1, 2022. The project reached crates.io in January 2022 as `dura`, described there as backing up work automatically via Git commits.

Dura's design centers on per-commit `dura/` branches. It snapshots dirty working trees in the background so a developer can recover from editor mistakes, crashes, or bad resets by checking Git history rather than relying on per-file undo.

### Adoption history

The official README documents installation through Cargo, Homebrew on macOS, Arch via `dura-git`, and Nix/NixOS. That spread is typical of a developer utility that is useful to package-manager-heavy users even when it is not a language runtime or framework dependency.

By June 2026, the GitHub API reported several thousand stars, while crates.io remained a smaller distribution channel. That pattern fits a tool discovered and evaluated mostly as a workflow idea, with package managers used once a developer decides to keep it running.

### How it is used

Typical use is `dura serve` in the background, then `dura watch` inside each Git repository to snapshot. Recovery is performed through normal Git inspection and checkout/reset operations against the generated `dura/<commit>` branches.

### Why package nerds care

Dura is interesting to package nerds because it packages a personal disaster-recovery habit as a daemonized CLI: automatic local commits without changing the developer's visible branch state. It also sits near tools like `git stash`, editor local history, and filesystem backup, but uses Git's object model as the storage layer.

### Timeline

- 2021-12-31: GitHub repository created.
- 2022-01-01: README says many users had been using it from this date onward.
- 2022-01-23: `dura` crate created on crates.io.
- 2022-06-18: 0.2.0-rc1 release published on GitHub.

### Related projects

- Dura's own recovery instructions compare the workflow to `git stash` and normal Git commands, and the project uses libgit2 for writing commits. In practice it overlaps with editor local-history features and continuous backup tools, but remains Git-native.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/tkellogg/dura>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/tkellogg/dura>
- <https://crates.io/crates/dura>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/tkellogg/dura/releases>


## Security Notes

formula declares a Homebrew service.

- **Geiger risk:** orange / medium
- formula declares a Homebrew service

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - dura: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/du/dura/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- MacPorts - dura: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/dura/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/dura.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/dura.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph