# Install falco with Homebrew

VCL parser and linter optimized for Fastly. Version 2.3.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-26.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:falco
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install falco
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:falco
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.3.0
- **Source summary:** VCL parser and linter optimized for Fastly
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/ysugimoto/falco>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/ysugimoto/falco>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-26T11:37:55+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- falco (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.3.0
## Project history and usage

falco is a Fastly VCL developer tool, parser, linter, formatter, local simulator, debugger, and test runner. It is unrelated to the Falco cloud-native security project; the Homebrew formula points to ysugimoto/falco, whose README describes it as a Fastly VCL tool.

### Project history

The project was created in July 2021 to make Fastly custom VCL development less dependent on slow remote deployment validation. Its README frames the core problem as a deployment loop where service versions are cloned, custom VCL is uploaded, and syntax errors are discovered only when Fastly validates activation.

The implementation grew from local parsing and linting into a broader developer workflow: formatting, statistics, a VCL interpreter-backed local simulator, a debugger, unit testing written in VCL, a console, and Terraform plan support for the Fastly provider.

### Adoption history

Official install paths include downloadable GitHub release binaries, Homebrew, and `go install`, which places the tool in the normal package-manager and Go-toolchain channels used by Fastly VCL maintainers. The README also documents GitHub Actions usage through a separate falco-github-action, showing CI linting as a first-class workflow.

### How it is used

The default workflow is `falco lint`, often run with include paths and verbose output against a main VCL file before deployment. Other subcommands cover `fmt`, `simulate`, `test`, `console`, `stats`, and `terraform`, making the CLI useful both interactively and in automated checks.

The tool is intentionally Fastly-specific. The README says it targets Fastly VCL 2.x and does not try to track newer generic Varnish syntax, because Fastly adds its own builtins, predefined variables, and compatibility constraints.

### Why package nerds care

For package-manager users, this falco is a good example of a niche operational CLI whose package name collides with a much larger security project. Its significance is in bringing CDN configuration validation, formatting, simulation, and tests into local shells and CI rather than leaving mistakes to remote Fastly activation.

### Timeline

- 2021: Repository created for a Fastly-focused VCL developer tool.
- 2021: v0.1.0 released on GitHub.
- 2025: v2.0.0 released.
- 2026: v2.3.0 released.

### Related projects

- Fastly custom VCL is the primary target environment.
- The README documents Terraform plan support for the Fastly Terraform provider.
- The README links a GitHub Action for CI linting.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/ysugimoto/falco>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ysugimoto/falco/main/README.md>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/ysugimoto/falco>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/ysugimoto/falco/releases?per_page=100>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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