# Install fork-cleaner with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, winget

Cleans up old and inactive forks on your GitHub account. Version 2.4.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-26. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#fork-cleaner.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:fork-cleaner
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install fork-cleaner
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install fork-cleaner
```

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

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#fork-cleaner
```

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

### Windows

- winget (92%):

```sh
winget install --id caarlos0.fork-cleaner -e
```

  Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: caarlos0.fork-cleaner from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:fork-cleaner
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.4.0
- **Source summary:** Cleans up old and inactive forks on your GitHub account
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/caarlos0/fork-cleaner>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/caarlos0/fork-cleaner>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-26T11:37:58+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- fork-cleaner (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.4.0
## Project history and usage

fork-cleaner is a small Go command-line utility for cleaning old and inactive forks from a GitHub account. Its official README frames it as an interactive maintenance tool that enumerates forked repositories, checks upstream repository state, and lets the user pass a GitHub token with repository deletion permissions.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in October 2016 and is maintained under the caarlos0 account. The project follows the author's usual Go CLI release style, with GitHub releases and binary/package installation paths advertised from the README.

### Adoption history

Official installation instructions cover Homebrew, snap, apt, yum, distro packages, release binaries, and source builds, indicating that the tool was packaged for several CLI distribution channels rather than only as source code.

### How it is used

Users create a GitHub personal access token with repository and delete-repository scopes, pass it with the --token flag, and let fork-cleaner list forked repositories oldest first. A --skip-upstream option exists for accounts with many forks or GitHub API rate-limit pressure.

### Why package nerds care

fork-cleaner is notable as a purpose-built repository-hygiene CLI: it packages an otherwise manual GitHub-account cleanup workflow into a small installable binary, with GoReleaser-style binary distribution and multiple package-manager entry points.

### Timeline

- 2016: GitHub repository created.
- 2021: 2.0-series releases published.
- 2026: 2.4.0 release published.

### Related projects

- The project is related to GitHub account and repository maintenance tools, and its README links to GoReleaser as part of its release/distribution setup.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/caarlos0/fork-cleaner>
- <https://api.github.com/repos/caarlos0/fork-cleaner/releases?per_page=20>
- <https://github.com/caarlos0/fork-cleaner>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/caarlos0/fork-cleaner/main/README.md>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - fork-cleaner: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fo/fork-cleaner/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- MacPorts - fork-cleaner: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/fork-cleaner/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- winget - caarlos0.fork-cleaner: normalized package name match | Windows Package Manager source index: caarlos0.fork-cleaner from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix


## Combined YAML source

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