# Install fw with Homebrew, Nix

Workspace productivity booster. Version 2.21.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#fw.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:fw
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install fw
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#fw
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:fw
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.21.0
- **Source summary:** Workspace productivity booster
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/brocode/fw>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/brocode/fw>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:03:23-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- fw (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.21.0
## Project history and usage

fw is a Rust command-line workspace manager for cloning projects, switching among them, and running setup commands across a developer workspace. Its upstream README frames it as a personal productivity tool with explicit workflow assumptions rather than a general-purpose project manager.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in March 2017. Early releases reached 1.x during 2017, and later releases moved into the 2.x series, with releases continuing through at least 2025.

The README presents fw as a tool for describing a workspace, cloning git projects, running setup commands, generating editor/projectile configuration, and reducing project-switching overhead.

### Adoption history

fw has a small but real package-manager footprint: the upstream README advertises a crates.io package badge, while the input package metadata records availability in Homebrew and Nix. Its adoption is best understood as a niche command-line workflow tool rather than a broad ecosystem standard.

### How it is used

Users maintain a configuration directory under the platform config directory, or override it with `FW_CONFIG_DIR`. The tool assumes git repositories, ssh-based cloning, and ssh-agent authentication by default.

Typical usage is to define projects once, let fw clone or locate them, and use shell integration to jump into a project with setup actions such as running build commands or activating language environments.

### Why package nerds care

fw is interesting to package nerds because it sits between dotfiles, shell navigation, Git workspace bootstrapping, and editor integration. It is a small example of a personal workflow script becoming a packaged CLI with cross-platform config-directory behavior.

Its README is unusually explicit about what the tool is not: it encodes the author's workflow and lists assumptions such as git-only repositories and ssh-agent authentication.

### Timeline

- 2017: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2017: 1.x releases published.
- 2023: 2.18.0 and 2.19.x releases published.
- 2025: 2.20.0 and 2.21.0 releases published.

### Related projects

- fw overlaps with shell `CDPATH`, project switcher scripts, editor project indexes such as Projectile, and language environment managers such as nvm or virtualenv when used as setup hooks.
- It depends culturally on Git and ssh-agent based developer workflows.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/brocode/fw>
- <https://github.com/brocode/fw>
- <https://github.com/brocode/fw/releases>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brocode/fw/master/README.md>


## 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

- Linux: ~/.config/fw
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/fw
- Windows: {FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}\fw
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - fw: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fw/fw/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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