# Install gauth with Homebrew, apk

Google Authenticator in your terminal. Version 1.5.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-25. Also installable with apk: sudo apk add gauth.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:gauth
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install gauth
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add gauth
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: gauth from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:gauth
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.5.0
- **Source summary:** Google Authenticator in your terminal
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/pcarrier/gauth>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/pcarrier/gauth>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-25T20:55:21-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- gauth (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.5.0
## Project history and usage

gauth is a small command-line authenticator for time-based one-time passwords. Its README frames the project as a terminal replacement for Google Authenticator.

### Project history

The official GitHub repository was created in 2013 and is maintained as a Go command-line tool. The README documents installation through Homebrew or `go install`, a plain text account file, optional OpenSSL-based encryption, and compatibility reports for common services.

### Adoption history

Official adoption evidence is modest and mostly visible through packaging and repository activity. The tool is packaged by Homebrew and Alpine, and the README invites users to report additional service compatibility results.

### How it is used

Users store one secret per line in `~/.config/gauth.csv` using `name:secret` entries or otpauth URLs, restrict file permissions, and run `gauth` to display previous, current, and next codes. The CLI also supports printing a single key, bare output for scripting, adding and removing keys, and retrieving an account secret.

### Why package nerds care

gauth matters to package-manager users as a deliberately small security CLI: one binary plus a user-managed local secrets file. It represents the Unix preference for inspectable text configuration and shell-friendly output in a domain often dominated by mobile apps.

### Timeline

- 2013: The official GitHub repository was created.
- 2010s: The README documented use with Homebrew, Go installation, and multiple online services.
- 2020s: The project remains available as a packaged Go TOTP CLI.

### Related projects

- The README points users who need to interpret QR codes toward gauthQR. The project is conceptually related to Google Authenticator-compatible TOTP tools and the otpauth URI format.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/pcarrier/gauth>
- <https://github.com/pcarrier/gauth#readme>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- apk - gauth - 1.5.0-r15: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: gauth from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Replacement for Google Authenticator | https://github.com/pcarrier/gauth


## Combined YAML source

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