# Install git-appraise with Homebrew, Nix

Distributed code review system for Git repos. Version 0.7 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-25. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#git-appraise.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:git-appraise
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install git-appraise
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#git-appraise
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:git-appraise
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.7
- **Source summary:** Distributed code review system for Git repos
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/google/git-appraise>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/google/git-appraise>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-25T20:55:22-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- git-appraise (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.7
## Project history and usage

git-appraise is Google's distributed code-review tool for Git repositories, storing review metadata in Git notes so review history travels with the repository.

### Project history

The GitHub repository opened in 2015 and framed the project as a command-line review system that requires no review server. Instead of creating a separate service, git-appraise writes review requests, comments, CI status, robot analysis, and review decisions into refs under refs/notes/devtools.

The project stabilized around a small command set: request, push, pull, list, show, comment, accept, and submit. Its metadata format uses line-oriented JSON and merge strategies intended to let distributed collaborators exchange review state through ordinary Git remotes.

### Adoption history

git-appraise did not replace hosted pull-request systems, but it became a notable experiment in fully distributed review. Its README lists surrounding integrations: a web UI, Eclipse plugin, Jenkins publisher plugin, Rust library, and mirrors to GitHub pull requests and Phabricator revisions.

### How it is used

Practitioners use git-appraise by creating a branch, requesting review with git appraise request, pushing commits and review notes, fetching remote review state with git appraise pull, listing reviews, showing diffs, commenting on lines, and accepting or submitting changes. The workflow works with any Git host that accepts the needed refs.

### Why package nerds care

For package maintainers and Git-tool collectors, git-appraise is interesting because it treats code review as repository data rather than SaaS state. It shows how far Git notes can be pushed as an application-storage layer.

### Timeline

- 2015: Repository opened under Google's GitHub organization.
- 2016: v0.3 and v0.4 releases followed the first public series.
- 2021: v0.7 rolled up project changes through April 2021.

### Related projects

- Related projects include git-appraise-web, git-appraise-rs, git-appraise-eclipse, Jenkins google-git-notes-publisher, git-pull-request-mirror, and git-phabricator-mirror.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/google/git-appraise>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/git-appraise>
- <https://github.com/google/git-appraise>
- <https://github.com/google/git-appraise/releases>
- <https://github.com/google/git-appraise/tree/master/docs>


## 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 - git-appraise: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gi/git-appraise/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/git-appraise.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/git-appraise.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