macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install git-houndlocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 9209
Install git-hound with Homebrew, Nix
Git plugin that prevents sensitive data from being committed. Version 1.0.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-29. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#git-hound.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#git-houndnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/gi/git-hound/package.nix · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Git plugin that prevents sensitive data from being committed
Project links
Commands and aliases
- git-hound
history
Project history and usage
git-hound is a Git plugin for preventing sensitive data from entering commits. It checks staged diffs against user-provided PCRE regular expressions before commit operations proceed.
Project history
The repository was created in November 2015 as a Go command-line plugin. Its README presents Hound as a small Git extension with precompiled release binaries, Go installation, and Homebrew installation paths.
Adoption history
git-hound fits the mid-2010s rise of local secret-scanning tools, when teams began adding pre-commit checks for passwords, database settings, tokens, and machine-specific paths. Its adoption stayed niche compared with larger scanners, but the repository attracted several hundred stars and was packaged for Homebrew and Nix.
How it is used
Practitioners run `git hound commit` to sniff staged changes before invoking `git commit`, or `git hound sniff` to scan a commit, a manual diff, a whole codebase, or repository history. The `.githound.yml` file separates warning patterns, failure patterns, and skipped filenames.
Why package nerds care
The package is interesting because it exposes Git's plugin naming convention: installing `git-hound` makes `git hound` available. It is also a compact example of pre-commit security tooling before secret scanning became a standard hosted-platform feature.
Timeline
- 2015: GitHub repository created for the Go implementation.
- 2016: Several 0.5.x releases publish packaged binaries.
- 2017: 0.6.x releases continue the pre-1.0 line.
- 2020: 1.0.0 release published.
Related projects
- git-hound is related to Git hooks, pre-commit frameworks, and secret scanners such as git-secrets and truffleHog, all of which try to catch sensitive strings before or after they enter Git history.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
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
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
.githound.yml
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
git-hound | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version1.0.0
manager updated2026-07-29
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:git-hound |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.0.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound |
| Repository | https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound |
| Last updated | 2026-07-29T16:05:01+02:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Nix95%
git-hound
nix profile install nixpkgs#git-hound- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Git Hound
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation