# Install git-secret with Homebrew

Bash-tool to store the private data inside a git repo. Version 0.5.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22.

## Install

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

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install git-secret
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:git-secret
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.5.0
- **Source summary:** Bash-tool to store the private data inside a git repo
- **Homepage:** <https://sobolevn.me/git-secret>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/sobolevn/git-secret>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:03:31-07:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- git-secret (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.5.0
## Project history and usage

git-secret is a Bash and GPG tool for storing encrypted private files inside a Git repository. It targets the deployment and configuration problem of keeping secrets versioned with code without committing plaintext values.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in 2016 by the sobolevn project, and the documentation frames the tool around GPG public-key access control. The command set grew around `init`, `tell`, `add`, `hide`, `reveal`, `cat`, and access-removal operations.

The changelog records steady hardening of a shell-based security tool: path mappings moved into `.gitsecret/paths/mapping.cfg`, modified-file hiding was added, FreeBSD and BusyBox support improved, Fedora packaging was noted, CI moved across platforms, and the 0.5.0 series added armored-output support and more robust permission handling.

### Adoption history

git-secret gained a broader footprint than many Git secret tools because it was packaged for Homebrew, Debian-family systems, Fedora/RPM workflows, Alpine, and other downstream repositories. Its documentation also includes CI/CD usage, which made it attractive for deployment pipelines that already rely on Git and GPG.

### How it is used

Practitioners initialize `.gitsecret`, add trusted users' public keys with `git secret tell`, mark files with `git secret add`, encrypt them with `git secret hide`, and decrypt them with `git secret reveal` or `git secret cat`. Teams rotate access by removing a person from the keyring and re-encrypting files for the remaining recipients.

### Why package nerds care

The package is significant because it is a portable shell implementation of repository-local secret sharing. It appeals to users who want encrypted files to travel with Git history and package managers rather than adopting an external secrets service.

### Timeline

- 2016: Public GitHub repository created.
- 0.2.3: `.gitsecret/paths/mapping.cfg` introduced for tracked secret path metadata.
- 0.2.6: Fedora package availability noted and FreeBSD/Windows testing work expanded.
- 0.3.0: BusyBox support and additional GPG behavior handling added.
- 0.5.0: Armored encrypted output and stronger key-directory permissions added.

### Related projects

- Related technologies include GnuPG, Git hooks, CI/CD secret injection, repository-local encrypted files, and other Git-centered secret-management tools.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/git-secret>
- <https://github.com/sobolevn/git-secret>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sobolevn/git-secret/master/CHANGELOG.md>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sobolevn/git-secret/master/README.md>
- <https://sobolevn.me/git-secret/>
- <https://sobolevn.me/git-secret/installation.html>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/git-secret.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/git-secret.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation