# Install halp with Homebrew, apk, Nix, pacman
CLI tool to get help with CLI tools. Version 0.2.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#halp.
## Install
```sh
sudo av install brew:halp
```
Additional install commands:
### macOS
- Homebrew (100%):
```sh
brew install halp
```
Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata
### Linux
- apk (92%):
```sh
sudo apk add halp
```
Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: halp from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
- Nix (92%):
```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#halp
```
Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ha/halp/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- pacman (92%):
```sh
sudo pacman -S halp
```
Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: halp from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
## Package facts
- **Package key:** brew:halp
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.2.0
- **Source summary:** CLI tool to get help with CLI tools
- **Homepage:**
- **Repository:**
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00
## Executables
- halp (alias)
## Install behavior
- Bottle: not available
## Freshness
- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.2.0
## Project history and usage
halp is a Rust command-line helper for discovering how another command exposes help and version information. It sits in the small but useful package-manager niche of tools that smooth over inconsistent CLI conventions.
### Project history
The project is maintained by Orhun Parmaksiz and documents itself as a CLI tool for getting help with CLI tools. Its copyright notice covers 2023-2024, and the repository and project site present the same core idea: try common help and version flags, then offer a `plz` mode for manual pages or cheat sheets.
### Adoption history
halp is distributed as a Rust crate, source build, binary release, Docker image, Arch package, and Homebrew formula. That spread is modest, but it is enough to make the tool available through common developer package paths without needing a custom install script.
### How it is used
The default workflow is `halp `, which probes common help and version arguments such as `-h`, `--help`, `-v`, and `--version`. The `plz` subcommand opens local manual pages or cheat.sh, and the documented configuration file lets users tune the checked arguments and helper commands.
### Why package nerds care
halp is interesting to package nerds because it codifies a real CLI ecosystem wart: help and version flags are conventional, not universal. Packaging it gives shell users a tiny compatibility shim across arbitrary commands, especially on minimal systems where shell completions or richer docs may not be installed.
### Timeline
- 2023-2024: Project copyright range documented by the official site.
- 2024: Project documentation describes Cargo, Arch, Docker, binary-release, and source-build installation paths.
### Related projects
- The project delegates deeper help to Unix manual pages and cheat.sh, positioning itself as a dispatcher rather than a replacement for those documentation systems.
### Sources
-
-
-
## 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 - halp: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ha/halp/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- apk - halp - 0.2.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: halp from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | A CLI tool to get help with CLI tools | https://github.com/orhun/halp
- apk - halp-bash-completion - 0.2.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: halp-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Bash completions for halp | https://github.com/orhun/halp
- apk - halp-doc - 0.2.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: halp-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | A CLI tool to get help with CLI tools (documentation) | https://github.com/orhun/halp
- apk - halp-fish-completion - 0.2.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: halp-fish-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Fish completions for halp | https://github.com/orhun/halp
- apk - halp-zsh-completion - 0.2.0-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: halp-zsh-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Zsh completions for halp | https://github.com/orhun/halp
- pacman - halp - 0.2.0-2: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: halp from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A CLI tool to get help with CLI tools | https://github.com/orhun/halp
## Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/halp.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/halp.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