macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install hostesslocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 3411
Install hostess with Homebrew, Nix, pacman
Idempotent command-line utility for managing your /etc/hosts file. Version 0.5.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#hostess.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#hostessnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ho/hostess/package.nix · source: api.github.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S hostessArch Linux sync databases · hostess · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
overview
Package summary
Idempotent command-line utility for managing your /etc/hosts file
Project links
Commands and aliases
- hostess
history
Project history and usage
hostess is a Go command-line utility for idempotently managing hosts-file entries. Its niche is deliberately small: add, remove, list, format, enable, disable, dump, and apply entries in `/etc/hosts` or the Windows hosts file without hand-editing the file.
Project history
Chris Bednarski's README frames the motivation plainly: developers edit hosts files for development, testing, debugging, and production DNS failures, and manual edits are annoying. The project turns that workflow into a repeatable CLI suitable for Makefiles and deployment scripts.
The changelog shows the package starting with v0.1.0 in 2015, then adding build reliability, fixed-format checks, Windows support, Go module support, and a significant CLI/API cleanup in 2020.
Adoption history
hostess reached users through GitHub releases and package managers including Homebrew, Nix, and Arch. Its cross-platform behavior matters for adoption because the Unix hosts file and Windows hosts file have different paths and formatting expectations.
How it is used
Common usage is `hostess add name ip`, `hostess rm name`, `hostess ls`, `hostess off name`, `hostess on name`, `hostess fmt`, `hostess dump`, and `hostess apply`. The README notes that elevated privileges are required because hosts files are protected by the operating system.
Environment variables provide the small amount of configuration the tool needs: `HOSTESS_FMT` can override format detection and `HOSTESS_PATH` can override the hosts-file path.
Why package nerds care
hostess is a tidy example of a package-manager-friendly utility: one small executable, obvious system integration, no daemon, and behavior that replaces a risky manual edit. The 2020 refactor is also package-relevant because it removed an external CLI dependency and modernized Go tooling.
Timeline
- 2015: v0.1.0 initial release.
- 2016: v0.2.x vendors the CLI dependency for more reliable builds.
- 2018: v0.3.0 adds a fixed-format check and improves parsing failure behavior.
- 2020: v0.4.0 refactors the CLI/API, removes external dependency usage, and adds Go module support.
- 2020: v0.5.0 adds a Windows-specific hosts format.
- 2020: v0.5.2 fixes and clarifies duplicate/conflicting entry handling in format mode.
Related projects
- The Unix `/etc/hosts` file and Windows `C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts` file are the managed targets.
- Other hosts-file editors and local-development DNS helpers are related by workflow.
- Go module tooling is related through the v0.4.0 project modernization.
Sources
- CHANGELOG.md: release timeline and major behavior changes.
- GitHub README: purpose, examples, hosts-file paths, environment variables, and privilege notes.
- Homebrew input metadata: package-manager identity and ecosystem tags.
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.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
hostess | 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 version0.5.2
manager updated2026-07-27
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:hostess |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.5.2 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/cbednarski/hostess |
| Repository | https://github.com/cbednarski/hostess |
| Last updated | 2026-07-27T14:32:25+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%
hostess
nix profile install nixpkgs#hostess- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Hostess
pacman95%
hostess 0.5.2-5
An idempotent command-line utility for managing your /etc/hosts file.
https://github.com/cbednarski/hostess
sudo pacman -S hostess- License: MIT
- Architecture: x86_64
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Hostess
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 package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation