# Install inko with Homebrew, apk, Nix

Safe and concurrent object-oriented programming language. Version 0.21.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-20. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#inko.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:inko
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install inko
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add inko
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: inko from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#inko
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:inko
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.21.1
- **Source summary:** Safe and concurrent object-oriented programming language
- **Homepage:** <https://inko-lang.org/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/inko-lang/inko>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-20T18:47:38Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- inko (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.21.1
## Project history and usage

Inko is a statically typed, object-oriented programming language aimed at safe concurrent software. Its official site presents the language around deterministic automatic memory management, move semantics, type-safe concurrency, efficient error handling, LLVM-backed native code generation, and a batteries-included standard library.

### Project history

The public source repository was created in April 2015 and is maintained under the inko-lang organization. The repository and official site describe Inko as a language for building concurrent software with confidence, with a runtime and compiler implementation written largely in Rust and released under the MPL-2.0 license.

Inko's design evolved around actor-like lightweight processes inspired by Erlang and Pony, single ownership and move semantics, and compile-time checks that prevent data races when values are sent between processes. That combination places it in the same package-manager neighborhood as experimental systems languages and language runtimes rather than ordinary application CLIs.

### Adoption history

Inko has niche adoption typical of a young language runtime: source packages, manual documentation, editor support, a package manager surface, and distribution through package managers such as Homebrew, Nix, and Alpine. The inko-lang organization also maintains related tooling, including a version manager, editor support, a Tree-sitter grammar, and the project website.

### How it is used

Users install the `inko` executable to compile and run Inko programs. Official examples emphasize small command-line programs, concurrency with async types and messages, pattern matching, error handling through Result-like values, unit tests, file I/O, and HTTP server/client use from the standard library.

### Why package nerds care

For package maintainers, Inko is interesting because it is both a language implementation and a moving toolchain: packaging it means tracking compiler/runtime changes, LLVM integration, Rust-built components, manual documentation, and adjacent editor/package ecosystem pieces.

### Timeline

- 2015: Public Inko repository created on GitHub.
- 2023: NLnet listed Inko as an NGI0 Entrust project focused on deterministic automatic memory management, native code compilation, C FFI, cross-compilation, and standard-library expansion.
- 2026: Homebrew metadata lists Inko as a packaged programming language compiler CLI.

### Related projects

- Related projects include Erlang and Pony as concurrency influences, LLVM as the native code backend, Rust as the implementation language, and inko-lang companion repositories such as ivm, tree-sitter-inko, inko.vim, and vscode support.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/inko-lang/inko>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/inko>
- <https://github.com/inko-lang/inko>
- <https://inko-lang.org/>
- <https://nlnet.nl/project/Inko/>


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

- **Geiger risk:** yellow / medium
- generalized runtime or code generation signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - inko: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/in/inko/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- apk - inko - 0.21.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: inko from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Language for building concurrent software | https://inko-lang.org/
- apk - inko-doc - 0.21.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: inko-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Language for building concurrent software (documentation) | https://inko-lang.org/


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/inko.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/inko.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