# Install iocextract with Homebrew, Nix

Defanged indicator of compromise extractor. Version 1.16.1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-21. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#iocextract.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:iocextract
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install iocextract
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#iocextract
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: iocextract from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:iocextract
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.16.1
- **Source summary:** Defanged indicator of compromise extractor
- **Homepage:** <https://inquest.readthedocs.io/projects/iocextract/en/latest/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/InQuest/iocextract>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-21T12:53:41Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- iocextract (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.16.1
## Project history and usage

iocextract is an InQuest Python library and CLI for extracting indicators of compromise from text, including deliberately defanged URLs, IP addresses, email addresses, hashes, and YARA rules. It sits in the security-automation niche where analysts need to turn threat reports, tweets, notes, and pasted text into machine-readable observables.

### Project history

The project documentation frames iocextract around a specific analyst problem: simple regular expressions miss indicators that have been defanged to avoid accidental clicks or live requests. iocextract combines custom regexes and post-processing so those strings can be detected and optionally refanged.

The GitHub release history shows continuing feature and bug-fix releases, including work around URL/IP extraction and CLI input sources. The documentation links the repository, PyPI package, issue tracker, and changelog, which is typical of a Python security utility distributed both as a library and as an executable command.

### Adoption history

The docs list InQuest and PacketTotal as users and point analysts who need automation beyond extraction toward InQuest's ThreatIngestor. The Homebrew and Nix packaging in the input facts show the tool leaving Python-only workflows and becoming available as a command-line package.

### How it is used

iocextract can be used as a Python iterator-based library or as the `iocextract` command. The CLI reads from standard input or files, extracts selected IOC classes, supports custom regex files, and can refang supported URLs, emails, and IPv4 addresses when an analyst wants normalized output.

### Why package nerds care

The package is significant because it encodes a practical security convention: dangerous observables are often intentionally mangled before publication. A package manager shipping iocextract gives shell pipelines and incident-response scripts a reusable way to reverse that convention without every analyst copying fragile regexes.

### Timeline

- 2018: Public PyPI releases establish iocextract as an installable Python IOC extractor.
- 2019-2023: InQuest-hosted documentation presents the library, CLI, related projects, and users.
- 2023: v1.16.x releases add CLI extraction from remote data sources and fix URL/IP extraction behavior.
- Package-manager era: Homebrew and Nix provide package installs for the `iocextract` executable.

### Related projects

- ThreatIngestor is the InQuest project suggested for automated IOC extraction, enrichment, and export workflows.
- Cacador, ioc-extractor, and Cyobstract are listed by the docs as similar IOC extraction projects.
- plyara is called out for users working with YARA rules.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/iocextract>
- <https://github.com/InQuest/iocextract>
- <https://github.com/InQuest/iocextract/releases>
- <https://inquest.readthedocs.io/projects/iocextract/en/latest/>
- <https://pypi.org/project/iocextract/>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for iocextract. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.


## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - iocextract: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: iocextract from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix


## Combined YAML source

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