# Install joern with Homebrew

Open-source code analysis platform based on code property graphs. Version 4.0.590 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-28.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:joern
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install joern
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:joern
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 4.0.590
- **Source summary:** Open-source code analysis platform based on code property graphs
- **Homepage:** <https://joern.io/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/joernio/joern>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-28T10:31:06Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- abap2cpg (alias)
- c2cpg.sh (alias)
- csharpsrc2cpg (alias)
- ghidra2cpg (alias)
- gosrc2cpg (alias)
- javasrc2cpg (alias)
- jimple2cpg (alias)
- joern (alias)
- joern-cpg2scpg (alias)
- joern-export (alias)
- joern-flow (alias)
- joern-parse (alias)
- joern-scan (alias)
- joern-slice (alias)
- joern-vectors (alias)
- jssrc2cpg.sh (alias)
- kotlin2cpg (alias)
- php2cpg (alias)
- pysrc2cpg (alias)
- rubysrc2cpg (alias)
- rust2cpg (alias)
- schema-extender.sh (alias)
- swiftsrc2cpg.sh (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 4.0.590
## Project history and usage

Joern is an open-source code analysis platform built around code property graphs, a graph representation that lets security researchers query syntax, control flow, and data flow through a Scala-based domain-specific language. Its Homebrew formula packages a large CLI surface, including language frontends and helper commands for parsing, scanning, slicing, exporting, and vectorizing code.

### Project history

The code property graph idea was introduced in vulnerability-research work on C system code and the Linux kernel. Joern grew from that research lineage into a practical tool for creating and querying CPGs, with later research from 2014 to 2016 extending the representation and 2017 onward work at ShiftLeft turning the format into a broader static-analysis foundation.

The public joernio/joern repository was created in 2019 and the project documentation records several architectural shifts: older Joern versions used general-purpose graph databases and Gremlin, later versions moved to OverflowDB, Joern v2 changed the implementation line from Scala 2 to Scala 3, and Joern v4 moved from OverflowDB to flatgraph.

### Adoption history

Joern's adoption is strongest in security research and static-analysis workflows where importing incomplete or build-hostile code is valuable. The documentation lists mature or partially mature frontends for C/C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, binary analysis through Ghidra, JVM bytecode, Kotlin, PHP, Go, Ruby, Swift, and C#.

Homebrew distribution makes Joern convenient on macOS and Linux while preserving its JVM/Scala toolchain shape through OpenJDK and sbt-related packaging.

### How it is used

A typical Joern workflow parses source, bytecode, or binaries into a CPG, stores the graph in Joern's graph database, and then uses CPGQL or bundled commands such as joern-scan, joern-slice, and joern-export to inspect code patterns and vulnerability-relevant flows.

### Why package nerds care

Joern matters to package nerds because it turns a research-heavy static-analysis stack into a single installable CLI formula with many frontends. It also shows the unusual packaging profile of modern security tooling: JVM runtime, Scala build tooling, external parsers, and a fast-moving release stream tied to graph storage changes.

### Timeline

- 2014: Code property graphs were introduced for vulnerability discovery in C system code.
- 2014-2016: Research extended the CPG concept for interprocedural analysis, data-flow learning, dominator-tree integration, and dynamic-language analysis.
- 2017: The CPG became a foundation for static-analysis products at ShiftLeft.
- 2019: The joernio/joern GitHub repository was created.
- 2023: Joern v2 marked the Scala 2 to Scala 3 transition.
- 2026: Joern v4 documented the move from OverflowDB to flatgraph.

### Related projects

- Related projects and concepts include the Code Property Graph specification, Ocular and Qwiet AI, OverflowDB, flatgraph, Ghidra frontends, and the older Gremlin/property-graph ecosystem that influenced early Joern storage and querying.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/joernio/joern>
- <https://cpg.joern.io/>
- <https://docs.joern.io/>
- <https://docs.joern.io/code-property-graph/>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/joern>
- <https://github.com/joernio/joern>


## Security Notes

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



## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph