# Install kamal-proxy with Homebrew, Nix

Lightweight proxy server for Kamal. Version 0.9.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#kamal-proxy.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:kamal-proxy
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install kamal-proxy
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#kamal-proxy
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:kamal-proxy
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.9.2
- **Source summary:** Lightweight proxy server for Kamal
- **Homepage:** <https://kamal-deploy.org/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/basecamp/kamal-proxy>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-27T21:58:36+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- kamal-proxy (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.9.2
## Project history and usage

Kamal Proxy is a small HTTP proxy from Basecamp for coordinating zero-downtime deployments behind Kamal. It exists to handle health checks, traffic switching, draining, host-based routing, path-based routing, and TLS features without requiring application code to participate in the deployment handoff.

### Project history

The repository was created on 2024-03-21. Its README describes the proxy as part of Kamal's deployment experience, but also as usable standalone or in other deployment tooling.

Kamal itself is Basecamp's container deployment tool, originally built for Rails apps but documented as usable for any Docker-containerized web app. Kamal Proxy became the dedicated routing piece in that ecosystem, replacing ad hoc proxy handoff logic with a small Go service and CLI.

### Adoption history

Adoption follows Kamal adoption: teams using Kamal for single-server or small-fleet Docker deployments need a predictable way to switch traffic after a new container passes health checks. Homebrew and Nix packaging make the proxy available outside Kamal's own install path for operators who manage tools through system package managers.

### How it is used

The README documents `kamal-proxy run` for starting the proxy and `kamal-proxy deploy` for registering a target service. Deployments wait for a new target to become healthy, route new traffic there, and drain traffic from the old target before returning.

### Why package nerds care

Kamal Proxy is package-interesting because it is a subcomponent split out of a deployment system but useful enough to package as its own executable. It also reflects the 2020s return of simpler self-hosting tools: SSH, Docker, one proxy, and explicit release handoff instead of a full orchestrator.

### Timeline

- 2024: basecamp/kamal-proxy repository created.
- 2024: v0.1.0 and later tags appeared in the repository.
- 2026: Kamal release notes required kamal-proxy v0.9.2 for Kamal v2.11.0 deployments.

### Related projects

- Kamal is the parent deployment tool that uses Kamal Proxy for request switching.
- It sits in the same operational space as reverse proxies and load balancers used for blue-green or rolling web deployments, but with a narrower Kamal-oriented interface.

### Sources

- <https://api.github.com/repos/basecamp/kamal-proxy>
- <https://github.com/basecamp/kamal>
- <https://github.com/basecamp/kamal-proxy>
- <https://github.com/basecamp/kamal-proxy/tags>
- <https://github.com/basecamp/kamal/releases>
- <https://kamal-deploy.org/>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - kamal-proxy: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ka/kamal-proxy/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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