# Install karn with Homebrew

Manage multiple Git identities. Version 0.1.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-27.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:karn
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install karn
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:karn
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.1.0
- **Source summary:** Manage multiple Git identities
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/prydonius/karn>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/prydonius/karn>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-27T21:58:37+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- karn (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.1.0
## Project history and usage

karn is a small Git identity helper for developers who use different user.name and user.email values across personal, work, and open-source repositories.

### Project history

The project began as a Go command-line tool in March 2015. Its README describes the core behavior: karn checks a directory tree, compares it with a user configuration, and updates only a repository's local Git identity rather than the global Git configuration.

The release series stayed intentionally narrow. The v0.0.1 release was tagged from the initial implementation, and v0.1.0 in February 2021 added support for GPG signing keys.

### Adoption history

karn reached package-manager visibility through Homebrew and the Arch User Repository, which fits its audience: developers who want a shell-friendly way to keep Git identities separated without remembering per-repository commands.

### How it is used

Typical use is to keep identity rules in ~/.karn.yml, then run karn manually or wrap Git commands so karn update runs before Git operations.

### Why package nerds care

karn is a tidy example of a package-manager-sized developer convenience: a tiny binary, a dotfile, and a focused fix for a workflow footgun that Git itself leaves to local config discipline.

### Timeline

- 2015-03-28: Initial commit for the Go implementation
- 2015-03-29: v0.0.1 release
- 2021-02-12: v0.1.0 release work added GPG signing-key support

### Related projects

- Git local configuration, shell Git wrappers, and other per-repository identity helpers solve adjacent problems.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/karn>
- <https://github.com/prydonius/karn>
- <https://github.com/prydonius/karn/commit/4d49400ffccd398cb3226a690102d58aeef26d93.patch>
- <https://github.com/prydonius/karn/commit/884cdbe20b0aed1e8f3c4d0df8f76a58a5b72f55.patch>
- <https://github.com/prydonius/karn/releases/tag/v0.0.1>
- <https://github.com/prydonius/karn/releases/tag/v0.1.0>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: ~/.karn.yml

## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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