# Install ki with Homebrew, Nix

Kotlin Language Interactive Shell. Version 0.5.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-05-19. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#ki.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ki
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ki
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#ki
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ki
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.5.2
- **Source summary:** Kotlin Language Interactive Shell
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-interactive-shell>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-interactive-shell>
- **Last updated:** 2026-05-19T07:49:15-04:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- ki (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.5.2
## Project history and usage

Kotlin Language Interactive Shell, usually invoked as `ki`, is JetBrains' richer terminal REPL for Kotlin: a shell with syntax highlighting, type inference commands, runtime Maven dependency loading, and symbol listing.

### Project history

The project grew out of Sparklin. The repository README describes it as the former Sparklin shell migrated to Kotlin's newer scripting and REPL infrastructure and generalized into the Kotlin Language Interactive Shell. Early GitHub releases in 2018 were still named Sparklin; by 2021 the release stream and JetBrains announcement presented it as `ki`.

### Adoption history

The README documents distribution through Maven Central archives, SDKMAN!, Arch Linux AUR, Homebrew, and MacPorts. JetBrains' 2021 Kotlin blog post positioned `ki` as a better standalone shell alongside the built-in `kotlinc` and IntelliJ IDEA REPL options.

### How it is used

Package users install `ki` to try Kotlin snippets, load JVM dependencies from Maven coordinates during an interactive session, inspect declared symbols, and run a Kotlin REPL from a terminal without opening an IDE.

### Why package nerds care

`ki` matters because it is an official Kotlin-team package that turns a language REPL into something closer to a shell-oriented package-manager experience: install a launcher, pull dependencies by coordinates, and explore JVM libraries interactively.

### Timeline

- 2017: Kotlin/kotlin-interactive-shell repository created on GitHub.
- 2018: GitHub releases were published under the Sparklin name.
- 2021: JetBrains announced `ki` as the next interactive shell for Kotlin.
- 2022: The 0.4.x release series continued under the Kotlin Language Interactive Shell repository.

### Related projects

- The README points to Kotlin/kotlin-spark-shell as the Apache Spark adaptation and keeps the earlier Sparklin version in a separate repository branch.

### Sources

- <https://blog.jetbrains.com/kotlin/2021/04/ki-the-next-interactive-shell-for-kotlin/>
- <https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-interactive-shell>
- <https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-interactive-shell/releases>
- <https://github.com/Kotlin/kotlin-spark-shell>


## Security Notes

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - ki: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ki/ki/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/ki.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/ki.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