# Install killswitch with Homebrew

VPN kill switch for macOS. Version 0.8.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-03.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:killswitch
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install killswitch
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:killswitch
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.8.3
- **Source summary:** VPN kill switch for macOS
- **Homepage:** <https://killswitch.network>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/vpn-kill-switch/killswitch>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-03T23:07:00Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- killswitch (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.8.3
## Project history and usage

killswitch is a macOS VPN kill-switch CLI that uses the `pf` firewall to block outgoing traffic when the VPN tunnel disappears.

### Project history

The GitHub repository was created in 2016, with a 0.7.0 GitHub release published on 2019-03-09. The README explains the core design: write temporary `pf` rules to `/tmp/killswitch.pf.conf`, load them with `pfctl`, and avoid modifying the system default `/etc/pf.conf`.

### Adoption history

killswitch has narrower packaging than the other projects in this batch; the Homebrew formula documents it as a macOS VPN kill switch, and the project README focuses on local builds and root-required enable/disable commands.

### How it is used

Users run `sudo killswitch -e` to enable firewall rules, `sudo killswitch -d` to disable and restore default rules, or `killswitch --print` to inspect rules before applying them.

### Why package nerds care

killswitch is notable as a small packageable security utility that exposes macOS `pf` behavior through a single CLI, useful for users who want a provider-independent VPN leak guard rather than an application-specific setting.

### Timeline

- 2016: vpn-kill-switch/killswitch repository created on GitHub.
- 2019: 0.7.0 release published.
- 2020: 0.7.1 and v0.7.2 releases published.
- 2023: v0.7.3 release published.
- 2026: 0.8.x releases published from February through April.

### Related projects

- The README links the design to the Packet Filter firewall documented by FreeBSD and to macOS networking tools such as `pfctl`, `sysctl`, `netstat`, `scutil`, and `ifconfig`.

### Sources

- <https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/firewalls/#firewalls-pf>
- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/killswitch>
- <https://github.com/vpn-kill-switch/killswitch>
- <https://github.com/vpn-kill-switch/killswitch/releases>
- <https://vpn-kill-switch.com/post/how-it-works>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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