# Install kyoto-cabinet with Homebrew

Library of routines for managing a database. Version 1.2.80 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:kyoto-cabinet
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install kyoto-cabinet
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:kyoto-cabinet
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.2.80
- **Source summary:** Library of routines for managing a database
- **Homepage:** <https://dbmx.net/kyotocabinet/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-25T13:37:47+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- kccachetest (alias)
- kcdirmgr (alias)
- kcdirtest (alias)
- kcforestmgr (alias)
- kcforesttest (alias)
- kcgrasstest (alias)
- kchashmgr (alias)
- kchashtest (alias)
- kclangctest (alias)
- kcpolymgr (alias)
- kcpolytest (alias)
- kcprototest (alias)
- kcstashtest (alias)
- kctreemgr (alias)
- kctreetest (alias)
- kcutilmgr (alias)
- kcutiltest (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.2.80
## Project history and usage

Kyoto Cabinet is Mikio Hirabayashi's C++ DBM library for simple key-value databases backed by hash tables, B+ trees, and related storage variants. It belongs to the Tokyo Cabinet, Tokyo Tyrant, Kyoto Cabinet, Kyoto Tycoon, and Tkrzw family of compact key-value tools.

### Project history

The official specification traces Kyoto Cabinet through the older Unix DBM line: original DBM, NDBM, SDBM, GDBM, TDB, Berkeley DB, QDBM, and Tokyo Cabinet. Hirabayashi wrote QDBM in 2003 to replace GDBM for performance reasons, Tokyo Cabinet in 2007 as a successor to QDBM, and Kyoto Cabinet in 2009 as another successor focused on space efficiency, parallelism, portability, usability, and robustness.

Kyoto Cabinet differs from Tokyo Cabinet by being written in C++ with an object-oriented API, a common interface across multiple database implementations, and portability goals that include non-POSIX systems. Its official page dates the work to the 2009-2012 FAL Labs period and points users toward Tkrzw as its successor.

### Adoption history

Kyoto Cabinet became a known package in Unix package managers because it offered an embeddable key-value store with language bindings and command-line utilities. It appealed to users who wanted DBM-style storage without running a full database server.

### How it is used

The package installs libraries plus utilities such as kchashmgr, kctreemgr, kcpolymgr, and test tools. Typical uses are local key-value indexes, caches, compact persistent maps, data conversion jobs, and applications that need hash or ordered B+ tree storage behind a simple API.

### Why package nerds care

Kyoto Cabinet is package-nerd catnip because it is a whole database lineage compressed into a small C++ library and a pile of precise command-line tools. It is also a reminder of the DBM tradition that predates the Redis/LevelDB/RocksDB era but still solves many local storage problems with less moving machinery.

### Timeline

- 2003: Hirabayashi developed QDBM as a performance-oriented GDBM replacement.
- 2007: Tokyo Cabinet was developed as a successor to QDBM.
- 2009: Kyoto Cabinet was developed as another QDBM successor.
- 2011-03-04: The official Kyoto Cabinet page and specification show this last-update date.
- 2020: Tkrzw documentation describes a newer DBM family that succeeds Kyoto Cabinet.

### Related projects

- Related projects include original Unix DBM, GDBM, QDBM, Tokyo Cabinet, Tokyo Tyrant, Kyoto Tycoon, Tkrzw, Berkeley DB, LevelDB-like embedded stores, and package-manager bindings for Ruby, Python, Perl, Java, and Lua.

### Sources

- <https://dbmx.net/kyotocabinet/>
- <https://dbmx.net/kyotocabinet/spex.html>
- <https://dbmx.net/tkrzw/>
- <https://dbmx.net/tokyocabinet/>


## Security Notes

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

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


## Combined YAML source

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


## Sources

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