# Install legit with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix, scoop

Command-line interface for Git, optimized for workflow simplicity. Version 1.2.0.post0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-25. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install legit.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:legit
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install legit
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install legit
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: devel/legit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install legit
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: legit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#legit
```

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

### Windows

- Scoop (92%):

```sh
scoop install main/legit
```

  Evidence: Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/legit.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:legit
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.2.0.post0
- **Source summary:** Command-line interface for Git, optimized for workflow simplicity
- **Homepage:** <https://frostming.github.io/legit/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/frostming/legit>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-25T10:24:40Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- legit (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.2.0.post0
## Project history and usage

Legit is a small Python CLI that wraps common Git branch workflows in human-oriented commands such as `sync`, `switch`, `publish`, and `unpublish`.

### Project history

Kenneth Reitz created Legit in the early 2010s as part of his broader 'for Humans' style of developer tools. The project translated parts of GitHub for Mac's opinionated branch workflow back to the command line: auto-stashing during branch switches, simple publish/unpublish commands, and a sync operation that handled fetch, merge or rebase, push, and unstash.

The maintained package identity later centered on Frost Ming's `frostming/legit` repository and `frostming.github.io/legit` documentation. PyPI metadata for the package lists Kenneth Reitz among maintainers and authorship, while the repository topic and README preserve the GitHub-for-Mac inspiration.

### Adoption history

Legit spread through Python packaging first, with PyPI releases beginning in 2011 and later system packaging through Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, MacPorts, Nix, and Scoop. Its appeal peaked in the period when Git workflows were still intimidating to many new developers and GUI clients were influencing command-line ergonomics.

### How it is used

Package users install the `legit` command and run it inside Git repositories. Its commands are deliberately narrower than raw Git: switch branches while preserving worktree changes, sync a published branch, publish or unpublish branches, and list branch publication status.

### Why package nerds care

Legit is package-nerd history because it captures a particular moment in Git tooling: instead of exposing every Git feature, it offered a tiny vocabulary for a common feature-branch workflow. It also sits in the lineage of Kenneth Reitz's Python packaging era, where branding, API empathy, and CLI polish were treated as part of open-source distribution.

### Timeline

- 2011-06-27: PyPI recorded the 0.0.1 source distribution upload.
- 2012-03-25: PyPI recorded the 0.1.0 release page for Legit.
- 2019-12-10: GitHub releases listed v1.2.0 for `frostming/legit`.
- 2020-03-14: PyPI recorded the 1.2.0.post0 wheel and source uploads.

### Related projects

- Related Git ergonomics tools include GitHub Desktop, GitHub for Mac, hub, gh, git-extras, and custom Git aliases. Related Kenneth Reitz projects include Requests, Pipenv, Records, Maya, Delegator, and other 'for Humans' tools.

### Sources

- <https://frostming.github.io/legit/>
- <https://github.com/frostming/legit>
- <https://kennethreitz.org/software/legit>
- <https://pypi.org/project/legit/0.1.0/>
- <https://pypi.org/pypi/legit/json>


## Security Notes

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for legit. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.


## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - legit - 1.2.0.post0-5: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: legit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Git extension to assist in manipulating branches | https://github.com/frostming/legit
- Nix - legit: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/le/legit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - legit - 1.2.0.post0-3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: legit from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Git extension to assist in manipulating branches | https://github.com/frostming/legit
- MacPorts - legit: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: devel/legit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Scoop - main/legit: normalized package name match | Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/legit.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

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