# Install literate-git with Homebrew

Render hierarchical git repositories into HTML. Version 0.5.5 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-12.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:literate-git
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install literate-git
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:literate-git
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.5.5
- **Source summary:** Render hierarchical git repositories into HTML
- **Homepage:** <https://github.com/bennorth/literate-git>
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-12T12:39:17Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- git-dump-all-trees (alias)
- git-literate-render (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.5.5
## Project history and usage

literate-git is Ben North's proof-of-concept tool for rendering hierarchical Git histories into HTML. It treats a repository's commit graph as material for a literate-programming-style narrative, where merge commits can become expandable sections.

### Project history

The project pairs with `git-dendrify`, another Ben North tool that converts between linear and hierarchical Git histories. literate-git renders that hierarchy as a document containing parsed commit messages and source diffs, with top-level commits presented as sections and sub-commits available for expansion.

The README frames the work as an experiment in presenting software development the way articles or papers are structured: sections, subsections, and navigable explanation instead of one flat stream of commits.

### Adoption history

Adoption appears small and experimental. The project is distributed as the `literategit` Python package and as a Homebrew formula, and its README points to a Tamagotchi-style web-app demo rendered from a structured Git history.

### How it is used

The package installs `git literate-render` and `git dump-all-trees`. A typical workflow creates or dendrifies a structured branch, renders commit messages and diffs to an `index.html` file, and optionally exports source trees for result links.

### Why package nerds care

literate-git is package-nerd notable because it packages an unusual Git-history presentation idea rather than a mainstream VCS command. It turns commit topology into publishable documentation, which makes it adjacent to literate programming, tutorial authoring, and repository visualization.

### Timeline

- 2020-02-15: PyPI recorded 0.3.1 and 0.3.1rc1 releases of `literategit`.
- 2021-03-14: The README's demo branch and linked demo identify a Tamagotchi-style web-app render dated 2021-03-14.
- 2024-04-08: PyPI recorded version 0.4.6.
- 2026-04-03: PyPI recorded versions 0.5.2 and 0.5.3.

### Related projects

- Related projects include Git, git-dendrify, literate-programming systems, static HTML documentation tools, and repository-visualization experiments.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/bennorth/git-dendrify>
- <https://github.com/bennorth/literate-git>
- <https://pypi.org/project/literategit/>
- <https://redfrontdoor.org/blog/?p=1287>


## 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/literate-git.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/literate-git.yml)


## Sources

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