# Install mdzk with Homebrew, Nix

Plain text Zettelkasten based on mdBook. Version 0.5.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#mdzk.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:mdzk
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install mdzk
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#mdzk
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:mdzk
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.5.2
- **Source summary:** Plain text Zettelkasten based on mdBook
- **Homepage:** <https://mdzk.app/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/mdzk-rs/mdzk>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- mdzk (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

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

mdzk is a Rust command-line tool for plain-text Zettelkasten notes. Its official README calls it a backend for connected notes that can process Markdown folders into a directed graph.

### Project history

The original 0.4 and 0.5 releases were close to the mdBook/static-site-generator world: release notes describe mdBook-oriented configuration, rendering, preprocessors, CSS customization, and generated sites. The current README says the project is under heavy development and advises users who want a usable static-site generator to use the previous-generation 0.5.2 release.

The unreleased 1.0.0 changelog marks a major pivot: static site generation is removed, regular Markdown links replace wikilinks, and mdzk becomes a CLI or library for querying note vaults for forward and backward links.

### Adoption history

The official documentation lists installation through Cargo, AUR, Homebrew, Nix, and GitHub release binaries. The 0.5.2 GitHub release repeats the package-manager install commands, making mdzk unusually package-manager-friendly for a personal knowledge-base tool.

### How it is used

mdzk operates on a vault, where a filesystem directory contains Markdown notes and internal links create graph edges. Documentation says mdzk recursively finds Markdown files, loads them as graph nodes, and builds relationships from links.

### Why package nerds care

mdzk is interesting to package nerds because it packages a Zettelkasten graph workflow as a single CLI, with explicit support across Cargo, Homebrew, Nix, AUR, and prebuilt release assets. Its history also shows the common Rust CLI pattern of shipping a static-site feature first, then narrowing into a composable backend.

### Timeline

- 2021: Version 0.4.0 adds precompiled x86 Linux binaries and mdzk table configuration.
- 2022: Version 0.5.0 expands preprocessor controls and performance improvements.
- 2022: Version 0.5.2 becomes the documented previous-generation static-site release.
- Unreleased: Version 1.0.0 removes built-in static site generation and focuses on querying note vault links.

### Related projects

- mdBook, Hugo, Zola, Rust, Cargo, Zettelkasten note systems.

### Sources

- <https://github.com/mdzk-rs/mdzk#readme>
- <https://github.com/mdzk-rs/mdzk/releases>
- <https://mdzk.app/docs>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mdzk-rs/mdzk/main/CHANGELOG.md>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: mdzk.toml
## Other Package-Manager Records

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


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph