# Install mkclean with Homebrew, Nix

Optimizes Matroska and WebM files. Version 0.9.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#mkclean.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:mkclean
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install mkclean
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#mkclean
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:mkclean
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.9.0
- **Source summary:** Optimizes Matroska and WebM files
- **Homepage:** <https://www.matroska.org/downloads/mkclean.html>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- mkclean (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.9.0
## Project history and usage

mkclean is an official Matroska command-line utility for cleaning and optimizing already-muxed Matroska and WebM files. The official page describes it as a tool that reorders elements with Cues at the front for efficient streaming, removes elements outside the Matroska specs, and can optionally remux Cluster blocks around keyframes.

### Project history

mkclean belongs to the Matroska tooling family around Matroska and WebM container maintenance. The official Matroska page lists v0.9.0 from January 31, 2021 as the latest release and links release source packages through SourceForge.

The project depends on libebml2 and libmatroska2, themselves part of the Matroska container implementation stack.

### Adoption history

mkclean's package-manager footprint is narrow but useful: Homebrew and Nix package it for users who want an installed command-line optimizer for Matroska and WebM files without building the Matroska release tarball manually.

### How it is used

mkclean is a post-processing tool. Users run it on existing .mkv, .mka, .mks, .mk3d, .webm, or .weba files to improve streaming layout, remove invalid elements, and optionally remux clusters around keyframes.

It complements muxers and validators: it does not encode media, but adjusts container structure and metadata layout.

### Why package nerds care

mkclean is notable as one of the small Matroska ecosystem commands that package managers preserve even when most users know the larger MKVToolNix suite. It represents the Unix packaging pattern of shipping a focused maintenance utility around a media container format.

### Timeline

- 2010: Changelog series shows active 0.3 through 0.8 development around Matroska/WebM cleanup and optimization behavior.
- 2012-08: Changelog lists v0.8.10 with updated Matroska element support.
- 2021-01: Official page lists v0.9.0 as the latest release.

### Related projects

- mkclean is related to Matroska, WebM, libebml2, libmatroska2, mkvalidator, and MKVToolNix.

### Sources

- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/matroska/files/mkclean/ChangeLog.txt/view>
- <https://www.matroska.org/downloads/mkclean.html>
- <https://www.matroska.org/source_code_repositories.html>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

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