macOS
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brew install nicotine-plusprovider-native install command
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Install nicotine-plus with Homebrew
Graphical client for the Soulseek peer-to-peer network. Version 3.3.10 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Graphical client for the Soulseek peer-to-peer network
Project links
Commands and aliases
- nicotine
history
Project history and usage
Nicotine+ is a graphical GTK client for the Soulseek peer-to-peer network. The project presents itself as a free, open source, Python-based client for sharing files, chatting, and interoperating with other Soulseek clients.
Project history
The project lineage reaches back to PySoulSeek and Nicotine: the official development notes say Nicotine+ was originally based on backend code from PySoulSeek, which started in 2001, and that Nicotine chose GTK after PySoulSeek had used wxPython. The Nicotine+ homepage credits Nicotine+, Nicotine, and PySoulSeek contributors across 2001-2026, and also preserves the former Nicotine maintainer's 2003 explanation of the name.
Nicotine+ has stayed alive largely by being conservative about portability and dependencies. Its development guide says the client aims to run on almost any system, prefers standard-library functionality where possible, and maintains an unofficial Soulseek protocol document because the Soulseek protocol is proprietary and undocumented by the official service.
Adoption history
Adoption is strongest in the package-manager sense rather than the commercial ecosystem sense. The official downloads page lists packages for Alpine, Arch, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, Gentoo, Guix, Haiku, NixOS, OpenBSD, Void, Flatpak, Snap, Chocolatey, Scoop, Winget, Homebrew, and others. GitHub showed roughly 3,000 stars and 183 forks when researched on July 1, 2026.
Homebrew's formula API reported 1,363 installs over 365 days, 322 over 90 days, and 113 over 30 days when queried on July 1, 2026. That makes it a modest but real desktop-app formula, especially for a P2P client with official macOS installers outside Homebrew.
How it is used
Users install Nicotine+ when they want a native open-source Soulseek client instead of the official SoulseekQt client. Practical usage is GUI-driven: search the Soulseek network, browse users, manage shares and downloads, chat, and tune connection/transfer behavior.
Package nerd usage is mostly about distribution fit: Nicotine+ is a Python/GTK desktop app with many downstream packages, release assets for Windows and macOS, Flatpak/Snap builds, PyPI fallback installation, and distro-sensitive dependency choices.
Why package nerds care
Nicotine+ is notable because it is one of the long-lived open-source clients for a proprietary P2P protocol. Its packaging footprint is broad, and the project explicitly designs for packagers and older platforms instead of treating source builds as an afterthought.
Timeline
- 2001: PySoulSeek project lineage begins, according to Nicotine+ development documentation.
- 2003: Former Nicotine maintainer Hyriand gives the naming story preserved on the official homepage.
- March 10, 2025: Nicotine+ 3.3.10 is listed on the official homepage as the stable release.
- June 2026: The homepage points testers to the second 3.3.11 release candidate.
Related projects
- Soulseek, PySoulSeek, Nicotine, SoulseekQt, GTK, Flatpak, Snap, PyPI
Sources
security posture
Risk level: blue
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
Risk classifier
blue risk · medium confidence · tool
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
Signals
- text:network,client
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
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
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Windows
C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\nicotine
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
nicotine | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version3.3.10
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:nicotine-plus |
|---|---|
| Version | 3.3.10 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://nicotine-plus.org |
| Repository | https://github.com/nicotine-plus/nicotine-plus |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation