brew / rank 14295

Install nutcracker with Homebrew, apt

Proxy for memcached and redis. Version 0.5.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install nutcracker.

Install command Security notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install nutcracker

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install nutcracker

Debian stable package indexes · nutcracker · source: deb.debian.org

overview

Package summary

Proxy for memcached and redis

Project links

Homepage

Commands and aliases

nutcracker
test_all

history

Project history and usage

Nutcracker is the Homebrew formula name for Twitter's twemproxy, a small C proxy for memcached and Redis protocols. Twitter's README describes it as built to reduce backend cache-server connection counts, with pipelining and sharding used to scale distributed cache architectures.

Project history

The public changelog records a twemproxy 0.1.16 release on 2012-02-09, when the project was described as a fast, lightweight proxy for the memcached protocol. Redis support was visible to the Redis community by late 2012, when Salvatore Sanfilippo wrote about Twitter's proxy as a practical sharding layer before Redis Cluster was available.

Adoption history

twemproxy's package-nerd role was strongest in the early Redis and memcached scaling era: it let teams keep client libraries simple while putting consistent hashing, server pools, node ejection, and low backend connection counts in a separate process. Its Homebrew formula still exists as `nutcracker`/`twemproxy`, but Homebrew analytics on 2026-07-01 showed only 25 installs over 365 days, so the package-manager footprint is now mostly maintenance and legacy operations rather than new mainstream adoption.

How it is used

Operators run the `nutcracker` daemon with a YAML configuration that defines one or more pools, listen addresses, hash/distribution choices, Redis mode, timeouts, and backend servers. Common production patterns are to run multiple proxy instances for availability and to decide explicitly whether failed backend ejection is acceptable for cache use or whether a fixed key-to-server map is required.

Why package nerds care

Nutcracker matters historically because it captures a pre-native-cluster moment in Redis/memcached operations: sharding was often pushed into clients or a lightweight proxy, and Homebrew/Debian/Ubuntu packaging made the proxy easy to install for local testing and operations scripts.

Timeline

2012-02-09: twemproxy 0.1.16 appears in the project changelog as a lightweight memcached proxy release.
2012-12-18: Redis creator Salvatore Sanfilippo publishes a detailed note on twemproxy's Redis sharding behavior and operational tradeoffs.
2026-07-01: Homebrew lists `nutcracker` stable 0.5.0 revision 1, with `twemproxy` as an alias.

Related projects

Redis Cluster
Redis Sentinel
memcached

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

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.

Unix: conf/nutcracker.yml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`nutcracker`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`test_all`	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 version0.5.0

manager updated2026-06-19

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:nutcracker
Version	0.5.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://github.com/twitter/twemproxy
Repository	https://github.com/twitter/twemproxy
Last updated	2026-06-19T12:32:40-07:00
Pulse	updated
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

nutcracker 0.5.0+dfsg-2+b1

Fast, light-weight proxy for memcached and Redis

https://github.com/twitter/twemproxy

sudo apt install nutcracker

Section: net
Architecture: amd64
Source Package: nutcracker
3 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Nutcracker

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

Ubuntu apt95%

nutcracker 0.5.0+dfsg-2