install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install showkey

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install showkey

MacPorts ports tree · sysutils/showkey/Portfile · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Simple keystroke visualizer

Project links

Commands and aliases

showkey

history

Project history and usage

showkey is a terminal keystroke visualizer by Eric S. Raymond. It places a terminal in raw mode and renders received characters, including control and high-bit characters, in a printable form.

Project history

Eric S. Raymond maintains showkey as a small terminal utility. Its official resource page documents release 1.10 and describes it as a utility whose value appears when unexpected keyboard or terminal-interface behavior needs diagnosis.

Adoption history

The official project page says the program is usually packaged as showkey. The input records Homebrew and MacPorts package identifiers, reflecting availability in multiple Unix-oriented package ecosystems.

How it is used

Run showkey in a terminal and press keys to inspect the bytes or control-character mnemonics they produce. Exit using the terminal's interrupt or quit character.

Why package nerds care

showkey is a compact example of the Unix tradition of narrowly focused diagnostic tools. It is useful when terminal key sequences, control characters, or raw input behavior must be inspected without a larger debugging environment.

Timeline

2026: Official resource page lists showkey 1.10.

Related projects

Terminal capability databases such as terminfo are related in subject, although showkey directly visualizes received input rather than describing terminal capabilities.

Sources

Official manual: https://www.catb.org/~esr/showkey/showkey.html
Official resource page: https://www.catb.org/~esr/showkey/
Package availability: source_facts.package-manager.

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 post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`showkey`	cli	global executable

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 generated2026-09-19

manager version1.10

manager updated2026-09-14

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

http://www.catb.org/~esr/showkey/

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.http://www.catb.org/~esr/showkey/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:showkey
Version	1.10
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/showkey
Homepage	http://www.catb.org/~esr/showkey/
Upstream docs	http://www.catb.org/~esr/showkey/
License	MIT
Source archive	https://gitlab.com/esr/showkey/-/archive/1.10/showkey-1.10.tar.bz2
Last updated	2026-09-14T12:25:06+02:00
Pulse	updated
Build dependencies	asciidoctor
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	showkey
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

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

MacPorts95%

showkey

sudo port install showkey

normalized package name match
Matched by: Showkey

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/showkey/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

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.

combined/showkey.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment
pkg.so package database
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install showkey with Homebrew, MacPorts