macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install stowprovider-native install command
brew / rank 968
Install stow with Homebrew
Organize software neatly under a single directory tree (e.g. /usr/local). Version 2.4.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
Organize software neatly under a single directory tree (e.g. /usr/local)
Project links
Commands and aliases
- chkstow
- stow
history
Project history and usage
GNU Stow is a long-running GNU command-line tool for managing software or data trees by creating symlink farms into a shared target directory. Its modern package-manager interest comes from the way it preserves package ownership without a package database, and from its later adoption by dotfile users.
Project history
GNU's people page identifies Bob Glickstein as the author of GNU Stow. The Stow manual explains the original problem: administrators commonly built software such as Perl and Emacs under /usr/local, then needed a reliable way to upgrade or remove one package without confusing its files with another package's files.
Stow's design keeps each package in its own private tree and makes the files appear in a common tree through symbolic links. The manual says Stow was inspired by Carnegie Mellon's Depot, but deliberately avoided Depot's database state and destructive synchronization risks.
Adoption history
The Stow manual notes that more sophisticated system and language package managers reduced its role as a general software installer, naming rpm, dpkg, Nix, Guix, gem, pip, and npm as examples. It also records Stow's continued use for per-user configuration management, especially when paired with version control.
Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Arch, Nix, MacPorts, and other package-manager entries in the supplied source facts show that Stow remains widely packaged as a small Unix tool rather than as an application platform.
How it is used
Users arrange package directories under a stow directory and run the stow CLI to create, delete, or restow symlinks into the target tree. In dotfile workflows, the target is commonly the user's home directory, and Stow's --dotfiles behavior supports package trees that avoid hidden filenames internally.
The official manual documents resource files in .stowrc and ~/.stowrc, plus package-local and global ignore files, making it convenient to encode repeated CLI options and ignore rules.
Why package nerds care
Stow matters to package-manager culture because it is a minimal, inspectable alternative to database-backed ownership tracking: the filesystem layout is the metadata. That makes it attractive for source-built /usr/local trees, home-directory dotfiles, and users who want reversible installs without a full package manager.
It also gives package nerds a classic example of Unix composition: symlinks, predictable directory structure, and version control cover most of the workflow without a daemon, registry, or lockfile format.
Timeline
- 1990s: Bob Glickstein authored GNU Stow.
- 2024-04-07: GNU Stow 2.4.0 released with dotfiles-related fixes.
- 2024-09-08: GNU Stow 2.4.1 released with additional --dotfiles and ignore-list fixes.
Related projects
- Carnegie Mellon Depot influenced Stow's problem space, but Stow's manual contrasts its stateless symlink approach with Depot's database-based synchronization.
- Modern package managers such as rpm, dpkg, Nix, Guix, pip, gem, and npm cover many software-installation cases that Stow once addressed, while Stow remains common in dotfile-manager workflows.
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
~/.stowrc.stowrc~/.stow-global-ignore.stow-local-ignore
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
chkstow | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
stow | 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 version2.4.1
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:stow |
|---|---|
| Version | 2.4.1 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://www.gnu.org/software/stow/ |
| 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