# Install timelimit with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Limit a process's absolute execution time. Version 1.9.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install timelimit.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:timelimit
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install timelimit
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install timelimit
```

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

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#timelimit
```

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

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:timelimit
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.9.2
- **Source summary:** Limit a process's absolute execution time
- **Homepage:** <https://devel.ringlet.net/sysutils/timelimit/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- timelimit (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.9.2
## Project history and usage

timelimit is a small Unix command-line utility that runs another command and terminates it after an absolute time limit, first with a warning signal and then with a kill signal.

### Project history

The official homepage presents timelimit as a process-control utility modelled after the staged signalling pattern used by init during shutdown. It is maintained by Peter Pentchev and developed in the official GitLab repository.

The release archive on the official site lists timelimit 1.0 and later releases through 1.9.2, with source archives, signatures, and downstream Debian and FreeBSD packaging references.

### Adoption history

timelimit entered classic Unix packaging channels because it solves a simple shell problem: bound a command's wall-clock runtime and choose the signals used to stop it.

The input package-manager metadata lists Homebrew, Debian, Nix, and Ubuntu, showing cross-platform package adoption beyond its original release archive. The official release page also links historical Debian snapshots and a FreeBSD port for older releases.

### How it is used

Typical use is in scripts, tests, batch jobs, and administrative commands where a child process must not run forever. Compared with an ad hoc shell wrapper, timelimit exposes explicit warning and kill stages.

Its utility overlaps with timeout-style tools, but the official description emphasizes absolute execution time and configurable signals.

### Why package nerds care

timelimit is package-nerd material because it is a tiny command that package managers keep alive for scripting compatibility. It is the kind of Unix utility people install when a shell pipeline needs one sharp behavior and no framework.

### Timeline

- 2015: The official GitLab project was created.
- 1.0: The official homepage lists timelimit-1.0 as an older release with source archive, Debian package links, and a FreeBSD port.
- 1.9.2: The official homepage lists timelimit-1.9.2 as the latest release.

### Related projects

- timelimit is related by purpose to POSIX shell process-control patterns and timeout-style command wrappers.

### Sources

- <https://devel.ringlet.net/sysutils/timelimit/ - official homepage describes behavior, releases, signatures, Debian links, and FreeBSD port history.>
- <https://gitlab.com/timelimit/timelimit - official GitLab project page, linked from the homepage, identifies the repository and project creation date.>
- input.source_facts.package-manager - package-manager availability lists Homebrew, Debian, Nix, and Ubuntu.


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - timelimit - 1.9.2-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: timelimit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | simple utility to limit a process's absolute execution time | https://devel.ringlet.net/sysutils/timelimit/
- Nix - timelimit: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ti/timelimit/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - timelimit - 1.9.2-2build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: timelimit from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | simple utility to limit a process's absolute execution time | https://devel.ringlet.net/sysutils/timelimit/


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/timelimit.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/timelimit.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