# Install tmate with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper
Instant terminal sharing. Version 2.4.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-14. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install tmate.
## Install
```sh
sudo av install brew:tmate
```
Additional install commands:
### macOS
- Homebrew (100%):
```sh
brew install tmate
```
Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata
- MacPorts (94%):
```sh
sudo port install tmate
```
Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/tmate/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
### Linux
- apk (92%):
```sh
sudo apk add tmate
```
Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tmate from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
- Debian apt (92%):
```sh
sudo apt install tmate
```
Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: tmate from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
- dnf (92%):
```sh
sudo dnf install tmate
```
Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: tmate from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst
- Nix (92%):
```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#tmate
```
Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tm/tmate/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- pacman (92%):
```sh
sudo pacman -S tmate
```
Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: tmate from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
- zypper (92%):
```sh
sudo zypper install tmate
```
Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: tmate from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst
## Package facts
- **Package key:** brew:tmate
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.4.0
- **Source summary:** Instant terminal sharing
- **Homepage:**
- **Repository:**
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-14T17:14:18+09:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00
## Executables
- tmate (alias)
## Install behavior
- Bottle: not available
## Freshness
- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.4.0
## Project history and usage
tmate is an instant terminal-sharing tool built from tmux. Its official README describes it as a fork of tmux that provides an instant pairing solution.
### Project history
tmate took the terminal multiplexer model familiar to tmux users and added a remote-pairing workflow. That made the project legible to command-line developers immediately: it kept the tmux mental model while changing the distribution problem from 'how do I SSH into this machine?' to 'how do I share this live session?'.
The main repository has accumulated thousands of commits and the GitHub project page reports more than six thousand stars. Its official release page lists a small set of packaged releases, with tmate 2.4.0 shown as the latest release in November 2019.
The tmate organization also publishes server-side components such as tmate-ssh-server, tmate-master, tmate-websocket, and tmate-kube. That split reflects the project's two-sided nature: a client CLI for users and infrastructure pieces for hosted or self-hosted terminal sharing.
### Adoption history
tmate has unusually broad package-manager reach for a terminal collaboration tool. The supplied source facts list packages for Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora/DNF, Arch/pacman, Alpine, openSUSE/zypper, MacPorts, and Nix.
That adoption pattern fits its niche: tmate is most useful when it can be installed quickly on whatever Unix-like system is in front of the user, often during debugging, pairing, support, or remote access work.
### How it is used
In day-to-day package-nerd use, tmate is installed as a small terminal command and launched when a session needs to be shared. Because it is rooted in tmux, users get a familiar pane/session environment while collaborators connect through the tmate service or self-hosted tmate infrastructure.
Its practical role overlaps remote pairing, live troubleshooting, and ephemeral access. The package matters less as a long-running daemon and more as a tool users can install from the local package manager when they need a secure shared terminal immediately.
### Why package nerds care
tmate is significant because it turned a common terminal workflow into a packageable collaboration primitive. For package-manager users, it is the difference between preparing accounts, keys, VPNs, or screen-sharing software and installing one CLI that speaks the terminal-native language they already use.
Its availability across many package ecosystems also made it a common building block for remote support and development workflows where the host system may be macOS, Linux, a container, or a CI-like shell.
### Timeline
- 2019: GitHub releases list tmate 2.4.0 as the latest release, dated November 16, 2019.
- 2026: The GitHub project page reports about 6.1k stars and hundreds of forks.
- 2026: The batch source facts list tmate packages across Homebrew, major Linux distributions, MacPorts, and Nix.
### Related projects
- tmux is the upstream-style terminal multiplexer lineage named directly by the tmate README.
- tmate-ssh-server, tmate-master, tmate-websocket, and tmate-kube are official tmate-io repositories for the service and self-hosting side of the ecosystem.
### Sources
-
-
-
- input.source_facts.package-manager
## 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 - tmate - 2.4.0-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: tmate from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | terminal multiplexer with instant terminal sharing | http://tmate.io/
- Nix - tmate: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tm/tmate/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - tmate - 2.4.0-2build3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: tmate from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | terminal multiplexer with instant terminal sharing | http://tmate.io/
- apk - tmate - 2.4.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tmate from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Instant Terminal Sharing | https://tmate.io/
- apk - tmate-doc - 2.4.0-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: tmate-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Instant Terminal Sharing (documentation) | https://tmate.io/
- dnf - tmate - 2.4.0-17.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: tmate from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Instant terminal sharing | http://tmate.io
- pacman - tmate - 2.4.0-6: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: tmate from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Instant terminal sharing | https://github.com/tmate-io/tmate
- zypper - tmate - 2.4.0-5.10: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: tmate from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Instant terminal sharing | https://tmate.io
- MacPorts - tmate: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/tmate/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
## Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/tmate.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/tmate.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