# Install toxcore with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, pacman
C library implementing the Tox peer to peer network protocol. Version 0.2.23 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-04. Also installable with apk: sudo apk add toxcore.
## Install
```sh
sudo av install brew:toxcore
```
Additional install commands:
### macOS
- Homebrew (100%):
```sh
brew install toxcore
```
Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata
- MacPorts (94%):
```sh
sudo port install toxcore
```
Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: net/toxcore/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1
### Linux
- apk (92%):
```sh
sudo apk add toxcore
```
Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: toxcore from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
- dnf (92%):
```sh
sudo dnf install toxcore
```
Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: toxcore from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst
- pacman (92%):
```sh
sudo pacman -S toxcore
```
Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: toxcore from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
## Package facts
- **Package key:** brew:toxcore
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.2.23
- **Source summary:** C library implementing the Tox peer to peer network protocol
- **Homepage:**
- **Repository:**
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-04T01:57:58Z
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00
## Executables
- DHT_bootstrap (alias)
- tox-bootstrapd (alias)
## Install behavior
- Bottle: not available
## Freshness
- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.2.23
## Project history and usage
toxcore is the C implementation of the Tox peer-to-peer encrypted messaging protocol. The official repository describes Tox as a serverless instant messenger intended to make security and privacy easier for regular users, using libsodium-based encryption and authentication.
### Project history
The current official repository is maintained under the TokTok organization and is identified on GitHub as forked from the earlier irungentoo/toxcore repository. That lineage reflects the transition from the early Tox implementation into the current TokTok-maintained C core.
The repository has treated toxcore as a low-level cryptographic networking library rather than an end-user chat client. Its README includes a prominent warning that the library is experimental, has not been independently audited by cryptography specialists, and should be used at the user's risk.
### Adoption history
toxcore's adoption is mostly indirect: it is the shared protocol library and bootstrap tooling that downstream Tox clients and bots build on. Homebrew packages the library and its bootstrap executables, while the source facts also show packages in Alpine, Fedora, MacPorts, and Arch/pacman.
GitHub Releases record a 'First Stable API' release at v0.1.0 in December 2016. The later changelog shows an active 0.2.x line focused on hardening, testing, ToxAV fixes, group chat work, network profiling, and preserving public API compatibility across releases.
### How it is used
Developers embed toxcore by creating a Tox instance, registering callbacks for events such as friend requests and messages, and repeatedly calling the event-loop function `tox_iterate` at the interval returned by `tox_iteration_interval`.
For package users, the Homebrew-visible executables `DHT_bootstrap` and `tox-bootstrapd` represent toxcore's infrastructure side: maintaining bootstrap nodes and helping peers enter the decentralized Tox network rather than launching a full chat UI.
### Why package nerds care
toxcore is significant to package nerds because it is a packaged C protocol library with security-sensitive dependencies, ABI/API concerns, and downstream clients. Packaging it correctly matters for encrypted-messaging clients that rely on shared system libraries instead of vendored snapshots.
The project also illustrates the package-maintainer tension around cryptographic software: widely packaged, useful to privacy-oriented users, but officially documented as experimental and unaudited.
### Timeline
- 2016: GitHub Releases publish v0.1.0 as 'First Stable API'.
- 2024: v0.2.20 changelog includes security and ToxAV fixes.
- 2025: v0.2.21 changelog adds DNS-disable support and a network profiler.
- 2026: v0.2.22 and v0.2.23 changelog entries emphasize hardening, architectural refinement, and security fixes.
### Related projects
- The repository includes toxcore, toxav, and toxencryptsave components, and the README points readers to Tox clients, the Tox wiki, and example bots such as minitox.
### Sources
-
-
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- source_facts.package-manager
## Security Notes
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
## Other Package-Manager Records
- apk - toxcore - 0.2.23-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: toxcore from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tox communication project - C core | https://tox.chat/
- apk - toxcore-bash-completion - 0.2.23-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: toxcore-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Bash completions for toxcore | https://tox.chat/
- apk - toxcore-dev - 0.2.23-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: toxcore-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tox communication project - C core (development files) | https://tox.chat/
- apk - toxcore-libs - 0.2.23-r1: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: toxcore-libs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tox communication project - C core (libraries) | https://tox.chat/
- dnf - toxcore - 0.2.20-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: toxcore from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Peer to peer instant messenger | https://github.com/TokTok/c-toxcore
- dnf - toxcore-devel - 0.2.20-5.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: toxcore-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Development files for Toxcore | https://github.com/TokTok/c-toxcore
- pacman - toxcore - 1:0.2.22-2: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: toxcore from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | Secure, configuration-free, P2P Skype replacement backend | https://tox.chat
- MacPorts - toxcore: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: net/toxcore/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/toxcore.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/toxcore.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