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Install yo with Homebrew, chocolatey, Nix, winget

CLI tool for running Yeoman generators. Version 7.0.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#yo.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install yo

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#yo

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/yo/yo/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

CLI tool for running Yeoman generators

Commands and aliases

  • yo

history

Project history and usage

`yo` is the command-line runner for Yeoman generators, the plugin ecosystem that scaffolds web and Node.js projects. In package terms, `yo` is less a template itself than the launcher and discovery surface for generator packages such as `generator-webapp`, `generator-angular`, and many organization-specific project starters.

Project history

The `yeoman/yo` repository was created on 2013-02-11. Yeoman 1.0 was announced on 2013-08-23, with the project explicitly separating `yo` from the broader `yeoman` package and positioning it as a first-class scaffolding solution for the web.

The 1.0 announcement emphasized a rewritten generator system, richer interactive prompts, performance improvements, automatic install steps for generator peer dependencies, and a helpful prompt system when `yo` is run without a generator. The current README keeps that model: install `yo`, install a generator, then run `yo webapp` or another generator name.

Adoption history

Yeoman arrived during the early-2010s JavaScript tooling boom, when front-end projects were standardizing around npm packages, Grunt/Gulp-era build flows, Bower-era front-end dependencies, and repeatable app skeletons. The 1.0 announcement described Yeoman as powering tooling behind projects such as Angular and scaffolding jQuery plugins, full-stack solutions, WordPress, and Jekyll sites.

Its adoption pattern is package-ecosystem native: `yo` is globally installed with npm or Homebrew, while useful behavior comes from separately installed `generator-*` packages. That split let communities and companies ship their own project starters without changing the core CLI.

How it is used

Typical use is `npm install --global yo`, `npm install --global generator-webapp`, then `yo webapp`; Homebrew users can install the `yo` package directly. `yo --generators` lists installed generators, `yo --help` shows available generator tasks, and `yo doctor` checks common setup problems.

Generator authors use Yeoman's authoring APIs and conventions to prompt users, copy and transform files, compose generators, store project config in `.yo-rc.json`, and publish reusable scaffolding packages.

Why package nerds care

`yo` matters because it made project scaffolding feel like normal package infrastructure: the executable is small, but the real ecosystem lives in npm-distributed generator plugins.

It is also a good historical marker for JavaScript tooling culture before single-framework CLIs dominated. Rather than one blessed app template, Yeoman provided a package-manager-mediated marketplace of scaffolds.

Timeline

  • 2013-02-11: `yeoman/yo` GitHub repository created.
  • 2013-08-23: Yeoman 1.0 announced, separating `yo` from `yeoman` and promoting it as the first-class scaffolding CLI.
  • 2010s: `generator-*` packages become the main adoption unit for Yeoman workflows.
  • 2020s: `yo` remains packaged as the generator runner while many frameworks also maintain their own dedicated CLIs.

Related projects

  • Yeoman generators, especially packages named `generator-*`, provide the project-specific scaffolding executed by `yo`.
  • Inquirer.js was part of the interactive prompt story highlighted in the Yeoman 1.0 announcement.
  • Related JavaScript scaffolding tools include framework-specific CLIs such as Angular CLI, Create React App-era tooling, and modern npm create templates.

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
.yo-rc.json

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
yoexecutableindexed executableDiscovered 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 version7.0.1
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
  • okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:yo
Version7.0.1
Package managerHomebrew
Homepagehttps://yeoman.io
Repositoryhttps://github.com/yeoman/yo
Bottlenot recorded
Servicenone declared

source database matches

Other package-manager records

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

Nix95%

yo

nix profile install nixpkgs#yo
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Yo
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/yo/yo/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Chocolatey95%

yo

choco install yo
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Yo
Chocolatey community package catalog · community.chocolatey.org · Chocolatey community package catalog: yo from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='7.7216','memprofiler'
winget95%

martona.yo

winget install --id martona.yo -e
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Yo
Windows Package Manager source index · cdn.winget.microsoft.com · Windows Package Manager source index: martona.yo from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix

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/yo.yml

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated configuration and credential file locations
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • pkg.so package database
  • pkgdb category and tag curation