Install apko with Homebrew, apk, Nix, pacman, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• apko

Project history

The public repository was created in February 2022. The README says apko was created by Chainguard because they needed secure, reproducible container images for their tooling, with speed important because images are rebuilt constantly for new versions and patches.

The design is explicitly declarative. Official docs state that apko files are YAML definitions of an image and that, unlike Dockerfiles, there is no equivalent of RUN statements. That restriction lets apko make stronger claims about image contents and reproducibility and generate metadata such as SBOMs.

apko is paired with melange, Chainguard's tool for building APK packages from source. The README frames melange plus apko as covering most use cases: package software into APKs with melange, then assemble minimal OCI images from those packages with apko.

Adoption history

The README documents Homebrew installation, go install from source, and use of the cgr.dev/chainguard/apko container image. The supplied package metadata also records packaging in Alpine apk, Homebrew, Nix, pacman, and zypper, which fits a tool aimed at distro and container-package workflows.

GitHub repository metadata showed over 1.6k stars and an active release stream. The latest official release assets include signed binaries and checksums, reflecting packaging practices expected in supply-chain-oriented infrastructure tools.

How it is used

A typical apko file specifies APK repositories and packages under contents, then image metadata such as entrypoint, command, environment, accounts, paths, architectures, annotations, and layering. apko build writes a tar image, while apko publish pushes directly to a registry.

There is no fixed user config file location in the official docs; users pass an apko YAML file path to the CLI. The file can include another local file or a file from a remote git repository.

Why package nerds care

apko is important to package nerds because it moves image construction from shell-script layers to package-manager inputs. Instead of a Dockerfile mutating a filesystem, an image is a closure over APK repositories, package names, keys, accounts, paths, and metadata.

For distroless-style images, SBOM generation, rebuild speed, and bit-for-bit reproducibility, apko is a concrete example of packaging discipline influencing container image tooling.

Timeline

• 2022: Public chainguard-dev/apko repository created on GitHub.
• 2022: README quickstart already showed apk-package-based Alpine image builds and SBOM generation.
• 2022: Companion melange repository was created for building APK packages from source.
• 2026: Official release stream reached the v1.2.x series with signed multi-platform binaries.

Related projects

• The README names melange as apko's sister tool for producing APK packages, and says apko's design is influenced by ko and distroless. It also points to kontain.me as related declarative image-building work.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/chainguard-dev/apko
• https://api.github.com/repos/chainguard-dev/apko/releases
• https://api.github.com/repos/chainguard-dev/melange
• https://github.com/chainguard-dev/apko#readme
• https://github.com/chainguard-dev/apko/blob/main/docs/apko_file.md
• source_facts.package-manager