Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install cask with Homebrew, MacPorts

Emacs dependency management. Version 0.9.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install cask

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install cask

MacPorts ports tree · devel/cask/Portfile · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Emacs dependency management

Commands and aliases

  • cask

history

Project history and usage

Cask is an Emacs Lisp project-management and dependency tool centered on a project-local `Cask` file. It helped Emacs package authors declare dependencies, run commands in an isolated package environment, and build packages from the command line.

Project history

The public repository was created in 2012 and later moved under the cask GitHub organization. Official documentation describes Cask as dependency management for Emacs and documents a small domain-specific language for package metadata and dependencies.

Adoption history

Cask became part of the Emacs package-author toolchain during the period when package.el, MELPA, and CI workflows were becoming common. Its presence in Homebrew and MacPorts made it easy for package maintainers to install the same command-line tool used in project automation.

Homebrew analytics show continued use despite the project's age, with 27,894 stable installs in the last 365 days in the formula API.

How it is used

A project declares dependencies in a file named `Cask`; users then run commands such as `cask install`, `cask exec`, `cask emacs`, `cask build`, and `cask package`. The DSL reference covers package metadata and dependency declarations.

Why package nerds care

Cask matters to package nerds because it brought Bundler-style dependency declarations and repeatable command execution to Emacs Lisp projects, making Emacs packages easier to test and publish from CI and shell scripts.

Timeline

  • 2012: Public GitHub repository created.
  • 2010s: Cask documented as an Emacs dependency-management CLI with a project-local DSL.
  • 2026: Homebrew packages v0.9.1 and reports continuing install activity.

Related projects

  • Emacs package.el and MELPA are the broader package ecosystem that Cask projects usually target.
  • Homebrew and MacPorts distribute the Cask command-line tool on macOS.

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 post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 1 platform targets.
  • Installs with 2 runtime dependencies.

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
Cask

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
caskcliglobal executable

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 generated2026-07-08
manager version0.9.1
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamcurrent
latest detectedv0.9.1

https://github.com/cask/cask

  • infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:cask
Version0.9.1
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/cask
Homepagehttps://cask.readthedocs.io/
Repositoryhttps://github.com/cask/cask
Upstream docshttps://cask.readthedocs.io/en/latest
LicenseGPL-3.0-or-later
Source archivehttps://github.com/cask/cask/archive/refs/tags/v0.9.1.tar.gz
Dependenciescoreutils, emacs
Bottleavailable (on all)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namecask
Version Scheme0
Revision0
Head VersionHEAD
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • head
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

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

MacPorts95%

cask

sudo port install cask
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Cask
MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: devel/cask/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

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.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated configuration and credential file locations
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment