# Install chawan with Homebrew, apk, Nix, pacman, zypper TUI web browser with CSS, inline image and JavaScript support. Version 0.4.3 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-21. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:chawan ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install chawan ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add chawan ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: chawan from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#chawan ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ch/chawan/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S chawan ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: chawan from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install chawan ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: chawan from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:chawan - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.4.3 - **Source summary:** TUI web browser with CSS, inline image and JavaScript support - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Unlicense - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-21T17:48:25Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - cha (cli) - mancha (cli) - cha (alias) - mancha (alias) ## Dependencies - brotli - libssh2 - openssl@3 ## Build dependencies - nim - pkgconf ## Uses from macOS - curl - ncurses ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.4.3 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-21 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://sr.ht/~bptato/chawan/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Chawan is a Unix-like text-mode web browser and pager that aims to implement modern web standards in a self-contained terminal browser, including CSS, optional inline images, and optional JavaScript. ### Project history Chawan is developed primarily in Nim and hosted on SourceHut, with Codeberg listed as another source mirror. The official news archive begins with the 0.2.0 release in June 2025 and shows active 0.3 and 0.4 releases through June 2026. ### Adoption history The official site lists volunteer-maintained stable packages for Alpine Linux, Arch Linux, Debian testing, FreeBSD, Gentoo guru, Homebrew, NixOS, Slackware, and Void Linux, plus unstable packages through AUR, AppImage, Gentoo live ebuild, and Homebrew HEAD. That breadth is unusual for a young terminal browser and makes its packaging story part of the project identity. ### How it is used The `cha` command opens URLs and files, can act as a pager, supports web, SFTP, FTP, gopher, gemini, file, finger, and spartan browsing, and can dump rendered content when stdout is not a TTY. The config documentation defines the canonical `~/.chawan/config.toml` path and XDG/`CHA_DIR` alternatives. ### Why package nerds care Chawan is significant to package nerds because it revives the terminal-browser category with modern packaging friction: image protocols, QuickJS, sandboxing, Nim, multiple Unix distributions, and headless rendering all need to be expressed cleanly in distro formulas. It is also interesting as a modern counterpart to older text browsers such as w3m while using newer terminal capabilities. ### Timeline - 2025-06: Official news archive lists Chawan 0.2.0. - 2025-11: Official news archive lists Chawan 0.3.0. - 2026-05: Official news archive lists Chawan 0.4.0. - 2026-06: Official news archive lists Chawan 0.4.3. ### Related projects - Chame is Chawan's HTML5 parser subproject. - Chagashi is a related pure-Nim character coding library. - Monoucha is a related QuickJS binding generator and runtime glue project. - w3m and vi are cited by the official site as UI inspirations. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for chawan. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## 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 - Unix: $CHA_DIR/config.toml, ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/chawan/config.toml, ~/.chawan/config.toml ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** chawan - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - chawan: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ch/chawan/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - apk - chawan - 0.4.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: chawan from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | TUI web browser | https://git.sr.ht/~bptato/chawan - apk - chawan-doc - 0.4.2-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: chawan-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | TUI web browser (documentation) | https://git.sr.ht/~bptato/chawan - pacman - chawan - 0.4.2-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: chawan from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | A text-mode web browser and pager for Unix-like systems | https://chawan.net/ - zypper - chawan - 0.3.3-2.2: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: chawan from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Terminal-based web browser and pager | https://chawan.net/ ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Media and graphics packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/media-graphics-tools/) - Matched media, image, audio, video, or graphics metadata. - [brotli](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/brotli/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [openssl@3](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openssl-3/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [nim](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/nim/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [links](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/links/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal, web-browser. - [felinks](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/felinks/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal, web-browser. - [lynx](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/lynx/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, web-browser. - [mapscii](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mapscii/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal. - [mosh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mosh/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal. - [trzsz](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/trzsz/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal. - [trzsz-go](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/trzsz-go/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal. - [w3m](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/w3m/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, networking, terminal, web-browser. - [senpai](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/senpai/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, networking, terminal, tui. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/chawan.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/chawan.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph