# Install foreman with Homebrew, Nix Manage Procfile-based applications. Version 0.90.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-06. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:foreman ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install foreman ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#foreman ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fo/foreman/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:foreman - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.90.0 - **Source summary:** Manage Procfile-based applications - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-06T20:56:44-04:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - foreman (cli) - foreman (alias) ## Dependencies - ruby ## 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: 0.90.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-06 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/ddollar/foreman - Upstream latest detected: v0.90.0 (current) ## Project history and usage Foreman is a Ruby command-line process manager for Procfile-based applications. It is best known for making the Heroku-style Procfile a local-development and deployment artifact outside Heroku itself. ### Project history David Dollar introduced Foreman in May 2011 as a way to start multi-process web applications from a Procfile, covering web, worker, and clock processes with shared environment handling and automatic port assignment. The project grew beyond local development by adding export targets for process supervisors. Its manual documents running an app directly, running one-off commands, and exporting process definitions to formats such as init, upstart, systemd, runit, and supervisord. ### Adoption history Foreman's README points users to installation as a Ruby gem and warns Ruby users not to bundle Foreman inside an application's Gemfile, reflecting its role as a developer tool around an application rather than a library dependency. The README's ports list shows the Procfile-runner idea spreading into other languages and ecosystems, including forego, node-foreman, goreman, honcho, shoreman, and other reimplementations. ### How it is used Foreman reads a Procfile, loads environment from .env by default or from files passed with --env, starts each declared process, prefixes output, and can scale process counts with formation options. Package users typically install the foreman executable and keep Procfile and .env files in the application root, making it a bridge between twelve-factor app conventions, local shells, and service managers. ### Why package nerds care Foreman is historically important because it helped normalize Procfile as a portable, package-manager-distributed convention rather than only a Heroku deployment file. It is also a small example of a package whose interface became a pattern: many later packages are not forks of Foreman, but compatibility ports of the same Procfile workflow. ### Timeline - 2011: David Dollar publishes the Introducing Foreman post and documents Procfile-based local process startup. - 2011: The changelog records 0.26.x and 0.27.0 releases with .env loading and Travis CI configuration. - 2012: Early releases add and refine concurrency, root directory handling, and one-off command execution. - 2016: The changelog records systemd exporter work and related service-management fixes. - 2024: Foreman 0.88.0 refreshes CI and updates documentation for systemd export. - 2025: Foreman 0.90.0 is released with Ruby dependency updates. ### Related projects - Forego, goreman, node-foreman, honcho, shoreman, proclet, and other ports listed by the upstream README reuse Foreman's Procfile-runner model in other languages or shell environments. - Foreman is related to platform Procfile conventions used by Heroku-style applications and to Unix service managers such as systemd, upstart, runit, and supervisord through its export functionality. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## 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: ./Procfile, ./.env ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** foreman - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - foreman: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/fo/foreman/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [ruby](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ruby/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [forego](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/forego/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, process-management, process-manager, procfile. - [goresym](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/goresym/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, process-management, process-manager, procfile. - [hivemind](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hivemind/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, process-management, process-manager, procfile. - [honcho](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/honcho/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, process-management, process-manager, procfile. - [overmind](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/overmind/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, process-manager, procfile. - [foreman](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/npm/foreman/) - Same normalized package name appears in another local ecosystem. Shared terms: cli, foreman, management, process, process-management. - [foreman](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/npm/foreman/) - Same normalized package name in another local ecosystem. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/foreman.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/foreman.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