install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install fossil

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install fossil

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

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add fossil

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · fossil · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install fossil

Debian stable package indexes · fossil · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install fossil

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · fossil · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#fossil

nixpkgs package indexes · fossil · source: raw.githubusercontent.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%

sudo pacman -S fossil

Arch Linux sync databases · fossil · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install fossil

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · fossil · source: download.opensuse.org

Windows

Chocolateyverified · 92%

choco install fossil

Chocolatey community package catalog · fossil · source: community.chocolatey.org

Scoopverified · 92%

scoop install main/fossil

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · bucket/fossil.json · source: api.github.com

Windows Package Managerverified · 92%

winget install --id Fossil.Fossil -e

Windows Package Manager source index · Fossil.Fossil · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com

overview

Package summary

Distributed software configuration management

Project links

Commands and aliases

fossil

history

Project history and usage

Fossil is a distributed software configuration management system that combines version control with tickets, wiki, forum, chat, documentation, technotes, a web UI, and role-based access control in one self-contained executable.

Project history

Fossil is developed in its own Fossil repository and has self-hosted since 2007-07-21. The official site states that cloning the self-hosting repository gives more than source code: it includes the project website, documentation, tickets, and related history.

The project was designed around SQLite-backed repository storage, a durable file format, autosync, ordinary HTTP(S) or SSH networking, and a single executable that can serve both local CLI workflows and a hosted project website.

Adoption history

Fossil occupies a different niche from Git: it is adopted by users who want an integrated project system and easy self-hosting rather than separate services for code, issues, wiki, and discussion. The official self-hosting page documents multiple public Fossil repositories kept in sync, plus a GitHub mirror exported from Fossil.

As a package, it is broadly available because installation is simple: download or build one binary and place it on `PATH`. The supplied package facts show availability through Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, MacPorts, Nix, Scoop, Winget, Chocolatey, and other managers.

How it is used

The official quick start is `fossil init`, `fossil open`, `fossil add`, `fossil commit`, and `fossil ui`. That last command starts the built-in web interface, which is central to Fossil's identity as more than a plain VCS.

Why package nerds care

Fossil matters to package nerds because it is source control, project hosting, and release infrastructure packaged as one small binary. It challenges the normal Unix packaging pattern of composing many tools by shipping a complete forge-like workflow in a single executable backed by SQLite.

Timeline

2007: Fossil began self-hosting on 2007-07-21.
2017: One public mirror moved to a low-cost VPS, according to the self-hosting documentation.
2024: Version 2.25 was released on 2024-11-06.
2025: Version 2.27 was released on 2025-09-30.
2026: Version 2.28 was released on 2026-03-11.

Related projects

Fossil is closely related to SQLite through authorship, hosting, and its SQLite-backed storage model. Its official comparison discusses Git and Mercurial as peer distributed VCS tools, and its self-hosting documentation describes a GitHub mirror generated from Fossil.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: orange

infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal.

Risk classifier

orange risk · medium confidence · infrastructure

Why

infrastructure mutation or orchestration signal

Signals

text:configuration management

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 1 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.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`fossil`	cli	global 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 version2.28

manager updated2026-06-09

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://www.fossil-scm.org/home/

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.fossil-scm.org/home/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:fossil
Version	2.28
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/fossil
Homepage	https://www.fossil-scm.org/home/
Repository	https://www.fossil-scm.org/home
Upstream docs	https://www.fossil-scm.org/home/doc/trunk/www/index.wiki
License	BSD-2-Clause
Source archive	https://fossil-scm.org/home/tarball/version-2.28/fossil-src-2.28.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-06-09T15:23:07+02:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	openssl@3
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	fossil
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
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.

Debian apt95%

fossil 1:2.26-2

DSCM with built-in wiki, http interface and server, tickets database

https://fossil-scm.org

sudo apt install fossil

Section: vcs
Architecture: amd64
3 dependencies
2 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: fossil from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Nix95%

fossil

nix profile install nixpkgs#fossil

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

nixpkgs package indexes · raw.githubusercontent.com · nixpkgs package indexes: fossil from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix

Ubuntu apt95%

fossil 1:2.23-1build2

DSCM with built-in wiki, http interface and server, tickets database

https://fossil-scm.org

sudo apt install fossil

Section: universe/vcs
Architecture: amd64
6 dependencies
2 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: fossil from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

apk95%

fossil 2.28-r0

Simple, high-reliability, distributed software configuration management

https://www.fossil-scm.org/

sudo apk add fossil

License: BSD-2-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fossil
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: fossil from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

apk95%

fossil-bash-completion 2.28-r0

Bash completions for fossil

https://www.fossil-scm.org/

sudo apk add fossil-bash-completion

License: BSD-2-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fossil
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: fossil-bash-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

apk95%

fossil-zsh-completion 2.28-r0

Zsh completions for fossil

https://www.fossil-scm.org/

sudo apk add fossil-zsh-completion

License: BSD-2-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fossil
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: fossil-zsh-completion from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

dnf95%

fossil 2.25-3.fc42

A distributed SCM with bug tracking and wiki

https://www.fossil-scm.org/

sudo dnf install fossil

License: LicenseRef-Callaway-BSD
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fossil
7 dependencies
2 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: fossil from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

dnf95%

fossil-doc 2.25-3.fc42

Fossil documentation

https://www.fossil-scm.org/

sudo dnf install fossil-doc

License: LicenseRef-Callaway-BSD
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fossil
2 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: fossil-doc from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

pacman95%

fossil 2.28-1

Simple, high-reliability, distributed software configuration management

https://www.fossil-scm.org

sudo pacman -S fossil

License: BSD-2-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
5 dependencies
1 optional deps
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: fossil from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz

zypper95%

fossil 2.28-1.2

Distributed software configuration management

https://fossil-scm.org/

sudo zypper install fossil

License: BSD-2-Clause
Category: Development/Tools/Version Control
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: fossil
7 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: fossil from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

MacPorts95%

fossil

sudo port install fossil

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: devel/fossil/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Chocolatey95%

fossil

choco install fossil

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Chocolatey community package catalog · community.chocolatey.org · Chocolatey community package catalog: fossil from http://community.chocolatey.org/api/v2/Packages?$filter=IsLatestVersion&$select=Id&$top=1000&$skiptoken='6.5836','capture'

Scoop95%

main/fossil

scoop install main/fossil

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Scoop official bucket manifest trees · api.github.com · Scoop official bucket manifest trees: bucket/fossil.json from https://api.github.com/repos/ScoopInstaller/Main/git/trees/master?recursive=1

winget95%

Fossil.Fossil

winget install --id Fossil.Fossil -e

normalized package name match
Matched by: Fossil

Windows Package Manager source index · cdn.winget.microsoft.com · Windows Package Manager source index: Fossil.Fossil 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/fossil.yml

Used sources

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

Install fossil with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop, winget, zypper

Additional install commands

macOS

Linux

Windows

Package summary

Project links

Commands and aliases

Project history and usage

Project history

Adoption history

How it is used

Why package nerds care

Timeline

Related projects

Sources

Risk level: orange

Risk classifier

Why

Signals

Install behavior

Recommended review

Installed executables

Version and freshness

Package metadata

Source database details

Other package-manager records

Internal package links

Topical hubs

Related tools

Same workflow

Agent security guides

Generated from repository data

Combined YAML source

Used sources