install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install git-hound

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#git-hound

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/gi/git-hound/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Git plugin that prevents sensitive data from being committed

Project links

Commands and aliases

git-hound

history

Project history and usage

git-hound is a Git plugin for preventing sensitive data from entering commits. It checks staged diffs against user-provided PCRE regular expressions before commit operations proceed.

Project history

The repository was created in November 2015 as a Go command-line plugin. Its README presents Hound as a small Git extension with precompiled release binaries, Go installation, and Homebrew installation paths.

Adoption history

git-hound fits the mid-2010s rise of local secret-scanning tools, when teams began adding pre-commit checks for passwords, database settings, tokens, and machine-specific paths. Its adoption stayed niche compared with larger scanners, but the repository attracted several hundred stars and was packaged for Homebrew and Nix.

How it is used

Practitioners run `git hound commit` to sniff staged changes before invoking `git commit`, or `git hound sniff` to scan a commit, a manual diff, a whole codebase, or repository history. The `.githound.yml` file separates warning patterns, failure patterns, and skipped filenames.

Why package nerds care

The package is interesting because it exposes Git's plugin naming convention: installing `git-hound` makes `git hound` available. It is also a compact example of pre-commit security tooling before secret scanning became a standard hosted-platform feature.

Timeline

2015: GitHub repository created for the Go implementation.
2016: Several 0.5.x releases publish packaged binaries.
2017: 0.6.x releases continue the pre-1.0 line.
2020: 1.0.0 release published.

Related projects

git-hound is related to Git hooks, pre-commit frameworks, and secret scanners such as git-secrets and truffleHog, all of which try to catch sensitive strings before or after they enter Git history.

Sources

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 13 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build 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: .githound.yml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`git-hound`	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 version1.0.0

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detected1.0.0

https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:git-hound
Version	1.0.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/git-hound
Homepage	https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound
Repository	https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound
Upstream docs	https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound#readme
License	MIT
Source archive	https://github.com/ezekg/git-hound/archive/refs/tags/1.0.0.tar.gz
Build dependencies	go
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, 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	git-hound
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.

Nix95%

git-hound

nix profile install nixpkgs#git-hound

normalized package name match
Matched by: Git Hound

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gi/git-hound/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

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/git-hound.yml

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

Install git-hound with Homebrew, Nix