# Install grunt-cli with Homebrew, Nix, pacman, apt, winget JavaScript Task Runner. Version 1.5.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:grunt-cli ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install grunt-cli ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#grunt-cli ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gr/grunt-cli/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S grunt-cli ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: grunt-cli from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install grunt ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: grunt from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ### Windows - winget (92%): ```sh winget install --id Grunt.Grunt -e ``` Evidence: Windows Package Manager source index: Grunt.Grunt from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:grunt-cli - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.5.0 - **Source summary:** JavaScript Task Runner - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-09T07:20:21+00:00 ## Executables - grunt (cli) - grunt (alias) ## Dependencies - node ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-09 - Package-manager version: 1.5.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://gruntjs.com/ - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage grunt-cli is the small command-line launcher for Grunt, the JavaScript task runner. Its importance is not that it contains the build system itself, but that it standardizes the global or local `grunt` command while delegating execution to the Grunt version installed beside a project Gruntfile. ### Project history The Grunt ecosystem began with the core grunt repository in September 2011 and the dedicated grunt-cli repository in November 2012. The CLI split reflects a Node.js packaging lesson: the executable can live globally while the task runner and plugins stay pinned in each project. Grunt documentation for the 0.4 era explicitly tells users that installing grunt-cli does not install the Grunt task runner. Instead, each `grunt` invocation searches through Node's require system for a local Grunt installation, reads the project Gruntfile, and runs requested tasks. The grunt-cli npm package was created in November 2012, matching the repository's early public history. ### Adoption history grunt-cli was widely adopted with Grunt during the early Node.js build-tool era, when JavaScript projects needed repeatable commands for minification, linting, concatenation, tests, and release chores. Its global-install pattern let developers type `grunt` in many projects while allowing each project to control its own Grunt and plugin versions. As npm scripts and later bundlers became more common, grunt-cli's role narrowed but remained historically important: it is the launcher that made Grunt's project-local dependency model ergonomic across shells, editors, CI systems, and package managers. ### How it is used Typical use is `npm install -g grunt-cli` to place `grunt` on PATH, followed by project-local installation of `grunt` and plugins as development dependencies. Running `grunt` from a project directory locates the nearest Gruntfile, loads project tasks, and executes the named or default task. The CLI also exposes options for help, base path, alternate Gruntfile, task directories, npm-installed plugins, dry-run behavior, verbosity, version output, and shell completion. ### Why package nerds care grunt-cli is package-manager lore because it encodes the global-binary/local-library compromise that became common in Node tooling. It gives Homebrew, npm, Debian, Arch, Nix, Ubuntu, and Windows package entries a simple executable to ship, while project correctness still depends on `package.json` and the local `node_modules` graph. For maintainers, grunt-cli is also a reminder that a package named like a tool can be only a shim. Installing it gives users the command, not necessarily the task runner semantics until a project supplies a Gruntfile and dependencies. ### Timeline - 2011: gruntjs/grunt repository created. - 2012: gruntjs/grunt-cli repository created. - 2012: grunt-cli package created on npm. - 2013: Grunt 0.4 documentation formalized the global CLI plus local Grunt workflow. - 2021: grunt-cli 1.4.x releases published. - 2024: grunt-cli 1.5.0 release published. ### Related projects - grunt is the task runner that grunt-cli locates and runs. - grunt-contrib plugins provide common tasks such as uglify, jshint, and nodeunit in documented examples. - npm is the package manager used by Grunt documentation for installing grunt-cli, grunt, and plugins. ### 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: ./Gruntfile.js, ./Gruntfile.coffee ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** grunt-cli - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - grunt-cli: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/gr/grunt-cli/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman - grunt-cli - 1.5.0-1: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: grunt-cli from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz | The grunt command line interface. | https://gruntjs.com/ - Debian apt - grunt - 1.6.1-1: installed executable or alias match | Debian stable package indexes: grunt from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | JavaScript task runner/build system/maintainer tool | https://gruntjs.com/ - Ubuntu apt - grunt - 1.6.1-1: installed executable or alias match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: grunt from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | JavaScript task runner/build system/maintainer tool | https://gruntjs.com/ - winget - Grunt.Grunt: installed executable or alias match | Windows Package Manager source index: Grunt.Grunt from https://cdn.winget.microsoft.com/cache/source.msix ## Related links - [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. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [node](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/node/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ncc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ncc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript, nodejs. - [gulp-cli](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gulp-cli/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript, nodejs. - [nx](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/nx/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript, task-runner. - [pnpm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pnpm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, javascript, nodejs. - [pulp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pulp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tool, build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript. - [rollup](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rollup/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tool, build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript. - [vite](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/vite/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tool, build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript. - [webpack](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/webpack/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: build-tool, build-tools, cli, developer-tools, javascript. - [grunt-cli](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/npm/grunt-cli/) - Same normalized package name appears in another local ecosystem. Shared terms: build, build-tools, cli, developer, developer-tools. - [grunt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/npm/grunt/) - Executable or command metadata overlaps with this package. Shared terms: build, build-tools, cli, developer, developer-tools. - [grunt-cli](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/npm/grunt-cli/) - Same normalized package name in another local ecosystem. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/grunt-cli.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/grunt-cli.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