Install grype with Homebrew, apk, chocolatey, MacPorts, Nix, scoop, winget, zypper

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• grype

Project history

Anchore created the grype repository in May 2020 and published beta releases in July 2020. The README describes a standalone CLI that scans images, directories, and SBOMs; supports major Linux distribution package ecosystems; supports language package ecosystems; and understands Docker, OCI, and Singularity image formats.

The project evolved alongside Anchore's broader open-source supply-chain tooling. Syft, created in May 2020, generates SBOMs for container images and filesystems, while Grype consumes image contents or SBOM documents to report known vulnerabilities. Anchore later moved substantial usage and reference documentation to oss.anchore.com as the tools accumulated guides, coverage matrices, CLI references, and configuration docs.

Grype's release history shows steady iteration from the 0.1.0 beta series in 2020 into frequent tagged releases. Its feature set expanded beyond simple CVE tables to include SBOM scanning, multiple output formats, risk prioritization signals such as EPSS and KEV, OpenVEX filtering and augmentation, and documented configuration-file search paths.

Adoption history

Grype's adoption tracks the rise of software supply-chain security, container scanning, and SBOM workflows. The official README and docs emphasize local CLI use, CI/CD automation, and scanning of images, directories, archives, and SBOMs. The Homebrew facts also show packaging across macOS, Linux, Windows package managers, and distribution ecosystems, which is typical for security CLIs expected to run on developer workstations and CI agents.

Anchore's open-source page presents Grype with Syft and Grant as a set of developer-friendly container-security tools. That grouping matters historically because Grype is not just a container scanner; it is part of a workflow where SBOM generation, vulnerability matching, license checks, and automation are treated as separate composable command-line steps.

How it is used

Common usage is `grype <image>` for a container image, `grype dir:.` for a directory, or `grype sbom:<path>` for an existing SBOM. The docs describe JSON output for downstream processing, database downloads for vulnerability matching, offline operation after an initial database download, and CI/CD use where pipelines can fail based on severity thresholds.

Package and security engineers care about the input source because Grype can scan Docker and OCI images, local directories, archives, and SBOM files. Its results depend on package cataloging and vulnerability database matching, so it is often paired with Syft when an explicit SBOM artifact is desired.

Why package nerds care

Grype is significant to package nerds because it turns package metadata into security decisions. It has to understand OS package managers, language package managers, image layers, SBOM formats, vulnerability identifiers, fixed-version ranges, and suppression or VEX context. That makes it a practical stress test for how well packaging metadata represents real software contents.

It also illustrates the modern CLI distribution pattern for security tools: a single compiled executable, Homebrew and other package-manager formulae, container images, CI integration, generated documentation, and a separate data-update path for the vulnerability database.

Timeline

• 2020: anchore/grype repository created.
• 2020: Grype 0.1.0 beta releases published.
• 2020: anchore/syft repository created as the companion SBOM generator.
• 2023: Grype release stream includes 0.64.x and later 0.x releases, reflecting continued pre-1.0 iteration.
• 2025: Anchore announced a dedicated oss.anchore.com documentation home for Syft, Grype, and Grant.
• 2026: Anchore OSS docs describe Grype guides for vulnerability scanning, scan targets, interpreting results, filtering, and database management.

Related projects

• Syft is Anchore's companion SBOM generator and is commonly paired with Grype.
• Grant is Anchore's related license-checking CLI.
• Trivy, Docker Scout, and other vulnerability scanners occupy adjacent container and SBOM scanning workflows.
• OpenVEX is supported by Grype for filtering and augmenting vulnerability results.

Sources

• https://anchore.com/blog/anchore-oss-docs-have-a-new-home/
• https://anchore.com/opensource/
• https://api.github.com/repos/anchore/grype
• https://api.github.com/repos/anchore/grype/releases?per_page=100&page=2
• https://github.com/anchore/grype
• https://github.com/anchore/syft
• https://oss.anchore.com/docs/guides/vulnerability/getting-started/
• https://oss.anchore.com/docs/guides/vulnerability/scan-targets/