Install hermit with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• hermit

Project history

The Hermit and hermit-packages repositories were created on May 20, 2021. The README describes the core mission as uniform tooling for Linux and Mac: self-contained tool sets that travel with a software project.

Hermit's design separates the environment manager from package manifests. The `cashapp/hermit-packages` repository contains HCL manifests that describe how to download, install, and map packages into an environment, while Hermit itself provides activation, package lookup, installation, updating, and shell integration.

The documentation presents Hermit as intentionally narrow. The FAQ says it manages development tools rather than libraries, avoids being a general-purpose package manager, and differs from Nix, Homebrew, Docker, Bazel, GoFish, and asdf by focusing on project-level, self-bootstrapping, binary-tool environments.

Adoption history

Hermit's adoption path is strongest inside repositories and CI jobs that want reproducible developer tools without adopting a full operating-system package manager or build system. Its docs teach users to commit the generated `bin` directory artifacts such as `activate-hermit`, `hermit`, and `hermit.hcl` so a clone can bootstrap itself.

The presence of a separate manifest repository, a GitHub Action for activating Hermit, Renovate datasource support, and package-manager entries in Homebrew, MacPorts, and Nix reflects a small but durable ecosystem around project-local tool provisioning.

How it is used

A typical workflow starts with `hermit init` in a project, then `. ./bin/activate-hermit` to add the project's `bin` directory and managed environment variables to the shell. Users then install tools with commands such as `hermit install go-1.16.3` or `hermit install rust@nightly protoc`.

Hermit packages can be selected by exact version, channel, or preferred version. The management docs describe manifest sources, periodic syncs, `hermit search`, `hermit list`, `hermit info`, `hermit upgrade`, explicit downgrades with `hermit install`, and `hermit uninstall`.

Hermit's package definitions are HCL manifests commonly retrieved from Git repositories. The official packaging docs describe these manifests as the way packages define source archives, installation behavior, and binary mappings.

Why package nerds care

Hermit occupies a pragmatic middle ground between language-specific version managers and full system package managers. Package nerds care because it turns a repository into its own tool-distribution boundary, but does so by downloading relocatable binary tools instead of building a new universe from source.

Its comparison with asdf is especially revealing: asdf focuses on switching versions of languages and tools for a user, while Hermit focuses on making project tooling consistent and reproducible for teams and CI. That difference explains why Hermit manifests and activation scripts are part of the project workflow rather than only per-user setup.

Timeline

• 2021-05-20: Hermit and hermit-packages repositories were created.
• 2021: Early documentation used Go 1.16.3 and Rust 1.51-era examples, matching Hermit's initial positioning as a project toolchain manager.
• 2026: The repository and package manifest collection remained active, with documentation covering package manifests, Renovate integration, and multiple shells.

Related projects

• asdf is the closest version-manager comparison in the official FAQ, but Hermit emphasizes project-level binary tool environments rather than per-user language switching.
• Nix, Homebrew, Docker, Bazel, and GoFish are comparison points in the FAQ. Hermit deliberately avoids becoming a full OS package manager, build system, or container runtime.
• `cashapp/hermit-packages`, `cashapp/hermit-build`, and `cashapp/activate-hermit` are companion repositories for manifests, special build artifacts, and CI activation.

Sources

• Hermit README for project mission and copyright date.
• Official get-started, package-management, and FAQ docs for workflow and scope boundaries.
• hermit-packages README for manifest repository role.