Install honcho with Homebrew, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• honcho

Project history

The upstream README and Read the Docs site describe Honcho as a Python port of Foreman. That origin matters because Foreman popularized the `Procfile` workflow outside Heroku: put `web`, `worker`, and other process roles in one file, then run a single command during development.

Honcho's changelog shows a conventional Python CLI maturation path. By 2015 it had an explicit changelog and version command, then accumulated Windows fixes, process-output fixes, custom Procfile handling, and service export support.

Adoption history

Honcho spread through Python packaging first and then into system package managers such as Homebrew and Nix. Its adoption is tied less to a large ecosystem of plugins and more to a durable need: Python developers wanted Foreman-style Procfile orchestration without depending on the Ruby implementation.

How it is used

A typical workflow is to write a `Procfile`, optionally write a `.env` file, and run `honcho start`. The docs also cover using Procfiles to coordinate related services during development and exporting process definitions to init systems.

Changelog milestones show the tool broadening from basic local process management into operational handoff features, including Upstart, supervisord, runit, and systemd export support.

Why package nerds care

Honcho is a classic package-manager bridge package: small, stable CLI; language-specific origin; useful across many app stacks. It also illustrates how a simple file convention, `Procfile`, became portable infrastructure vocabulary across Ruby, Python, shell, and other implementations.

Timeline

• 2015: Honcho starts keeping a changelog at version 0.6.0.
• 2016: Version 0.7.0 adds runit export support and `PROCFILE` environment-variable handling.
• 2017: Version 1.0.0 adds process-name environment exposure and shared no-colour/no-prefix flags.
• 2021: Version 1.1.0 adds systemd unit export support.
• 2024: Version 2.0.0 drops older Python/PyPy versions and adds Python 3.11 through 3.13 support.

Related projects

• Foreman is the direct ancestor and design reference.
• Heroku Procfile documentation and the 12-factor config model provide the workflow conventions Honcho follows.
• systemd, runit, supervisord, and Upstart are related because Honcho can export process definitions for those service managers.

Sources

• Homebrew input metadata: package-manager identity and executable.
• Honcho README and Read the Docs: project purpose, Foreman relationship, Procfile and `.env` workflow.
• Honcho changelog: release and feature milestones.