Install hopenpgp-tools with Homebrew, apt, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• hkt
• hokey
• hop
• hot

Project history

Hackage records the package as authored and maintained by Clint Adams, with copyright beginning in 2012 and the first Hackage upload, version 0.0, on 2013-08-25. Early package metadata described the same core purpose: hOpenPGP-based command-line tools for OpenPGP-related operations.

The first Hackage package exposed three executables: `hkt`, `hokey`, and `hot`. By version 0.23.11, the Cabal file lists four executables: `hot`, `hokey`, `hkt`, and `hop`. The package remained tied to the hOpenPGP library while updating dependencies such as `crypton`, `optparse-applicative`, `prettyprinter`, and `yaml`.

The upstream repository lives on Debian Salsa under Clint Adams' namespace. Salsa metadata records the project creation on 2017-12-31, which lines up with the package's migration from the earlier `floss.scru.org` homepage shown in older Hackage RSS entries to Salsa-hosted source metadata shown in later package records.

Adoption history

hopenpgp-tools has a stronger distribution footprint than its niche size suggests. It appears in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu-derived repositories, Arch Linux, and Hackage. Debian's package tracker lists it as source package `haskell-hopenpgp-tools`, maintained by the Debian Haskell Group with Clint Adams as uploader.

Hackage's release RSS shows a long sequence of uploads from 2013 through 2025, including a dense early series in 2013-2014 and continued maintenance across later GHC and dependency changes. Debian and Arch packaging make the tools available outside the Haskell-only ecosystem.

How it is used

The utilities are for command-line OpenPGP work. Debian's package page describes `hot`, `hokey`, and `hkt` as works in progress that provide some OpenPGP-related functionality, while the Cabal file shows executable-specific modules for ASCII armor parsing, HKP/keyserver functionality, key utilities, graph-related key analysis, and OpenPGP packet handling.

`hokey` depends on HTTP client libraries and HKP-related modules, indicating keyserver-oriented operations. `hot` and `hkt` share parser/lexer and ASCII armor support, while `hop` combines armor, parser, TK utilities, cryptographic primitives, and vector/time/container dependencies. For package users, the important point is the split: install one package and get several small OpenPGP CLI tools.

Why package nerds care

This is a package-nerd package because it sits at the intersection of cryptography, Haskell packaging, and distro packaging. It is not a glossy end-user OpenPGP app; it is a collection of small executables whose value is highest for people debugging, inspecting, or automating OpenPGP data flows.

The package also illustrates how Haskell command-line tools propagate: Hackage is the language-origin registry, Salsa carries Debian-friendly source control, Debian/Ubuntu expose binary packages to Unix users, Arch packages it in a rolling distro, and Homebrew makes it reachable from macOS. That multi-registry path is exactly the kind of long-lived packaging trail enrichment should preserve.

Timeline

• 2012: Cabal metadata records copyright beginning with Clint Adams.
• 2013: Version 0.0 is uploaded to Hackage with executables `hkt`, `hokey`, and `hot`.
• 2014: Rapid Hackage release series continues through versions 0.1 to 0.14.
• 2017: Salsa project for `hopenpgp-tools` is created under Clint Adams' namespace.
• 2019: Hackage records version 0.23 with homepage metadata pointing at Salsa-hosted hOpenPGP resources.
• 2021: Version 0.23.6 appears in both Hackage and Debian-era package pools.
• 2025: Version 0.23.11 is uploaded to Hackage and appears in Debian source package metadata.

Related projects

• hOpenPGP is the Haskell OpenPGP library dependency and conceptual base.
• OpenPGP is the protocol and data format family the tools operate on.
• Debian Haskell Group packaging is related through the Debian source package `haskell-hopenpgp-tools`.
• Arch Linux and Homebrew packages are related distribution surfaces for users outside Hackage.

Sources

• Arch package page: additional distro adoption and upstream URL.
• Cabal file: executable names, module/dependency split, license, source repository, and copyright years.
• Debian package pages and tracker: distro package name, maintainers, version, description, source package, and VCS packaging metadata.
• Hackage package page and RSS: package purpose, versions, upload dates, author, maintainer, homepage changes, dependencies, and executable list.
• Salsa GitLab API/page: official repository and project creation metadata.