install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install ht

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install ht

MacPorts ports tree · devel/ht/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install ht

Debian stable package indexes · ht · source: deb.debian.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#ht

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/ht/ht/package.nix · source: api.github.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%

sudo zypper install ht

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · ht · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Viewer/editor/analyzer for executables

Project links

Commands and aliases

ht

history

Project history and usage

HT Editor is a console file viewer, editor, and analyzer for text, binary files, and especially executable formats, combining hex editing with disassembly and executable-structure inspection.

Project history

The HT site credits Stefan Weyergraf and Sebastian Biallas and describes the project goal as combining the low-level functionality of a debugger with IDE-style usability. Its documentation and README describe support for formats such as ELF, PE, Mach-O, MZ, NE, LE, Java class files, XBE, COFF/XCOFF, and others.

The SourceForge-hosted site records a long 2.0.x release line from the 2000s into the early 2010s. In September 2014 the project announced that the official source repository moved to GitHub, and in January 2015 HT 2.1.0 added PE relocation handling, PE checksum calculation, AVR disassembly, broken-ELF crash fixes, and an updated minilzo.

Adoption history

HT is packaged across Unix-like systems because it fills a niche between a hex editor, file-format browser, disassembler, and lightweight reverse-engineering workbench. The input metadata records packages in Homebrew, Debian, MacPorts, Nix, Ubuntu, and openSUSE.

Its SourceForge-era documentation also names GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, and Win32 as target systems, which explains why package recipes often need to preserve both Unix and Windows configuration behavior.

How it is used

Users open files in HT to inspect executable headers, sections, imports, exports, relocations, resources, disassembly, xrefs, labels, comments, and evaluator expressions. Analyzer state is stored beside the analyzed file as FILENAME.htcfg.

The documentation records global configuration in ~/.htcfg2 on Unix and ht.cfg2 next to ht.exe on Windows, plus per-file analyzer state that restores labels, comments, and analysis metadata.

Why package nerds care

HT matters to package nerds because it is a classic terminal reverse-engineering utility with deep file-format support and a long SourceForge-to-GitHub lineage. It is the kind of tool that remains useful even when newer GUI reverse-engineering platforms exist, because it is small enough to ship as a command-line package.

It also illustrates a packaging edge case: a project homepage, historical release notes, generated documentation, and a moved official repository all matter when identifying the authoritative source.

Timeline

1999-2004: Project copyright range appears on the official site footer for the original authorship era.
2007: HT 2.0.10 release notes mention SSE5 opcode support.
2008: HT 2.0.13 release notes mention Intel AVX opcodes.
2013: HT 2.0.22 release notes mention editor scroll-offset work and bug fixes.
2014: Official source repository moved to GitHub.
2015: HT 2.1.0 released with PE, AVR, ELF-crash, and minilzo updates.

Related projects

Related tools include hex editors, objdump/readelf-style binary inspection tools, disassemblers, debuggers, and reverse-engineering suites used for executable analysis.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for ht. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.
Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

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

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: ~/.htcfg2FILENAME.htcfg
Windows: ht.cfg2 (where ht.exe resides)FILENAME.htcfg

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`ht`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-25

manager version2.1.0

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://hte.sourceforge.net/

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://hte.sourceforge.net/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:ht
Version	2.1.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ht
Homepage	https://hte.sourceforge.net/
Repository	https://github.com/sebastianbiallas/ht
Upstream docs	https://github.com/sebastianbiallas/ht#readme
License	GPL-2.0-only
Source archive	https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/hte/ht-source/ht-2.1.0.tar.bz2
Dependencies	lzo
Uses from macOS	ncurses
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	ht
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Conflicts With	texlive
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

ht 2.1.0+repack1-5

Viewer/editor/analyser (mostly) for executables

http://hte.sourceforge.net/

sudo apt install ht

Section: devel
Architecture: amd64
7 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Ht

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: ht from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Nix95%

ht

nix profile install nixpkgs#ht

normalized package name match
Matched by: Ht

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ht/ht/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Ubuntu apt95%

ht 2.1.0+repack1-5

Viewer/editor/analyser (mostly) for executables

http://hte.sourceforge.net/

sudo apt install ht

Section: universe/devel
Architecture: amd64
7 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Ht

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: ht from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

zypper95%

ht 2.1.0-4.3

Disassembler, object dumper and hex editor

http://hte.sf.net/

sudo zypper install ht

License: GPL-2.0-only
Category: Development/Tools/Debuggers
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: ht
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Ht

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: ht from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

zypper95%

hte 2.1.0-4.3

Disassembler, object dumper and hex editor

http://hte.sf.net/

sudo zypper install hte

License: GPL-2.0-only
Category: Development/Tools/Debuggers
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: ht
7 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Ht

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: hte from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst

MacPorts95%

ht

sudo port install ht

normalized package name match
Matched by: Ht

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: devel/ht/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/ht.yml

Used sources

Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install ht with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix, zypper