install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install kawa

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install kawa

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · kawa · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#kawa

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

overview

Package summary

Programming language for Java (implementation of Scheme)

Project links

Commands and aliases

kawa

history

Project history and usage

Kawa is a GNU Scheme implementation and language framework for the Java Virtual Machine, combining a Scheme REPL and compiler with close access to Java classes and bytecode.

Project history

The official Kawa internals paper, started from a November 1998 presentation, describes Kawa as a set of Java classes for implementing dynamic languages and as a near-R5RS Scheme implementation that compiles to JVM bytecode.

Kawa evolved beyond a Scheme interpreter into a language framework. The internals documentation describes it as both an implementation of Scheme and a toolkit that also incorporated projects such as Qexo for XQuery and JEmacs for Emacs Lisp.

The official news page records major language-runtime milestones: Kawa 2.0 in December 2014 brought R7RS compatibility work, Kawa 2.3 in January 2017 moved the source repository to GitLab, Kawa 3.0 in October 2017 updated the codebase for Java 8 and Java 9-era changes, and Kawa 3.1.1 was documented in January 2020.

Adoption history

Kawa has long occupied a niche among JVM languages: it is valuable to Scheme users who want Java interop, to language implementers studying JVM compilation, and to package maintainers who care about Lisp-family runtimes outside the more common C or native-code implementations.

How it is used

Users run Kawa as an interactive language, a compiler to Java bytecode, or a Java-integrated scripting system. Its documentation emphasizes REPL use, static checking, modularity, and direct Java method and class access.

Why package nerds care

Kawa is significant because it is both a language runtime and a compiler framework packaged like a Unix tool. It sits at the intersection of GNU packaging, Scheme standards, JVM bytecode, and the long history of alternative languages on Java.

Timeline

1998-11: Kawa internals material began as a presentation on compiling Scheme to Java
2014-12-02: Kawa 2.0 news entry highlighted R7RS compatibility
2017-01-13: Kawa 2.3 moved source hosting to GitLab
2017-10-02: Kawa 3.0 updated the project for Java 8 and Java 9-era changes
2020-01-16: Kawa 3.1.1 documented packaging and browse-manual fixes

Related projects

Kawa is related to Scheme standards such as R5RS and R7RS, GNU Guile, other JVM languages, Qexo, JEmacs, SRFI libraries, and Java bytecode tooling.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: yellow

generalized runtime or code generation signal.

Risk classifier

yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime

Why

generalized runtime or code generation signal

Signals

text:programming language

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 1 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.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`kawa`	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 generated2026-07-08

manager version3.1.1

manager updated2026-06-22

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/

infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/none confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:kawa
Version	3.1.1
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/kawa
Homepage	https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/
Repository	https://gitlab.com/kashell/Kawa
Upstream docs	https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa
License	MIT
Source archive	https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/kawa/kawa-3.1.1.zip
Last updated	2026-06-22T14:03:52-07:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	openjdk
Bottle	available (on all)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	kawa
Version Scheme	0
Revision	1
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.

Nix95%

kawa

nix profile install nixpkgs#kawa

normalized package name match
Matched by: Kawa

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

dnf95%

kawa 3.1.1-25.fc44

Scheme programming language

https://www.gnu.org/software/kawa/

sudo dnf install kawa

License: MIT
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: kawa
9 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Kawa

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: kawa from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

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/kawa.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install kawa with Homebrew, dnf, Nix