install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install licensed

local Homebrew formula metadata

Linux

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#licensed

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

overview

Package summary

Cache and verify the licenses of dependencies

Project links

Commands and aliases

licensed

history

Project history and usage

Licensed is a Ruby command-line tool for caching dependency license texts and checking them against repository policy. It sits in the GitHub Licensee ecosystem: Licensee detects license text, while Licensed records and verifies the dependency-level results that package managers expose.

Project history

The public GitHub repository was created on 2018-02-02 under GitHub's license tooling namespace and later moved under the licensee organization. The README describes the project as a Ruby gem and warns that it is not a complete open-source compliance solution.

The changelog shows the project evolving through compatibility-driven releases: v3 added migration guidance for self-contained builds, v4 removed self-contained executable releases and older Go support, and v5 required Ruby 3.0 or newer.

Adoption history

Licensed became useful to repositories that wanted license checks in development and continuous integration without manually inspecting every transitive dependency. Its source enumerators cover multiple language ecosystems, and its Homebrew formula made the Ruby CLI easy to install on macOS.

How it is used

A project adds a .licensed.yml file, runs Licensed to cache dependency records, and then runs status or verification commands to catch newly introduced, stale, or disallowed dependency licenses.

Why package nerds care

Licensed is package-nerd notable because it treats license review as package metadata that can be cached, diffed, and enforced in CI. It also shows the practical boundary between SPDX-style license identification and the messy package-manager work of finding dependency sources.

Timeline

2018-02-02: GitHub repository created.
2022-03-17: v3.6.0 changelog entry adds getting-started documentation and npm-workspaces support.
2023: v4.0.0 changelog entry removes self-contained executable releases and adds CocoaPods and Gradle multi-project support.
2024: v5.0.0 changelog entry requires Ruby 3.0 or newer.
2025: v5.0.3 changelog entry adds pnpm v9 support.

Related projects

Related projects include Licensee for license detection, SPDX license data, and other dependency-license scanners such as LicenseFinder.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Installs with 2 runtime dependencies.
Build metadata lists 2 build 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: ./.licensed.yml

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`licensed`	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 version5.1.0

manager updated2026-06-13

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/licensee/licensed

infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/licensee/licensednone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:licensed
Version	5.1.0
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/licensed
Homepage	https://github.com/licensee/licensed
Repository	https://github.com/licensee/licensed
Upstream docs	https://github.com/licensee/licensed#readme
License	MIT
Source archive	https://github.com/licensee/licensed.git
Last updated	2026-06-13T23:35:01+02:00
Pulse	updated
Dependencies	libgit2, ruby
Build dependencies	cmake, pkgconf
Uses from macOS	libxml2, libxslt
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, 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	licensed
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
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%

licensed

nix profile install nixpkgs#licensed

normalized package name match
Matched by: Licensed

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/li/licensed/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/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/licensed.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
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 licensed with Homebrew, Nix