# Install locust with Homebrew, apt Scalable user load testing tool written in Python. Version 2.44.4 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:locust ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install locust ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install python3-locust ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: python3-locust from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:locust - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 2.44.4 - **Source summary:** Scalable user load testing tool written in Python - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** MIT - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T18:39:59Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - locust (cli) - locust (alias) ## Dependencies - certifi - python@3.14 - zeromq ## Build dependencies - cmake - ninja ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 2.44.4 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://locust.io/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Locust is an open source load-testing framework that lets users write test scenarios in Python code and run them from a CLI and web UI. It became a major package in performance-testing workflows because it replaces click-built test plans with ordinary code and scalable distributed execution. ### Project history Locust's official history page says it was created out of frustration with existing tools such as Apache JMeter and Tsung. The objection was both ergonomic and architectural: graphical point-and-click test design made complex scenarios hard to maintain, and thread-bound approaches limited concurrency. The project was created in 2011 by Carl Bystrom and Jonatan Heyman while they were working on Battlelog, the companion app for Battlefield 3. That origin explains Locust's emphasis on simulating many concurrent users while keeping test behavior programmable. The official repository describes Locust as an open source performance/load testing tool for HTTP and other protocols, with tests defined in regular Python code. Its docs grew to cover configuration files, distributed load generation, Docker, headless operation, web UI customization, and hosted load testing. ### Adoption history Locust adoption spread among Python teams and service developers who wanted load tests in the same language and version-control workflow as application code. The official Locust Cloud retrospective describes the project as reaching thirteen years and tens of millions of downloads, indicating broad use beyond its original game-service context. The 1.0 release was a significant API cleanup: the changelog documents renaming `Locust` and `HttpLocust` classes to `User` and `HttpUser`, changing client-count terminology to users, and enabling task declarations directly on User classes. Later 2.x releases continued that modernization while preserving the package's code-first model. ### How it is used A normal Locust project defines user behavior in a Python locustfile, then runs `locust` to open the web UI or uses headless command-line options in CI. The configuration docs list CLI flags, environment variables, and config-file keys for the same settings. Locust looks for `~/.locust.conf`, `./locust.conf`, and `./pyproject.toml` by default, with `--config` available for an additional file. No official credentials file is documented for the open source CLI. ### Why package nerds care Locust is important to package nerds because it is a Python CLI that is also a test framework, a web application, and a distributed worker system. Packaging has to account for Python versions, transitive networking dependencies, and executable entry points. It is also culturally important as a counterpoint to GUI-first load-testing tools: install a package, commit a locustfile, and scale from a local smoke test to distributed load generation. ### Timeline - 2011: Locust was created by Carl Bystrom and Jonatan Heyman during Battlelog development. - 2014: Locust 0.7-era changes updated major dependencies such as requests and gevent. - 2020: Locust 1.0 introduced breaking API changes including `User` and `HttpUser` class names. - 2021: Locust 2.0 refined distributed user control and other APIs. - 2024: Locust maintainers described the project as thirteen years old with more than 60 million downloads. ### Related projects - Apache JMeter and Tsung are explicitly named in Locust's official history as prior tools the authors had used. - k6, Gatling, Artillery, wrk, Vegeta, and ApacheBench occupy adjacent load-testing niches with different languages and execution models. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for locust. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL. ## 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 - Unix: ~/.locust.conf, ./locust.conf, ./pyproject.toml ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** locust - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - python3-locust - 2.24.0-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: python3-locust from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Developer friendly load testing framework | https://locust.io/ - Ubuntu apt - python3-locust - 2.24.0-1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: python3-locust from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Developer friendly load testing framework | https://locust.io/ ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [zeromq](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/zeromq/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [cmake](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmake/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ninja](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ninja/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [artillery](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/artillery/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, performance-testing, testing. - [goku](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/goku/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, testing. - [bzt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bzt/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, performance-testing, testing. - [cassowary](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cassowary/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, testing. - [jmeter](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/jmeter/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, performance-testing, testing. - [xk6](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xk6/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, testing. - [gcovr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gcovr/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, python, testing. - [gor](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gor/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, load-testing, testing. - [khaos](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/khaos/) - Both packages touch the same language runtime or ecosystem. Shared terms: certifi, cli, developer, developer-tools, load. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/locust.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/locust.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph