Install maigret with Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• maigret
• update_sitesmd

Project history

The public GitHub repository was created in June 2020. By its first listed GitHub release in January 2021, Maigret had settled into the package shape familiar to CLI users: install with pip, run `maigret USERNAME`, and emit reports for offline review.

The project grew from a simple account-checking utility into a maintained OSINT framework with a large site database, recursive search, tag filtering, Tor/I2P and proxy support, a web UI, and optional AI-assisted report summarization. Official settings documentation describes a bundled site database plus a higher-priority auto-updated database downloaded into `~/.maigret/data.json` when available.

Adoption history

Maigret has become a visible package in the OSINT CLI ecosystem: the repository metadata shows tens of thousands of GitHub stars, and the README links PyPI, Docker, cloud-shell, standalone Windows, and web-interface usage paths. The input package-manager facts also show availability through Homebrew, MacPorts, and Nix.

The README lists professional OSINT and social-media analysis tools built on Maigret, including Social Links API, Social Links Crimewall, and UserSearch, which is unusually explicit upstream evidence of downstream adoption for this kind of tool.

How it is used

Typical package-manager usage is direct: install the package, run `maigret username`, then choose report formats such as HTML, PDF, XMind, JSON, CSV, text, graph, or Neo4j output. Power users narrow searches with tags, scan all sites with `-a`, run the bundled web UI, or import Maigret as a Python library.

For operations work, the package matters because it bundles and updates a large site database, can work through proxy/Tor/I2P paths, and can be run without per-site API credentials. Optional AI analysis uses an OpenAI-compatible key from settings or `OPENAI_API_KEY`.

Why package nerds care

Maigret is the kind of Homebrew/Nix/PyPI package that turns a messy web-investigation workflow into a repeatable CLI artifact: one executable, a maintained data file, reproducible report formats, and enough knobs to fit CI, containers, and local analyst machines.

Its significance is also in its maintenance burden. Username-search tools decay as sites change, so Maigret's auto-updated database, site metadata, and self-check/development workflow are central to why package users track releases rather than treating it as a static script.

Timeline

• 2020: Public GitHub repository created.
• 2021: First listed GitHub releases appear.
• 2022: v0.4.x releases continue the Python CLI package line.
• 2025: v0.5.0 release published.
• 2026: v0.6.x releases published, with active repository updates.

Related projects

• The README links `soxoj/socid_extractor` as part of Maigret's profile-information extraction story.
• In package-manager culture, Maigret sits near other username and OSINT tools such as Sherlock, while distinguishing itself with richer reporting, a larger site database, and a web UI.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/soxoj/maigret
• https://api.github.com/repos/soxoj/maigret/releases
• https://github.com/soxoj/maigret
• https://maigret.readthedocs.io/en/latest/settings.html
• source_facts.package-manager