# Install maxwell with Homebrew, MacPorts Reads MySQL binlogs and writes row updates as JSON to Kafka. Version 1.45.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-04. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:maxwell ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install maxwell ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install maxwell ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/maxwell/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:maxwell - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.45.0 - **Source summary:** Reads MySQL binlogs and writes row updates as JSON to Kafka - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-04T12:51:38Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-09T07:20:21+00:00 ## Executables - maxwell (cli) - maxwell-bootstrap (cli) - maxwell (alias) - maxwell-bootstrap (alias) ## Dependencies - openjdk ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on all ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-09 - Package-manager version: 1.45.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-04 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell - info: No cached GitHub release or tag data was available. ## Project history and usage Maxwell's Daemon is a MySQL change-data-capture tool from Zendesk that reads binlogs and emits row changes as JSON to Kafka and other streaming systems. ### Project history The official repository describes Maxwell as a CDC application that reads MySQL binlogs and writes data changes as JSON to Kafka, Kinesis, and other streaming platforms. Its changelog starts in March 2015 with a first possible release that included basic Kafka support and JSON output of binlog deltas. Early 2015 releases quickly added Kafka command-line options, persisted binlog positions inside MySQL, primary-key capture, Kafka keys, MySQL 5.6 support, transaction IDs, and server-id fixes. Later releases extended producers, monitoring, high availability, MariaDB compatibility, MySQL 8 support, parser fixes, and security dependency updates. ### Adoption history Maxwell found a niche among teams that wanted MySQL CDC without running a full Kafka Connect stack. Its official README frames use cases as ETL, audit logs, cache invalidation, search indexing, and inter-service communication, and the GitHub project shows thousands of stars and many releases. ### How it is used Users run `bin/maxwell` with MySQL connection credentials and a producer target such as stdout, Kafka, Kinesis, NATS, Pub/Sub, BigQuery, RabbitMQ, Redis, SNS, or SQS. Configuration can be passed by command line, scoped environment variables, or a Java `config.properties` file, and secrets such as MySQL passwords commonly live in those configuration paths. ### Why package nerds care Maxwell is significant to data-package users because it turns a database replication stream into line-oriented JSON events that can be piped through standard streaming infrastructure. It is also a good example of a Java service packaged as a CLI daemon for operational use. ### Timeline - 2015-03-04: First possible Maxwell release with basic Kafka support and JSON binlog deltas. - 2015-03-18: Maxwell begins storing last-written binlog position inside the MySQL master. - 2015-04-06: Primary-key capture and single-topic output arrive. - 2015-09-15: v0.11.0 adds transaction information in Kafka stream output. - 2021: Releases add SNS, NATS, high availability, Docker multi-platform builds, and log4j security updates. - 2024: Official changelog still records active parser and dependency maintenance. ### Related projects - MySQL binlog, Apache Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, RabbitMQ, Redis, Google Pub/Sub, Debezium ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## 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: config.properties ## Credential files - Unix: config.properties ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** maxwell - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - MacPorts - maxwell: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/maxwell/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [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. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [openjdk](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openjdk/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [apache-flink-cdc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/apache-flink-cdc/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: change-data-capture, cli, data, streaming. - [burrow](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/burrow/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, kafka, streaming. - [ktea](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ktea/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, kafka, streaming. - [topicctl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/topicctl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, kafka, streaming. - [yozefu](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/yozefu/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, kafka, streaming. - [conduit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/conduit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, streaming. - [kafka](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/kafka/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, streaming. - [automysqlbackup](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/automysqlbackup/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, mysql. - [cqlkit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cqlkit/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: as, cli, data, json, openjdk. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/maxwell.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/maxwell.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