Install solana with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• agave-ledger-tool
• agave-validator
• agave-watchtower
• solana
• solana-keygen
• solana-stake-accounts
• solana-test-validator
• solana-tokens

Project history

The original solana-labs/solana repository was created in February 2018 and is now archived. Its README explicitly redirects readers to Agave, the Solana validator implementation from Anza.

The Anza Agave repository was created in January 2024 as a fork of solana-labs/solana. Its README documents building the Rust validator implementation, running local testnets, accessing devnet, benchmarking, and following the release process.

The package continues to expose familiar Solana command names such as solana, solana-keygen, solana-test-validator, and validator/ledger tools, even as the upstream implementation source moved to Agave.

Adoption history

The CLI became a central interface for Solana because the official Anza CLI documentation says it is the first place the Anza core team deploys new functionality and provides direct, flexible, secure account access.

Official installation docs support multiple routes: the Solana install tool, prebuilt binaries, source builds, and Homebrew. The Homebrew section notes that the formula is updated after each solana release, though it may lag the desired version.

How it is used

Developers use the CLI to create and manage wallets, choose clusters, transfer tokens, deploy programs, run local test validators, and inspect or operate validator-related state.

Package users commonly care about the config and keypair paths because the CLI reads ~/.config/solana/cli/config.yml for cluster and client defaults and commonly uses ~/.config/solana/id.json as a filesystem keypair.

Why package nerds care

For package managers, solana is a large Rust toolchain package with many operational binaries, release-channel expectations, and tight coupling to upstream network compatibility. It is not just a single wallet CLI.

The Solana-to-Agave upstream transition is also package-nerd-interesting: downstream formula names, executable names, docs, and user config paths preserve the Solana CLI identity while the maintained source repository and validator implementation live under Anza.

Timeline

• 2018-02: solana-labs/solana repository is created.
• 2024-01: anza-xyz/agave repository is created as a fork of solana-labs/solana.
• 2025: solana-labs/solana README marks the repository as a public archive and points to Agave.
• 2026: Anza docs continue to document the Solana CLI install flow, including Homebrew.

Related projects

• Agave: Anza's maintained Solana validator implementation and current source for the Homebrew package.
• solana-labs/solana: archived predecessor repository.
• Solana CLI Tool Suite: commands used for wallets, clusters, staking, programs, and local validators.
• Anchor and Solana Program Library: neighboring developer tooling commonly used with Solana CLI workflows.

Sources

• current_curation.config-file-location
• current_curation.credentials-file-location
• https://api.github.com/repos/anza-xyz/agave
• https://docs.anza.xyz/cli/
• https://docs.anza.xyz/cli/install
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anza-xyz/agave/master/README.md
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/solana-labs/solana/master/README.md
• https://solana.com/docs/intro/installation
• source_facts.executables
• source_facts.package-manager