# Install thanos with Homebrew, apk, Nix Highly available Prometheus setup with long term storage capabilities. Version 0.42.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-07-08. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:thanos ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install thanos ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add thanos ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: thanos from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#thanos ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/th/thanos/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:thanos - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.42.0 - **Source summary:** Highly available Prometheus setup with long term storage capabilities - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** Apache-2.0 - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-07-08T16:50:25Z - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - thanos (cli) - thanos (alias) ## Build dependencies - go ## 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: 0.42.0 - Package-manager updated: 2026-07-08 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos - Upstream latest detected: v0.42.0 (current) ## Project history and usage Thanos is a CNCF Incubating project that extends Prometheus deployments with global querying, high availability, and long-term storage. The README describes it as a set of composable components that can be added on top of existing Prometheus installations. ### Project history Thanos was created in the Prometheus ecosystem to address operational gaps that appear when teams run many Prometheus servers or need longer metric retention than local Prometheus storage comfortably provides. The CNCF incubation announcement says the project was created at Improbable to enable reliable monitoring on a global scale. The project architecture follows a component model rather than a single monolith. Its README lists aims including a global query view, unlimited retention, and high availability; its getting-started documentation presents Thanos as a single binary whose features can be deployed independently for gradual rollout. Thanos moved into CNCF governance as the cloud-native monitoring ecosystem matured. The CNCF project page records acceptance into CNCF on July 14, 2019 and movement to Incubating maturity on August 19, 2020. ### Adoption history The official Thanos repository maintains an adopters list including organizations such as Aiven, Monzo, Adobe, eBay, Sauce Labs, Tencent, Wise, ByteDance, SoundCloud, and many others. This gives the project unusually visible enterprise adoption compared with small CLI-only formulae. The Thanos documentation also records talks, user stories, and blog posts from 2018 onward, including an introductory 2018 post, 2019 user stories, and later KubeCon/CNCF-era talks. That official documentation trail shows the project moving from early Prometheus-at-scale experiments into a standard option for multi-cluster and long-retention metrics systems. ### How it is used Operators use the `thanos` binary to deploy components such as Sidecar, Query, Store, Receive, Rule, Compact, and Query Frontend. The getting-started guide explains that Thanos can be added gradually and can run in Kubernetes or more traditional environments. The package is especially relevant to Prometheus users who need object-storage-backed historical metrics, deduplication across high-availability Prometheus pairs, global query views across clusters, and downsampling for older data. ### Why package nerds care For package nerds, Thanos is a case where a Homebrew formula is not just a developer convenience but a way to get the same operational binary used in Kubernetes and cloud-native production systems. The README notes that release tarballs are built for major platforms and that every commit to main builds container images. Its package-manager footprint in the input spans Homebrew, Alpine, and Nix, while its primary distribution story remains GitHub releases and OCI images. That split reflects modern infrastructure tooling: package managers help local testing and ops workflows, while production often consumes containers or Kubernetes manifests. ### Timeline - 2018: Official docs list the introductory Thanos blog post and first Prometheus meetup slides. - 2019: CNCF accepts Thanos on July 14, according to the CNCF project page. - 2020: CNCF moves Thanos to Incubating on August 19. - 2024: The README notes ThanosCon as a KubeCon Europe co-located event. ### Related projects - Thanos is directly tied to Prometheus and its storage format, and the README positions it as an add-on to existing Prometheus deployments. - The getting-started documentation points to prometheus-operator, kube-thanos, and community Helm charts as common Kubernetes deployment paths. ### Sources - CNCF incubation announcement: https://www.cncf.io/blog/2020/08/19/toc-approves-thanos-from-sandbox-to-incubation/ - CNCF project page: https://www.cncf.io/projects/thanos/ - Official README: https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos#readme - Official adopters list: https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos/blob/main/website/data/adopters.yml - Official docs: https://thanos.io/tip/thanos/getting-started.md ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** thanos - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Nix - thanos: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/th/thanos/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - apk - thanos - 0.31.0-r23: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: thanos from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Highly available Prometheus setup with long term storage capabilities. CNCF Sandbox project. | https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos - apk - thanos-openrc - 0.31.0-r23: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: thanos-openrc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/testing/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Highly available Prometheus setup with long term storage capabilities. CNCF Sandbox project. (OpenRC init scripts) | https://github.com/thanos-io/thanos ## Related links - [Cloud CLI packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/cloud-clis/) - Belongs to a cloud or infrastructure command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [go](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/go/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [ktop](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ktop/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, metrics, monitoring. - [prometheus](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/prometheus/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, metrics, monitoring. - [dtop](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/dtop/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, monitoring. - [mimirtool](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mimirtool/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, metrics, prometheus. - [harbor-cli](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/harbor-cli/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, cncf. - [kubetui](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/kubetui/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, monitoring. - [mcp-grafana](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mcp-grafana/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, monitoring. - [newrelic-infra-agent](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/newrelic-infra-agent/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, cloud-infrastructure, monitoring. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/thanos.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/thanos.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - 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