# marcosnils/bin

Effortless binary manager

Repository: https://github.com/marcosnils/bin
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bin
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: cli, package-manager, prebuilt-binaries, releases, version-manager
Last push: 2026-08-02T13:37:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 96/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 96, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2292, "days_push": 31, "days_rel": 31, "gap_med": 10, "n_releases_24m": 24}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1270, forks 70 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:11.821717+00:00)

## What it is
bin is a lightweight cross-platform CLI tool for downloading, installing, and managing prebuilt binary releases from sources like GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Docker images, and HTTP release servers. It requires no root privileges and supports version tracking, updates, rollback, and pinning of installed binaries.

## Use cases
- install prebuilt binaries from github releases without sudo
- manage and update standalone cli tools from one command
- pin specific versions of installed binaries
- bootstrap a dev environment with a list of required binaries
- rollback a binary to a previous version
- install tools from docker images as local binaries

## When to choose
- you want a lightweight, zero-config alternative to homebrew/apt for single-binary tools
- you lack root access and need user-level binary installs
- your tools are distributed as prebuilt binaries on GitHub/GitLab releases
- you want declarative, reproducible binary setups via 'bin ensure'

## When to avoid
- you need to manage libraries or language packages, not standalone binaries
- you prefer full package managers with dependency resolution like apt, brew, or nix
- you need packages not published as prebuilt release artifacts

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: package-manager, cli, deployment, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cli
- tags: binary-manager, version-manager, prebuilt-binaries, github-releases, no-root, single-binary, command-line, devops, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- marcosnils/bin (main) score 96

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:11.821717+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:03:27.102336+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/marcosnils/bin (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:11.821717+00:00, sha af8a7b02ef3a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.