GitHub – vet-run/vet: vet is a command-line tool that acts as a safety net for the risky curl

vet is a command-line tool that acts as a safety net for the common but risky curl | bash pattern. It lets you inspect remote scripts for changes, run them through a linter, and require your explicit approval before they can execute.

Don’t just run it, vet it.

We’ve all seen this pattern for installing software:

# This is convenient, but you're blindly trusting the remote script.
curl -sSL https://example.com/install.sh | bash

This is dangerous. The script could be malicious, the server could be compromised, or a transient network error could result in executing a partial script.

vet wraps this process in a secure, interactive workflow:

• Fetch: It downloads the remote script to a temporary location.

• Diff & Review: It shows you what, if anything, has changed since the last time you ran this script.

• Lint: If you have shellcheck installed, it automatically analyzes the script for potential bugs or malicious patterns.

• Confirm: It prompts you for explicit approval before executing anything.

# The new, safer way.
vet https://example.com/install.sh

We believe you should never blindly trust a script from the internet—not even ours. That’s why vet exists. The installation process itself is a perfect demonstration of the problem vet solves.

The easiest and recommended way to install vet is via Homebrew.

# First, tap the official repository
brew tap vet-run/vet

# Now, install the formula
brew install vet-run

Note: The formula is named vet-run to avoid a conflict with another tool in the Homebrew ecosystem, but this command will correctly install the vet executable on your system.

If you don’t use Homebrew, or if you simply wish to follow the security-first principle that vet champions, you can perform a manual installation. This is the two-step “Download, then Review” process that demonstrates exactly what vet automates for you.

1. Download the installer:

Choose one of the following sources. The first is the official project domain, and the second is a direct link to the GitHub release asset.

Option A: Official project domain

curl -o install_vet.sh https://getvet.sh/install.sh

Option B: Direct GitHub Release Link

curl -L -o install_vet.sh https://github.com/vet-run/vet/releases/latest/download/install.sh

2. Review the installer’s code. Open it in a text editor or use less to ensure it’s not doing anything suspicious. It’s a simple script that downloads the correct vet script and moves it to /usr/local/bin.

3. Run the installer you just vetted:

Congratulations! You just manually performed the process that vet will now automate for you.

# This is the curl-to-bash pattern.
# Don't actually do this. That's the whole point.
curl -sL https://getvet.sh/install.sh | bash

# Basic usage
vet URL>

# Example with a real-world installer
vet https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh

# Pass arguments to the remote script
# All arguments after the URL are passed directly to the script.
vet https://example.com/setup.sh --user myuser --version latest

# Non-interactive mode for trusted scripts in automated environments (e.g., CI/CD)
vet --force https://my-trusted-internal-script.sh

-f, –force

Skip all interactive prompts and execute immediately. Use with caution.

-h, –help

Display the help message.

vet is intentionally written to leverage modern bash features (arrays, [[ … ]], pipefail). We believe that for a security-focused tool, sacrificing robustness and readability for POSIX sh compatibility would be a dangerous trade-off.

The safety features provided by modern bash are non-negotiable for vet‘s mission.

If you are in a minimal environment (like an Alpine container), please install bash as an explicit dependency:

Contributions are welcome! If you have an idea for a new feature or have found a bug, please open an issue. For pull requests, please ensure that your changes are covered by tests.

• Fork the repository.

• Create a new feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-amazing-feature).

• Make your changes.

• Run the tests (bats tests/).

• Commit your changes (git commit -am ‘Add some amazing feature’).

• Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-amazing-feature).

• Open a new Pull Request.

This project is made better by its contributors. See our Contributors file to recognize those who have helped shape vet.

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.

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