Install Cerbos with Homebrew
Install the Cerbos PDP on macOS or Linux with a single Homebrew command for local development and testing.
One-command install
Install Cerbos with a single `brew install` command, no manual downloads or path configuration
Local development
Run a full Cerbos PDP on your machine to develop and test authorization policies before deploying
Automatic updates
Keep Cerbos up to date with `brew upgrade`, managed alongside your other development tools
What is Cerbos?
Cerbos is an open-source authorization layer that decouples access control from your application code. It runs as a stateless Policy Decision Point (PDP) that evaluates fine-grained policies at request time.
Authorization policies are written in human-readable YAML supporting RBAC, ABAC, and conditional rules. They can be updated, tested, and deployed independently of your application.
Deploying Cerbos via Homebrew gives you a production-ready authorization service that scales horizontally and fits naturally into your existing infrastructure and observability stack.
How to install Cerbos with Homebrew
- Install the Cerbos tap, Run
brew install cerbos/tap/cerbosto install the Cerbos binary from the official Homebrew tap. - Create a policy directory, Write your authorization policies as YAML files in a local directory.
- Start the PDP, Run
cerbos server --config=/path/to/config.yamlto start the local policy decision point. - Connect your application, Use a Cerbos SDK to send authorization checks from your application to the local PDP.
FAQ
How do I install Cerbos with Homebrew?
Run `brew install cerbos/tap/cerbos` to install the Cerbos binary. Once installed, run `cerbos server` with a policy directory to start the PDP locally.
Does Cerbos require any external dependencies?
No. Cerbos is a single static binary with no external dependencies. It requires no database, message queue, or runtime. Just install and run.
Is Homebrew suitable for production?
Homebrew is ideal for local development and testing. For production deployments, use Docker, Kubernetes with Helm, or a cloud VM with the binary installed directly or managed via systemd.
Learn more about Cerbos
Related integrations
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Cerbos + Homebrew
- Cerbos runs alongside your workloads in Homebrew
- No external databases or message queues required
- Built-in metrics, distributed tracing, and structured logging
- Stateless PDP instances scale horizontally
Authorization for AI systems
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Useful links
What is Cerbos?
Cerbos is an end-to-end enterprise authorization software for Zero Trust environments and AI-powered systems. It enforces fine-grained, contextual, and continuous authorization across apps, APIs, AI agents, MCP servers, services, and workloads.
Cerbos consists of an open-source Policy Decision Point, Enforcement Point integrations, and a centrally managed Policy Administration Plane (Cerbos Hub) that coordinates unified policy-based authorization across your architecture. Enforce least privilege & maintain full visibility into access decisions with Cerbos authorization.