# acmesh-official/acme.sh

A pure Unix shell script ACME client for SSL / TLS certificate automation

Repository: https://github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/acmesh
Homepage: https://acme.sh
Language: Shell
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: acme, acme-protocol, certbot, shell, ash, bash, posix, posix-sh, zerossl, buypass, acme-v2, ssl, ssl-certificate, ssl-certificates, tls, tls-certificate, lets-encrypt, acme-challenge
Last push: 2026-08-22T02:15:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 88/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 69, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3903, "days_push": 12, "days_rel": 48, "gap_med": 114.5, "n_releases_24m": 7}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 47549, forks 5657 (observed 2026-08-28T04:12:11.235589+00:00)

## What it is
acme.sh is a pure POSIX shell script ACME protocol client that automates issuing and renewing SSL/TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt, ZeroSSL, Buypass, and other CAs. It has zero dependencies, requires no root access, supports dozens of DNS providers for domain validation, and handles the full certificate lifecycle including cron-based auto-renewal and ARI support.

## Use cases
- issue free Let's Encrypt certificates from a shell script
- automate SSL certificate renewal with cron
- get wildcard certificates via DNS validation
- manage TLS certs on servers without installing dependencies
- automate certificate issuance for nginx or apache
- renew certificates for short 47-day certificate lifetimes
- set up HTTPS for a self-hosted server

## When to choose
- you want a dependency-free, pure shell ACME client that runs anywhere
- you need DNS-01 validation with a wide range of DNS provider integrations
- you're automating certs on minimal or embedded Unix systems
- you want cron-based auto-renewal and ARI support out of the box

## When to avoid
- you prefer a GUI or managed certificate service
- you want ACME built into your web server (e.g. Caddy)
- you're on Windows/IIS and prefer win-acme
- you need a client with a plugin architecture in a language like Python (certbot)

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: security, workflow-automation, cli, developer-tools, scheduling
- domain: security, web-development, self-hosted
- platform: windows, bsd, cli, cross-platform
- tags: acme-client, lets-encrypt, ssl-tls, certificate-automation, posix-shell, zerossl, dns-validation, wildcard-certificates, cron-renewal, devops, command-line, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- acmesh-official/acme.sh (main) score 88

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:11.235589+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 2026-08-29T16:21:01.289522+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/acmesh-official/acme.sh (fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:11.235589+00:00, sha 8a377b3c0058)
  - homepage: https://acme.sh (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.420710+00:00, sha 8e08f0a86362)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/certificates (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.431078+00:00, sha 82970348b2aa)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/validation (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.433260+00:00, sha 88352bd5e9e9)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/installation (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.435394+00:00, sha c879b6b4137a)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/console (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.437512+00:00, sha 70a73e659443)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/protection (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.439398+00:00, sha 321956fc121e)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/monitoring (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.441252+00:00, sha 391dffc55cf4)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/acme (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.442909+00:00, sha 2df3bb904bde)
  - site_page: https://zerossl.com/features/enterprise (fetched 2026-08-29T07:42:31.444668+00:00, sha ffce1b641563)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.