# etcd-io/bbolt

An embedded key/value database for Go.

Repository: https://github.com/etcd-io/bbolt
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bbolt
Homepage: https://go.etcd.io/bbolt
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T08:51:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 92/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 77, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3365, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 73, "gap_med": 53, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 9705, forks 744 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:36.877836+00:00)

## What it is
bbolt is an embedded, pure-Go key/value database forked from Ben Johnson's Bolt, maintained by the etcd-io project for reliability and stability. It stores data in a single file with B+tree indexing, ACID transactions, and a small fixed API, requiring no separate database server.

## Use cases
- embed a simple key/value store in a Go application without running a database server
- persist small-to-medium structured data with ACID transactions in a single file
- store configuration or metadata locally with fast prefix and range scans
- build a reliable local storage layer for tools like proxies or CLI apps
- replace BoltDB with an actively maintained, API-compatible fork

## When to choose
- your Go app needs embedded, zero-admin persistent key/value storage
- you want a stable, fixed API and file format with strong consistency guarantees
- you need read/write transactions and nested buckets in a single-file database
- you want a pure-Go dependency with no cgo or external services

## When to avoid
- you need SQL, complex queries, or a client-server database
- you need high write concurrency from many processes (single-writer model)
- your dataset is much larger than available RAM and write-heavy workloads dominate
- you need full-text or secondary-index search out of the box

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: database, database-driver, file-system
- domain: databases, developer-tools, backend
- platform: go, cross-platform
- tags: embedded-database, key-value-store, lmdb-inspired, pure-go, b-plus-tree, single-file-database

## Member repositories
- etcd-io/bbolt (main) score 92

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:36.877836+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 2026-08-29T17:21:14.804972+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/etcd-io/bbolt (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:36.877836+00:00, sha 14b229f8a8a3)
  - homepage: https://go.etcd.io/bbolt (fetched 2026-08-29T08:20:50.971457+00:00, sha 39aefe0f16a3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.