# boltdb/bolt

An embedded key/value database for Go.

Repository: https://github.com/boltdb/bolt
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bolt
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: go, database, key-value
Archived: true
Last push: 2018-03-02T18:00:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4639, "days_push": 3106, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 14643, forks 1546 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:07.374032+00:00)

## What it is
Bolt is a pure Go embedded key/value database inspired by LMDB, offering a small API for getting and setting values with full transactional support. It is stable and production-proven but officially unmaintained, with users directed to the CoreOS fork bbolt.

## Use cases
- embed a simple key-value store in a Go application without running a database server
- persist small amounts of structured data locally with ACID transactions
- store configuration or state for Go tools and services
- build single-binary applications that need reliable local storage
- iterate over keys with prefix and range scans in an embedded store

## When to choose
- you need a simple, dependency-free embedded key/value store in Go
- you want a fixed, stable API and file format with years of production use
- your dataset fits on a single machine and doesn't need a database server

## When to avoid
- you need active maintenance, bug fixes, or new features - use bbolt instead
- you need a client-server database or SQL queries
- you need high write concurrency from many processes

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: database, serialization
- domain: databases, developer-tools
- platform: go, cross-platform
- tags: embedded-database, key-value-store, pure-go, lmdb-inspired, unmaintained, bbolt-successor

## Member repositories
- boltdb/bolt (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:07.374032+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 2026-08-29T17:12:26.685193+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/boltdb/bolt (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:07.374032+00:00, sha 827bb3b18c0b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.