# rust-osdev/bootloader

An experimental pure-Rust x86 bootloader

Repository: https://github.com/rust-osdev/bootloader
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bootloader
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-18T06:12:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 83, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3154, "days_push": 15, "days_rel": 37, "gap_med": 46, "n_releases_24m": 10}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1687, forks 238 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:22.269931+00:00)

## What it is
An experimental x86_64 bootloader written in pure Rust that works on both BIOS and UEFI systems. It lets OS developers package their Rust kernels into bootable disk images with minimal build-time dependencies.

## Use cases
- boot a custom Rust kernel on BIOS and UEFI systems
- create bootable disk images from compiled kernels
- write a hobby operating system in Rust
- get memory map and framebuffer info at kernel startup
- build an OS without assembler or C toolchain dependencies

## When to choose
- you are writing an x86_64 kernel in Rust and want a ready-made bootloader
- you want to support both BIOS and UEFI boot from one codebase
- you want a bootloader buildable on any host platform with just rustup

## When to avoid
- you need a production bootloader for non-x86 architectures
- you need multi-boot or chainloading features
- you need a battle-tested bootloader for a commercial OS

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: experimental
- function: build-tool, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, hardware
- platform: rust, windows, cross-platform
- tags: bootloader, x86-64, bios, uefi, osdev, no-std, kernel, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- rust-osdev/bootloader (main) score 93

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:22.269931+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 2026-08-30T03:38:53.505934+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rust-osdev/bootloader (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:22.269931+00:00, sha 55ccb6801f10)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/bootloader (fetched 2026-08-29T11:13:42.940377+00:00, sha 79b289d1a909)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.