# Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee

Bumblebee daemon and client rewritten in C

Repository: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bumblebee-project-bumblebee
Homepage: http://www.bumblebee-project.org/
Language: C
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2022-06-11T11:49:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5374, "days_push": 1544, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1294, forks 141 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:16.377120+00:00)

## What it is
Bumblebee is a daemon and client (rewritten in C) that manages NVIDIA Optimus hybrid graphics on Linux laptops, letting users run applications on the discrete GPU via optirun while powering it down when idle. It works with nouveau or proprietary NVIDIA drivers and back-ends like VirtualGL or Primus, with optional power management via bbswitch.

## Use cases
- run games on the nvidia gpu of an optimus laptop on linux
- manage hybrid graphics power management on a laptop
- run an application with the discrete gpu using optirun
- turn off the nvidia gpu to save battery on linux
- set up nvidia optimus support on debian or arch
- use primus or virtualgl with an optimus laptop

## When to choose
- you have an older NVIDIA Optimus laptop running Linux and need optirun/primus rendering
- you want automatic dGPU power-off when the discrete card is unused
- your distribution still packages Bumblebee and your kernel/hardware predates modern PRIME offload

## When to avoid
- you have a newer laptop where built-in PRIME render offload and nvidia power management work
- you use Wayland, which Bumblebee does not support
- you need actively maintained software - the project is largely in maintenance mode

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, configuration-management, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, hardware, graphics
- platform: cli
- tags: nvidia-optimus, hybrid-graphics, gpu-power-management, optirun, bbswitch, primus, virtualgl, daemon, linux

## Member repositories
- Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:16.377120+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 2026-08-30T04:54:02.877714+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:16.377120+00:00, sha 7bec248496a3)
  - homepage: http://www.bumblebee-project.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:10:46.039756+00:00, sha 0d4d51172276)
  - site_page: https://www.bumblebee-project.org/install.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:10:46.042650+00:00, sha 894423858cc7)
  - site_page: http://wiki.bumblebee-project.org/FAQ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:10:46.044553+00:00, sha 038ad74cfe79)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.