# cabinpkg/cabin

C/C++ package manager and build system, inspired by Cargo

Repository: https://github.com/cabinpkg/cabin
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cabin
Homepage: https://cabinpkg.com
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: package-manager, c-plus-plus, build-system
Last push: 2026-08-26T17:51:30+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 97/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 92, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3136, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 57, "gap_med": 17, "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 1484, forks 93 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:51.208089+00:00)

## What it is
Cabin is an opinionated package manager and build system for C and C++ projects, inspired by Rust's Cargo. It uses a declarative cabin.toml manifest, resolves compilers and dependencies, and plans builds as a deterministic Ninja graph.

## Use cases
- manage dependencies for a C/C++ project with a Cargo-style workflow
- scaffold a new C or C++ package with cabin new
- build C and C++ sources in one project with GCC, Clang, or MSVC
- get reproducible builds with lockfiles, vendoring, and offline mode
- run tests and examples for a C/C++ package
- publish and install C/C++ libraries from a package registry

## When to choose
- you want a simple, explicit, package-oriented build workflow for C/C++ instead of a programmable build system
- you like Cargo's developer experience and want something similar for C/C++
- you need deterministic builds with lockfiles and vendoring
- you want one manifest to handle mixed C and C++ sources across GCC, Clang, and MSVC

## When to avoid
- you need a fully programmable or highly customized build system like CMake or Bazel
- you require a stable 1.0 API - Cabin is pre-1.0 and features may change
- you need MinGW or clang toolchains on Windows, which are unsupported
- you have an existing large codebase with complex bespoke build logic

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: package-manager, build-tool, cli
- domain: developer-tools, programming-languages
- platform: windows, cli, rust
- tags: c, cpp, cargo-inspired, ninja, dependency-management, manifest, lockfile, vendoring, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- cabinpkg/cabin (main) score 97

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:51.208089+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 2026-08-30T04:33:59.065566+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cabinpkg/cabin (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:51.208089+00:00, sha 94fbb27ab4a7)
  - homepage: https://cabinpkg.com (fetched 2026-08-29T11:40:18.588262+00:00, sha cb274a20e4bb)
  - site_page: https://cabinpkg.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T11:40:18.597218+00:00, sha 6be400745041)
  - site_page: https://cabinpkg.com/docs/installation (fetched 2026-08-29T11:40:18.598958+00:00, sha a30be2166094)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.