# starkware-libs/cairo

Cairo is the first Turing-complete language for creating provable programs for general computation.

Repository: https://github.com/starkware-libs/cairo
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cairo
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: starknet, zero-knowledge-proofs, zkp, computational-integrity, cairo
Last push: 2026-08-26T19:59:50+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 97/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 94, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1567, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 41, "gap_med": 6, "n_releases_24m": 60}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1902, forks 772 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:51.673631+00:00)

## What it is
Cairo is a Turing-complete programming language for writing provable programs, implemented as a compiler toolchain written in Rust. It compiles Cairo code to Sierra and Cairo assembly (casm) and is the primary language for Starknet smart contracts and STARK-provable general computation.

## Use cases
- write provable programs with zero-knowledge proofs
- compile cairo to sierra and casm
- develop starknet smart contracts
- run cairo programs locally
- learn a zk-friendly programming language
- generate computational integrity proofs

## When to choose
- building on Starknet or STARK-based provable computation
- you need programs whose execution can be verified cryptographically
- you want the official, actively maintained Cairo toolchain

## When to avoid
- you need a general-purpose language without proof obligations
- your project targets EVM/Solidity ecosystems
- you need a stable, long-frozen language spec — Cairo is still evolving

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: compiler, programming-language, cryptography, cli
- domain: blockchain, programming-languages, compilers
- platform: windows, rust, cli
- tags: cairo, starknet, zero-knowledge-proofs, zkp, stark-proofs, sierra, casm, provable-computation, cryptography, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- starkware-libs/cairo (main) score 97

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:51.673631+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 2026-08-30T03:11:55.300710+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/starkware-libs/cairo (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:51.673631+00:00, sha b15e63f71300)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.