# cantools/cantools

CAN bus tools.

Repository: https://github.com/cantools/cantools
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cantools
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: can-bus, python, kcd, dbc, sym, cdd, arxml
Last push: 2026-08-26T13:16:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 99/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 99, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4147, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 7, "gap_med": 9.5, "n_releases_24m": 41}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2275, forks 648 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:33.383424+00:00)

## What it is
A Python library and command-line tool for working with CAN bus databases. It parses DBC, KCD, SYM, ARXML, and CDD files and encodes/decodes CAN messages, with extras like a candump decoder, C source generator, bus monitor, and signal plotting.

## Use cases
- parse dbc files in python
- encode and decode can messages
- decode candump output
- convert arxml to dbc
- generate c code from a dbc file
- monitor can bus traffic
- test can bus nodes

## When to avoid
- you need actual CAN hardware/protocol drivers - pair it with python-can instead
- you work with other bus systems like LIN, FlexRay, or Ethernet (Some/IP) exclusively
- you need a GUI-first CAN analysis suite like SavvyCAN or Vector tools

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: parser, serialization, cli, developer-tools
- domain: embedded-systems, developer-tools
- platform: python, cross-platform, cli
- tags: can-bus, dbc, kcd, arxml, sym, cdd, automotive, embedded, socketcan, message-encoding, code-generation, command-line, linux

## Member repositories
- cantools/cantools (main) score 99

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:33.383424+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 2026-08-30T02:41:30.452945+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cantools/cantools (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:33.383424+00:00, sha 8bd38196086f)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/cantools/json (fetched 2026-08-29T10:21:55.123928+00:00, sha fa8765a9c8c1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.