# USCiLab/cereal

A C++11 library for serialization

Repository: https://github.com/USCiLab/cereal
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cereal
Language: C++
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: cereal, serialization, c-plus-plus
Last push: 2026-03-11T06:41:29+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 55/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 71, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4817, "days_push": 175, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4703, forks 843 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:57.211083+00:00)

## What it is
cereal is a header-only C++11 serialization library that converts arbitrary data types into formats like compact binary, XML, or JSON. It is fast, lightweight, easy to extend, and has no external dependencies.

## Use cases
- serialize C++ structs to binary files
- save and load objects as JSON in C++
- persist application state with XML archives
- serialize smart pointers and STL containers
- add reversible data encoding to a C++ project without dependencies

## When to choose
- you need a header-only, dependency-free C++ serialization solution
- you want support for multiple formats (binary, XML, JSON) with one API
- you need C++11 compatibility and easy extensibility for custom types

## When to avoid
- you need cross-language serialization with schema evolution like protobuf
- you require a non-C++ language binding
- you need a runtime library rather than header-only templates

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: serialization, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, files, cross-platform
- platform: cpp, cross-platform, windows
- tags: header-only, c-plus-plus, binary-serialization, xml, no-dependencies, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- USCiLab/cereal (main) score 55

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:57.211083+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 2026-08-29T18:19:12.220283+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/USCiLab/cereal (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:57.211083+00:00, sha 653a06613a5e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.