# cosmos/ibc

Interchain Standards (ICS) for the Cosmos network & interchain ecosystem.

Repository: https://github.com/cosmos/ibc
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cosmos-ibc
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: distributed-ledger, blockchain, interchain, cosmos
Last push: 2026-09-02T21:57:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 60, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2763, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": 7, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: prerelease_only
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1018, forks 455 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:10.259601+00:00)

## What it is
The canonical repository for Interchain Standards (ICS) defining the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol used across the Cosmos ecosystem. It hosts specifications for the core transport, authentication, and ordering layer (IBC/TAO) as well as application-layer packet semantics (IBC/APP), including the newer IBC v2 standards.

## Use cases
- understand how the IBC cross-chain communication protocol works
- read the official IBC interchain standards specifications
- implement IBC protocol support in a blockchain
- learn about IBC v2 client and packet semantics
- contribute to or propose new interchain standards
- find reference implementations of IBC standards

## When to choose
- you are building or integrating IBC into a Cosmos SDK chain or other blockchain
- you need the authoritative, up-to-date protocol specifications for IBC v1 or v2
- you want to follow or contribute to interchain standards development

## When to avoid
- you need a runnable IBC implementation rather than specifications - use ibc-go instead
- you want a general-purpose blockchain framework rather than protocol standards
- you need end-user tooling for transferring tokens across chains

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: documentation
- domain: blockchain, microservices, apis, documentation
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: interchain-standards, ibc-protocol, cosmos-ecosystem, cross-chain-communication, protocol-specification, specification

## Member repositories
- cosmos/ibc (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:10.259601+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 2026-08-30T07:11:18.401982+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cosmos/ibc (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:10.259601+00:00, sha 7ec55f85223b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.