# cri-o/cri-o

Open Container Initiative-based implementation of Kubernetes Container Runtime Interface

Repository: https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cri-o
Homepage: https://cri-o.io
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: oci, oci-runtime, kubernetes, container-runtime-interface, k8s-sig-node, kata-containers, runc, hacktoberfest, crun
Last push: 2026-08-26T23:00:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3645, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 9, "gap_med": 0.0, "n_releases_24m": 83}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5654, forks 1203 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:27.196529+00:00)

## What it is
CRI-O is a lightweight, OCI-compliant container runtime that implements the Kubernetes Container Runtime Interface (CRI). It lets Kubernetes run any OCI-compliant container image from any compliant registry, without Docker, and follows Kubernetes release cycles.

## Use cases
- run kubernetes without docker
- lightweight container runtime for kubelet
- replace dockershim in a kubernetes cluster
- set up kubeadm with an OCI runtime
- use crun or runc as the low-level runtime
- run kata containers for sandboxed pods
- install a CRI runtime on rpm/deb based linux servers

## When to choose
- you run Kubernetes and want a minimal, Kubernetes-focused runtime
- you need OCI hooks, metrics, or tracing support for pods
- you want a CNCF-stable runtime with deb/rpm packaging aligned to Kubernetes versions

## When to avoid
- you need a standalone Docker-compatible CLI for local development
- you run containers outside Kubernetes
- you need Windows container support

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: container-runtime, container-orchestration, developer-tools
- domain: cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code
- platform: go, self-hosted
- tags: oci, cri, kubernetes, container-runtime, runc, crun, kata-containers, kubelet, containers, devops, linux, docker

## Member repositories
- cri-o/cri-o (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:27.196529+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 2026-08-29T17:55:15.472097+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:27.196529+00:00, sha 5ee7ef42fdb9)
  - homepage: https://cri-o.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:49:36.938110+00:00, sha c0850264f668)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.