# apple/cups

Apple CUPS Sources

Repository: https://github.com/apple/cups
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/cups
Homepage: https://www.cups.org
Language: C
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: ipp-protocol, printing, printer, snmp, ipp
Archived: true
Last push: 2024-07-12T03:51:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3978, "days_push": 782, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2167, forks 477 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:21.449521+00:00)

## What it is
Apple CUPS is the standards-based open source printing system shipped with macOS and iOS, built on the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). It provides printer and print job management via System V/Berkeley command-line tools, a web admin interface, and a C API, supporting local and network printers.

## Use cases
- set up and manage printer queues on macOS or Linux
- share a printer over the network with IPP
- print from the command line with lpr/lp
- administer printers through a web interface
- develop custom printer drivers or filters with the CUPS API
- print to USB or network printers from iOS and macOS

## When to choose
- you need a standards-based IPP print server on macOS, iOS, or UNIX-like systems
- you want command-line and web-based printer administration
- you need to share printers across a network or the internet
- you are developing printer drivers or print-related software against a C API

## When to avoid
- you need the actively developed CUPS version for non-Apple operating systems (use OpenPrinting CUPS)
- you need printing on Windows
- you want a modern GUI-first print management experience

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: http-server, cli, gui, networking
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, hardware, self-hosted
- platform: cross-platform, c
- tags: ipp, printing-system, printer-drivers, ppd, snmp, print-server, apple, printing, macos, ios, linux

## Member repositories
- apple/cups (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:21.449521+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 2026-08-30T02:49:31.401848+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/apple/cups (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:21.449521+00:00, sha 8da6f50b0ed6)
  - homepage: https://www.cups.org (fetched 2026-08-29T10:29:38.615220+00:00, sha 515dc3698ba4)
  - site_page: https://www.cups.org/documentation.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:29:38.624533+00:00, sha 32b834f93529)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.