# dehydrated-io/dehydrated

ACME client implemented as a simple shell-script – just add water

Repository: https://github.com/dehydrated-io/dehydrated
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dehydrated
Homepage: https://dehydrated.io
Language: Shell
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: certificate, signing, letsencrypt, acme, bash, zsh, shell, zerossl
Last push: 2026-04-30T14:31:23+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 59/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 80, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3925, "days_push": 125, "days_rel": 473, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6244, forks 724 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:40.928553+00:00)

## What it is
Dehydrated is an ACME client for signing TLS certificates from CAs like Let's Encrypt and ZeroSSL, implemented as a single bash/zsh-compatible shell script. It relies on openssl and cURL and supports ACME v2 including wildcard certificates, automated renewal, and certificate revocation.

## Use cases
- issue letsencrypt certificates from the command line
- automate ssl certificate renewal on a server
- get wildcard certificates via acme dns challenge
- sign certificates from zerossl without a heavy client
- renew certificates when domains change
- manage tls certs on minimal systems without python

## When to choose
- you want a dependency-light ACME client that only needs bash, openssl, and cURL
- you need wildcard certificate support and hook-based automation on servers
- you prefer a simple script you can audit and cron for renewals

## When to avoid
- you want a GUI or first-run interactive wizard for certificate management
- you need a client in a managed language with a plugin ecosystem, like certbot
- your environment lacks bash/openssl/cURL or runs on Windows without a POSIX shell

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: security, cli, workflow-automation, configuration-management
- domain: security, self-hosted, web-development
- platform: bsd, cli, self-hosted
- tags: acme, letsencrypt, zerossl, tls-certificates, bash, certificate-renewal, shell-script, devops, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- dehydrated-io/dehydrated (main) score 59

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:40.928553+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 2026-08-29T17:47:10.187357+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dehydrated-io/dehydrated (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:40.928553+00:00, sha 30b87fe9c232)
  - homepage: https://dehydrated.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:43:50.566216+00:00, sha 4fa8232c3361)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.