# bitwalker/distillery

Simplify deployments in Elixir with OTP releases!

Repository: https://github.com/bitwalker/distillery
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/distillery
Language: Elixir
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: elixir, deployment, packaging, distribution
Last push: 2024-08-04T05:50:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3702, "days_push": 759, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2953, forks 398 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:32.086140+00:00)

## What it is
Distillery is a pure-Elixir tool that packages Mix projects into self-contained Erlang/OTP releases deployable without an Erlang/Elixir installation. It is now deprecated, as its functionality was integrated into Mix Releases in Elixir 1.9.

## Use cases
- package an Elixir app as a standalone OTP release
- deploy Elixir without installing Erlang on the target
- build self-contained release artifacts for Phoenix apps
- create release tarballs for server deployment

## When to choose
- you are stuck on Elixir < 1.9 and cannot use Mix Releases
- you maintain a legacy project already configured for Distillery

## When to avoid
- you are on Elixir 1.9 or newer - use built-in Mix Releases instead
- you need actively maintained tooling or security fixes

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: abandoned
- function: deployment, build-tool, cli
- domain: backend, developer-tools
- platform: elixir, cross-platform
- tags: otp-releases, elixir, mix, deprecated, packaging, devops, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- bitwalker/distillery (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:32.086140+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 2026-08-30T07:32:37.454727+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/bitwalker/distillery (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:32.086140+00:00, sha 6581963508d7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.