# opencontainers/distribution-spec

OCI Distribution Specification

Repository: https://github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/distribution-spec
Homepage: https://opencontainers.org
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: oci, containers, docker
Last push: 2026-08-31T23:24:32+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 68/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3100, "days_push": 2, "days_rel": 581, "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 1136, forks 258 (observed 2026-09-01T02:14:05.531105+00:00)

## What it is
The OCI Distribution Specification defines an open API protocol for distributing container images and other content, standardizing how registries push and pull artifacts. The repository hosts the spec document, Go types, and a conformance test suite for registry implementations.

## Use cases
- implement a container registry that conforms to the OCI distribution API
- test my registry against the OCI conformance suite
- understand how docker push and pull work at the protocol level
- use Go types for OCI manifests and descriptors
- distribute non-container artifacts like Helm charts or Wasm modules via OCI registries
- add signature or attestation associations to images with the referrers API

## When to choose
- you are building or validating a container registry implementation
- you need the authoritative reference for the OCI distribution API protocol
- you want standard Go types for OCI content descriptors and manifests

## When to avoid
- you need a ready-to-run registry server rather than a specification
- you want a client tool for pushing images rather than protocol documentation
- you need Docker-specific registry behavior outside the OCI standard

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: developer-tools, documentation, testing
- domain: apis, developer-tools
- platform: go, cross-platform
- tags: oci, container-registry, specification, conformance-testing, container-images, docker, api-protocol, containers, devops

## Member repositories
- opencontainers/distribution-spec (main) score 68

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-01T02:14:05.531105+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 2026-08-30T06:37:27.725415+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec (fetched 2026-09-01T02:14:05.531105+00:00, sha 0db39e82a4ea)
  - homepage: https://opencontainers.org (fetched 2026-08-29T12:42:10.416822+00:00, sha b703d3d4a5e4)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/about/overview (fetched 2026-08-29T12:42:10.419190+00:00, sha 4a3bc773c315)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/about/tob (fetched 2026-08-29T12:42:10.420939+00:00, sha c919f71c4f62)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/about/security-disclosure (fetched 2026-08-29T12:42:10.422729+00:00, sha e6b2016f31a1)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T12:42:10.424384+00:00, sha bdc269126fc3)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/posts/blog/2024-03-13-image-and-distribution-1-1 (fetched 2026-08-29T12:42:10.426284+00:00, sha a0490c1d9e9f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.