# ferrocene/ferrocene

Source code of Ferrocene, safety-critical Rust toolchain

Repository: https://github.com/ferrocene/ferrocene
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ferrocene
Homepage: https://ferrocene.dev
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T17:34:41+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 72/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 76
- inputs: {"age_days": 1066, "days_push": 7, "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 1667, forks 51 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:19.697457+00:00)

## What it is
Ferrocene is a safety-critical Rust toolchain, a downstream fork of the official Rust compiler, qualified for use in safety- and mission-critical systems. It is maintained by Ferrous Systems and qualified according to ISO 26262 (ASIL D), IEC 61508, and IEC 62304 standards.

## Use cases
- build safety-critical software in Rust for automotive systems
- use Rust in medical devices requiring IEC 62304 compliance
- develop industrial control software with a qualified toolchain
- target bare metal Arm and QNX with Rust
- obtain certification materials for a Rust compiler
- compile Rust for aerospace and railway applications

## When to choose
- you need a qualified Rust compiler for functional-safety standards like ISO 26262 or IEC 61508
- you are building safety- or mission-critical embedded systems in Rust
- you need certification documentation, safety manuals, and traceability matrices for a Rust toolchain
- you target QNX, RHIVOS, or bare-metal Arm platforms with Rust

## When to avoid
- you just need a standard Rust toolchain for general development - use upstream rustc instead
- you want to contribute compiler changes - those belong upstream in rust-lang/rust
- you need prebuilt binaries without a commercial relationship - they are gated behind customer accounts
- your project has no safety or certification requirements

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: compiler, programming-language, build-tool, embedded, testing, documentation
- domain: programming-languages, embedded-systems, compilers, developer-tools, healthcare
- platform: cross-platform, embedded, cli
- tags: rust-toolchain, safety-critical, functional-safety, iso-26262, iec-61508, iec-62304, qualified-compiler, automotive, aerospace, bare-metal, linux

## Member repositories
- ferrocene/ferrocene (main) score 72

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:19.697457+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 2026-08-30T08:32:40.787214+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ferrocene/ferrocene (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:19.697457+00:00, sha 003a6fa093ae)
  - homepage: https://ferrocene.dev (fetched 2026-08-29T11:16:11.838728+00:00, sha fb6405c2360d)
  - site_page: https://public-docs.ferrocene.dev/main/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T11:16:11.841592+00:00, sha f48dc4178f60)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.