# polarsignals/frostdb

❄️ Coolest database around 🧊 Embeddable column database written in Go.

Repository: https://github.com/polarsignals/frostdb
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/frostdb
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: database, columnar-storage, apache-arrow, apache-parquet, golang
Last push: 2026-08-26T03:05:33+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1624, "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 1544, forks 79 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:01.416944+00:00)

## What it is
FrostDB is an embeddable columnar database written in Go that uses Apache Parquet for storage and Apache Arrow for query-time processing. It supports semi-structured schemas with dynamic columns and is optimized for write-heavy workloads with occasional analytical queries.

## Use cases
- embed a columnar analytics database in a Go application
- store and query write-heavy observability data like profiles and metrics
- query semi-structured data with columns added at runtime
- analyze immutable datasets with Arrow-based DataFrame queries
- replace running a separate database server with an in-process store

## When to choose
- you are developing in Go and want an embedded columnar database
- your datasets are immutable and don't need updates or deletes
- your schema has dynamic columns that grow at runtime
- your workload is write-heavy with occasional analytical queries

## When to avoid
- you need a standalone database server
- you need to update or delete existing data
- you query by rows instead of columns
- you are not developing in Go
- you need a production-ready database with stable APIs

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: experimental
- function: database, serialization, search-engine
- domain: databases, analytics, developer-tools
- platform: go, cross-platform
- tags: columnar-database, embeddable, apache-arrow, apache-parquet, wide-column, observability

## Member repositories
- polarsignals/frostdb (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:01.416944+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 2026-08-30T04:30:38.936889+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/polarsignals/frostdb (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:01.416944+00:00, sha ee40cae2c537)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.