# coreos/go-systemd

Go bindings to systemd socket activation, journal, D-Bus, and unit files

Repository: https://github.com/coreos/go-systemd
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/go-systemd
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: go, systemd, journald, machined, dbus
Last push: 2026-07-23T00:05:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 93, release rhythm 44, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4737, "days_push": 42, "days_rel": 218, "gap_med": 160, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2711, forks 337 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:11.821028+00:00)

## What it is
Go bindings for systemd covering socket activation, sd_notify service notifications, the D-Bus API, journald read/write, logind, machined, and unit file parsing. It lets Go applications integrate natively with systemd service management and logging on Linux.

## Use cases
- write a Go HTTP server that uses systemd socket activation
- notify systemd of service readiness and watchdog events via sd_notify
- start, stop, and inspect systemd units from Go code
- write structured log entries to journald from a Go application
- read and query journald logs programmatically
- parse and compare systemd unit files in Go
- register containers or machines with systemd machined

## When to choose
- your Go service runs on a systemd-based Linux distribution and needs native integration
- you need socket activation or sd_notify watchdog support in Go
- you want to control or introspect systemd units programmatically
- you need structured journald logging or journal reading from Go

## When to avoid
- your application targets non-Linux platforms where systemd is unavailable
- you only need generic logging without journald-specific features
- you cannot use cgo, since the sdjournal read package requires it

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: logging, middleware, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, operating-systems, backend
- platform: go
- tags: systemd, journald, dbus, socket-activation, sd-notify, unit-files, logind, machined, linux

## Member repositories
- coreos/go-systemd (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:11.821028+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 2026-08-30T02:15:34.236294+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/coreos/go-systemd (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:11.821028+00:00, sha 5e371b9082ef)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.