# Hermit

Hermit for Rust.

Repository: https://github.com/hermit-os/hermit-rs
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/hermit
Homepage: https://hermit-os.org
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: virtualization, osdev, operating-system, cloud-computing, high-performance-computing, rust-lang, unikernel, rust, operating-systems
Last push: 2026-08-25T20:17:38+00:00
Link (homepage): https://hermit-os.org

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 62, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2510, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 173, "gap_med": 65, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1958, forks 117 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:59.204770+00:00)

## What it is
Hermit is a lightweight unikernel written entirely in Rust, targeting scalable and predictable runtimes for high-performance and cloud computing. Applications are bundled directly with the kernel library so they run without an installed operating system, reducing overhead for virtual machines and HPC workloads.

## Use cases
- run Rust applications as a unikernel without a host OS
- build lightweight virtual machines with minimal overhead
- deploy high-performance computing workloads with predictable runtime behavior
- develop a library operating system in pure Rust
- run C/C++, Go, or Fortran applications on a Rust-based unikernel
- experiment with kernel development using Rust's memory safety guarantees

## When to choose
- you need a minimal, low-overhead runtime for cloud VMs or HPC
- you want to write or run Rust applications directly on bare metal
- you want kernel-level memory and thread safety via Rust's ownership model
- you prefer a build process integrated with the standard Rust toolchain

## When to avoid
- you need a general-purpose OS with full driver and package ecosystems
- your application depends heavily on OS services or dynamic linking
- you need to run unmodified binaries of arbitrary languages without porting
- you require broad hardware support beyond Hermit's targeted platforms

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: programming-language, compiler, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, cloud-computing, developer-tools, performance
- platform: rust, windows
- tags: unikernel, operating-system, kernel, rust-lang, osdev, high-performance-computing, virtualization, library-os, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- hermit-os/hermit-rs (main) score 86
- hermit-os/kernel (backend) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:59.204770+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 2026-08-30T03:05:59.464530+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/hermit-os/hermit-rs (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:59.204770+00:00, sha a07df811f6fa)
  - homepage: https://hermit-os.org (fetched 2026-08-29T10:45:50.323151+00:00, sha 18dfaebb404d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.