# NASA-SW-VnV/ikos

Static analyzer for C/C++ based on the theory of Abstract Interpretation.

Repository: https://github.com/NASA-SW-VnV/ikos
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ikos
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: static-analysis, software-verification, abstract-interpretation, program-analysis
Last push: 2026-05-31T18:45:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 64/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 16, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3242, "days_push": 94, "days_rel": 610, "gap_med": 91, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3160, forks 220 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:46.548579+00:00)

## What it is
IKOS is a static analyzer for C and C++ programs based on the theory of Abstract Interpretation, built on LLVM. It provides reusable abstract interpretation data structures and algorithms, and detects or proves the absence of runtime errors such as buffer overflows.

## Use cases
- detect buffer overflows in C programs
- prove absence of runtime errors in C/C++ code
- statically analyze C/C++ codebases for safety
- build custom sound static analyzers with abstract interpretation
- verify safety-critical C/C++ software
- find undefined behavior like out-of-bounds array access

## When to choose
- you need sound, formal static analysis of C/C++ code
- you want to prove absence of runtime errors rather than just lint
- you're developing a custom abstract interpretation analyzer
- you work on safety-critical software requiring rigorous verification

## When to avoid
- you need dynamic testing or fuzzing instead of static analysis
- you want a quick linter with low setup cost
- you analyze languages other than C/C++
- you need Windows-native support without WSL

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: security, testing, parser, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, security, programming-languages
- platform: cpp, cli
- tags: static-analysis, abstract-interpretation, llvm, c, cpp, software-verification, runtime-error-detection, nasa, algorithms, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- NASA-SW-VnV/ikos (main) score 64

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:46.548579+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 2026-08-29T18:45:32.950908+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/NASA-SW-VnV/ikos (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:46.548579+00:00, sha b97bebb16fc6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.