# johanhelsing/matchbox

Painless peer-to-peer WebRTC networking for rust wasm (and native!)

Repository: https://github.com/johanhelsing/matchbox
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/johanhelsing-matchbox
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: p2p, signalling-server, webrtc, rust, wasm, full-mesh, mesh-networks, wasm-bindgen
Last push: 2026-06-02T21:10:26+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 74/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 85, release rhythm 46, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1827, "days_push": 92, "days_rel": 201, "gap_med": 151, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1148, forks 113 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:46.197895+00:00)

## What it is
Matchbox is a Rust library and toolset for painless peer-to-peer WebRTC networking targeting both wasm/browser and native applications. It provides a socket abstraction, a signaling server library, a ready-to-use full-mesh signaling server, and a Bevy game engine integration.

## Use cases
- build low-latency multiplayer browser games with p2p WebRTC connections
- add udp-like unreliable networking to Rust wasm games
- create reliable or unreliable data channels between peers in Rust
- run a self-hosted WebRTC signaling server for matchmaking
- integrate p2p networking with Bevy and GGRS for rollback netcode
- connect 2-4 players directly in a web game without a game server

## When to choose
- you're building multiplayer games in Rust that run in the browser via wasm
- you need low-latency, udp-like p2p connections with configurable reliability
- you use Bevy and want rollback netcode via GGRS over WebRTC
- you want a simple, self-hostable signaling server

## When to avoid
- you need client-server authoritative networking rather than peer-to-peer
- you're not using Rust or don't target wasm/native Rust apps
- you need TURN relay infrastructure or large-scale mesh topologies out of the box
- your game engine isn't Bevy and you need engine-specific integrations

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: p2p, networking, websocket, sdk, game-engine
- domain: web-development, networking, gaming-tools, cross-platform
- platform: wasm, browser, rust, cross-platform, self-hosted
- tags: webrtc, signaling-server, multiplayer-games, bevy, ggrs, udp-like-sockets, wasm-bindgen, game-development, web-server

## Member repositories
- johanhelsing/matchbox (main) score 74

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:46.197895+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 2026-08-30T06:33:50.647509+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/johanhelsing/matchbox (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:46.197895+00:00, sha d3979f4b789c)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/matchbox (fetched 2026-08-29T12:38:58.577892+00:00, sha 5e02d9022baf)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.