# paullouisageneau/libdatachannel

C/C++ WebRTC network library featuring Data Channels, Media Transport, and WebSockets

Repository: https://github.com/paullouisageneau/libdatachannel
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libdatachannel
Homepage: https://libdatachannel.org/
Language: C++
License: MPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: webrtc, webrtc-datachannel, datachannel, rtcdatachannel, p2p, peer-to-peer, websocket, peerconnection, cpp, sctp, rtcpeerconnection, libdatachannel, webrtc-video, rfc-8831, rfc-8834, libnice, c-plus-plus
Last push: 2026-08-07T22:37:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 76, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2595, "days_push": 26, "days_rel": 82, "gap_med": 30.5, "n_releases_24m": 17}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2719, forks 573 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:12.204546+00:00)

## What it is
libdatachannel is a standalone C++17 library (with C bindings) implementing WebRTC Data Channels, WebRTC Media Transport, and WebSockets with a simplified JavaScript-inspired API. It is lightweight with minimal dependencies, supports multiple TLS and ICE backends, and compiles for POSIX platforms, Windows, and WebAssembly.

## Use cases
- add WebRTC data channels to a native C++ application
- establish peer-to-peer connections between native apps and browsers
- stream audio and video using WebRTC media transport in C/C++
- use WebSockets for signaling in a cross-platform app
- compile WebRTC data channel code to WebAssembly for the browser
- avoid building Google's heavyweight libwebrtc reference implementation

## When to choose
- you need WebRTC data channels or media transport in C/C++ with a small dependency footprint
- you want browser-compatible peer-to-peer connectivity from native applications
- you need a portable WebRTC library across Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android
- you prefer a simple JavaScript-like API over Google's reference libwebrtc

## When to avoid
- you need the full WebRTC feature set such as advanced codecs or simulcast available only in Google's libwebrtc
- you are building in a language better served by native bindings like Rust or Node.js packages
- you need a managed high-level WebRTC service rather than a low-level library

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: websocket, networking, p2p, security, cryptography
- domain: networking, web-development, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, c, wasm, cross-platform
- tags: webrtc, datachannel, sctp, rtcpeerconnection, media-transport, c-bindings, p2p, signaling, real-time, linux, macos, android, ios

## Member repositories
- paullouisageneau/libdatachannel (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:12.204546+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 2026-08-30T02:15:18.113554+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/paullouisageneau/libdatachannel (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:12.204546+00:00, sha c0b6ebd50eb0)
  - homepage: https://libdatachannel.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:58:12.351184+00:00, sha 3beb8e50780b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.