# maxmind/libmaxminddb

C library for the MaxMind DB file format

Repository: https://github.com/maxmind/libmaxminddb
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libmaxminddb
Homepage: https://maxmind.github.io/libmaxminddb/
Language: C
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-25T20:52:55+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 73, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4915, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 181, "gap_med": 1.0, "n_releases_24m": 7}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1020, forks 243 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:15.570531+00:00)

## What it is
A C library for reading MaxMind DB files, the binary format used by MaxMind's GeoIP databases. It provides fast IP address lookups with flexible associated data types via a simple C API.

## Use cases
- look up geolocation data for an IP address in C
- read GeoIP2 mmdb database files
- resolve IP to country/city in a server application
- parse MaxMind DB binary format
- embed IP geolocation lookups in a native application

## When to choose
- you need fast, low-level IP-to-GeoIP lookups in C or C++
- you want a lightweight dependency with no runtime requirements
- you need cross-platform support including Windows via CMake

## When to avoid
- you want a high-level language binding (use official Python/Java/Go clients instead)
- you need to write MaxMind DB files rather than read them
- you need live IP intelligence updates rather than local database reads

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: parser, database-driver, geospatial
- domain: databases, networking, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cpp, c
- tags: maxmind-db, geoip, ip-geolocation, mmdb, c-library, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- maxmind/libmaxminddb (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:15.570531+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 2026-08-30T07:09:18.135813+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/maxmind/libmaxminddb (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:15.570531+00:00, sha 1f1ca1bc5e79)
  - homepage: https://maxmind.github.io/libmaxminddb/ (fetched 2026-08-29T13:09:16.343844+00:00, sha f0f0bbae6d34)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.