# acidanthera/Lilu

Arbitrary kext and process patching on macOS

Repository: https://github.com/acidanthera/Lilu
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/lilu
Language: C
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: lilu
Last push: 2026-03-20T15:10:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 68/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 73, release rhythm 43, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3479, "days_push": 166, "days_rel": 166, "gap_med": 215, "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 3852, forks 428 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:27.135381+00:00)

## What it is
Lilu is an open-source macOS kernel extension (kext) providing a platform for arbitrary kext, library, and process patching. It offers a unified plugin API that other kernel extensions depend on to perform runtime patching throughout the system.

## Use cases
- patch macOS kernel extensions at runtime
- build a kext plugin that patches system frameworks
- patch user-space processes and dyld shared cache on macOS
- enable GPU or audio fixes on Hackintosh systems via Lilu plugins
- hook and modify kernel functions on macOS

## When to choose
- you are developing a macOS kernel extension that needs to patch kexts, libraries, or processes
- you need a stable, well-maintained plugin API for Hackintosh-related kexts like WhateverGreen or AppleALC
- you want debug logging and boot-argument configuration for kernel patching

## When to avoid
- you need kernel patching on Linux, Windows, or other non-macOS platforms
- you want a simple userspace hooking library without kernel extension development
- your project must run in safe mode, where Lilu plugins generally cease to function

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: middleware, plugin-system, security
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, apple-ecosystem
- platform: cpp
- tags: kext, kernel-extension, hackintosh, patching, plugin-api, macos

## Member repositories
- acidanthera/Lilu (main) score 68

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:27.135381+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 2026-08-29T18:25:57.444029+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/acidanthera/Lilu (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:27.135381+00:00, sha 039720e28a4d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.