# microsoft/coreutils

Coreutils for Windows: Installer & Packaging

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/coreutils
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/microsoft-coreutils
Language: Rust
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: command-line-tool, coreutils, gnu-coreutils
Last push: 2026-08-25T12:53:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 89, longevity 7
- inputs: {"age_days": 110, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 77, "gap_med": 15, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: young
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5088, forks 103 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:09.602896+00:00)

## What it is
A Microsoft-maintained Windows build of uutils/coreutils, findutils, and grep packaged as a single multi-call binary, bringing UNIX-style core utilities natively to Windows. It is in preview and installable via WinGet, aiming to make scripts and pipelines portable across Linux, macOS, WSL, and Windows.

## Use cases
- run unix commands like ls and cp natively on windows
- port shell scripts from linux to windows without translation
- use the same coreutils pipelines across wsl and windows
- replace gnuwin32 with a maintained coreutils distribution
- install gnu-style command line utilities via winget

## When to choose
- you want native, Microsoft-supported UNIX utilities on Windows
- you need consistent command behavior across Linux, macOS, WSL, and Windows
- you want a single multi-call binary instead of many separate executables

## When to avoid
- you rely on commands like kill that are unavailable due to Windows signal limitations
- you depend on commands that conflict with CMD or PowerShell built-ins and cannot manage PATH or aliases
- you need a fully stable, out-of-preview release

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: cli, developer-tools, file-system
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: windows, cli, rust
- tags: coreutils, uutils, unix-utilities, shell-tools, winget, multi-call-binary, command-line

## Member repositories
- microsoft/coreutils (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:09.602896+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 2026-08-29T18:02:32.786859+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/microsoft/coreutils (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:09.602896+00:00, sha e306cda8cabe)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.