# skyzh/mini-lsm

learn database internals by building a storage engine in Rust

Repository: https://github.com/skyzh/mini-lsm
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mini-lsm
Homepage: https://skyzh.github.io/mini-lsm/
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: database, lsm-tree, rust, storage, tutorial, key-value-store, kv-store, lsm
Last push: 2026-08-14T08:22:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 85/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 64, longevity 96
- inputs: {"age_days": 1349, "days_push": 19, "days_rel": 25, "gap_med": 565, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4150, forks 632 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:36.443260+00:00)

## What it is
Mini-LSM is a hands-on course for learning database internals by building an LSM-tree storage engine in Rust. It covers memtables, SSTs, compaction, crash recovery, MVCC, and transactions across a guided three-week curriculum plus a coding-agent track.

## Use cases
- learn how LSM-tree storage engines work
- build a key-value storage engine in Rust
- understand compaction strategies and write amplification
- study crash recovery with write-ahead logs and manifests
- learn MVCC and transaction concurrency control
- prepare to read production storage engine code like RocksDB

## When to choose
- you know basic Rust and want to understand what happens below database APIs
- you want a structured, hands-on course with tests and guided chapters
- you are a systems or backend engineer studying storage internals

## When to avoid
- you need a production-ready storage engine for an application
- you want to learn SQL parsing, query optimization, replication, or distributed consensus
- you do not want to write Rust code

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: database, developer-tools
- domain: databases, education, developer-tools
- platform: rust, cross-platform
- tags: lsm-tree, storage-engine, tutorial, key-value-store, mvcc, course

## Member repositories
- skyzh/mini-lsm (main) score 85

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:36.443260+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 2026-08-29T18:22:54.541255+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/skyzh/mini-lsm (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:36.443260+00:00, sha b0f7d4755f76)
  - homepage: https://skyzh.github.io/mini-lsm/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:13:47.180264+00:00, sha cb629b18ba1c)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/mini-lsm (fetched 2026-08-29T09:13:47.189564+00:00, sha d40914580670)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.