# nanomsg/nanomsg

nanomsg library

Repository: https://github.com/nanomsg/nanomsg
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/nanomsg
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-02T21:30:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 88/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 72, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5075, "days_push": 31, "days_rel": 31, "gap_med": 150.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6291, forks 1030 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:41.416715+00:00)

## What it is
nanomsg is a C library implementing lightweight 'scalability protocols' for common messaging patterns such as request/reply, publish/subscribe, and surveyor/respondent. It runs over transports including TCP, UNIX domain sockets, and WebSocket, and is the predecessor of the NNG library.

## Use cases
- build pub/sub messaging between services
- implement request/reply IPC between processes
- connect distributed components over TCP with low latency
- exchange messages over WebSocket transport
- replace ZeroMQ with a simpler C messaging library
- wire up surveyor/respondent fan-out patterns

## When to choose
- you need a small, high-performance C messaging library with multiple messaging patterns
- you want POSIX/Windows portability with TCP, IPC, and WebSocket transports
- you are maintaining or integrating with existing nanomsg-based systems

## When to avoid
- you are starting a new project - prefer NNG, the actively developed successor
- you need a broker-based message queue like RabbitMQ or Kafka
- you need high-level bindings or rich ecosystem support beyond core C

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: message-queue, networking, rpc, websocket, concurrency
- domain: microservices, networking, backend
- platform: windows, cross-platform, c
- tags: scalability-protocols, pub-sub, request-reply, ipc, zeromq-alternative, c-library, messaging, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- nanomsg/nanomsg (main) score 88

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:41.416715+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 2026-08-29T17:46:17.937150+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nanomsg/nanomsg (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:41.416715+00:00, sha 2f902ec1fcaa)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.