# picolibc/picolibc

picolibc - a C library designed for embedded 32- and 64- bit systems.

Repository: https://github.com/picolibc/picolibc
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/picolibc
Homepage: https://keithp.com/picolibc
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-22T18:20:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 89/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 71, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2677, "days_push": 11, "days_rel": 33, "gap_med": 132, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- 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 1625, forks 292 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:12.903455+00:00)

## What it is
Picolibc is a standard C library (libc and libm) targeting small embedded 32- and 64-bit systems with limited RAM and ROM, formed by blending code from Newlib and AVR Libc. It supports many architectures including ARM, RISC-V, MIPS, and Xtensa, and uses permissive BSD-like licenses.

## Use cases
- standard C library for embedded firmware
- printf and math support on microcontrollers
- C library for RISC-V bare-metal development
- C library for ARM Cortex-M projects
- small footprint libc for limited RAM devices
- libc for Zephyr or ESP32 builds

## When to choose
- building firmware for resource-constrained embedded systems
- you need standard C APIs on bare-metal targets
- you want a permissively licensed libc without GPL bits
- targeting ARM, RISC-V, or other supported embedded architectures

## When to avoid
- developing desktop or server applications on full operating systems
- you need a fully POSIX-compliant libc like glibc or musl
- your target architecture is not supported

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: embedded
- domain: embedded-systems, developer-tools
- platform: embedded, cross-platform, windows
- tags: c-library, libc, libm, newlib, embedded-systems, risc-v, arm, iot, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- picolibc/picolibc (main) score 89

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:12.903455+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 2026-08-30T03:48:33.339135+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/picolibc/picolibc (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:12.903455+00:00, sha a0f3af63a506)
  - homepage: https://keithp.com/picolibc (fetched 2026-08-29T11:21:23.528380+00:00, sha 2fa9e087ef45)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.