# RIOT-OS/RIOT

RIOT -  The friendly OS for IoT

Repository: https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/riot-os-riot
Homepage: https://riot-os.org
Language: C
License: LGPL-2.1
License Family: copyleft
Topics: c, iot, os, internetofthings, microcontrollers, rtos, riot-os, riotos, internet, internet-of-things, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2026-08-26T20:33:22+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 86, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4995, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 12, "gap_med": 84.0, "n_releases_24m": 9}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5778, forks 2107 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:29.514588+00:00)

## What it is
RIOT is an open-source, vendor-independent operating system for Internet of Things and embedded devices, supporting 8/16/32-bit microcontrollers across 200+ boards. It emphasizes energy efficiency, real-time capabilities, small memory footprint, and a uniform, partially POSIX-compliant API with standard C/C++/Rust tooling.

## Use cases
- build firmware for low-power IoT sensor nodes
- develop applications for ESP32 or ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers
- run a real-time OS on constrained embedded hardware
- prototype IoT networking with 802.15.4 and 6LoWPAN
- write portable code across 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit MCUs
- implement secure firmware updates for IoT devices
- run an IoT OS natively on Linux or BSD for testing

## When to choose
- you need a real-time, energy-efficient OS for microcontroller-based IoT devices
- you want hardware-independent code that runs across many MCU architectures and boards
- you value open standards, security features like DTLS and SUIT, and a vendor-neutral community
- you want to program embedded devices with standard gcc/gdb tooling and partial POSIX APIs

## When to avoid
- you need a full general-purpose OS with rich userspace like Linux for powerful hardware
- your project targets only high-level platforms (web, mobile, desktop) with no embedded component
- you require a commercial RTOS with vendor certification and support contracts
- you need heavy multithreading or large memory footprints beyond microcontroller constraints

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: embedded, networking, security, cryptography, concurrency
- domain: iot, embedded-systems, operating-systems, networking
- platform: embedded, iot, bsd, c, cpp, rust
- tags: rtos, microcontroller, real-time, low-power, posix, 802.15.4, 6lowpan, firmware, linux

## Member repositories
- RIOT-OS/RIOT (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:29.514588+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 2026-08-29T17:52:51.035910+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:29.514588+00:00, sha f958e5a6811e)
  - homepage: https://riot-os.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:48:34.360585+00:00, sha 416d244c5a56)
  - site_page: https://api.riot-os.org/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:48:34.370158+00:00, sha 9bdc1e4ea4ae)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.