# opencontainers/runtime-spec

OCI Runtime Specification

Repository: https://github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/runtime-spec
Homepage: http://www.opencontainers.org
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: oci, docker, runc, containers
Last push: 2026-04-24T18:48:18+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 64/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 79, release rhythm 23, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4107, "days_push": 131, "days_rel": 302, "gap_med": 249, "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 3664, forks 622 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:13.337050+00:00)

## What it is
The Open Container Initiative Runtime Specification, which defines how to run a filesystem bundle as a container, including configuration, lifecycle, and platform-specific details. It is the industry standard that runtimes like runc implement, enabling portable containers across compliant runtimes.

## Use cases
- build an OCI-compliant container runtime
- create container bundles with config.json
- understand how runc and docker run containers
- write lifecycle hooks for container runtimes
- make my container tooling standards-compliant
- learn the OCI container bundle format

## When to choose
- you are building or validating a low-level container runtime
- you need the authoritative reference for OCI bundle configuration and lifecycle
- you want your container tooling to interoperate with Docker, Kubernetes, and other OCI ecosystems

## When to avoid
- you want a runnable container engine rather than a specification document
- you need image format or registry distribution standards (see image-spec and distribution-spec)
- you want high-level container orchestration features

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: container-runtime, developer-tools, documentation
- domain: cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: oci, container-specification, runc, docker, filesystem-bundle, standards, open-container-initiative, containers, devops, linux

## Member repositories
- opencontainers/runtime-spec (main) score 64

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:13.337050+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 2026-08-29T18:31:33.957903+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:13.337050+00:00, sha fdde607f27e3)
  - homepage: http://www.opencontainers.org (fetched 2026-08-29T09:25:37.403165+00:00, sha cede10152191)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/about/overview (fetched 2026-08-29T09:25:37.405793+00:00, sha 4a3bc773c315)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/about/tob (fetched 2026-08-29T09:25:37.407713+00:00, sha c919f71c4f62)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/about/security-disclosure (fetched 2026-08-29T09:25:37.409454+00:00, sha e6b2016f31a1)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T09:25:37.411260+00:00, sha bdc269126fc3)
  - site_page: https://opencontainers.org/posts/blog/2024-03-13-image-and-distribution-1-1 (fetched 2026-08-29T09:25:37.413502+00:00, sha a0490c1d9e9f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.