# v4l2loopback/v4l2loopback

v4l2-loopback device

Repository: https://github.com/v4l2loopback/v4l2loopback
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/v4l2loopback
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-08-18T10:48:23+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 76/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5822, "days_push": 15, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4226, forks 592 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:39.378883+00:00)

## What it is
A Linux kernel module that creates virtual V4L2 loopback video devices. Applications can write video into these devices while other applications read them as if they were ordinary cameras or capture cards.

## Use cases
- create a virtual webcam for video calls
- pipe GStreamer or OBS output into a fake camera
- apply video effects to a Zoom call
- add streaming capabilities to an application via a loopback device
- feed screen capture into apps that only accept camera input
- test video pipelines without real capture hardware

## When to choose
- you need a virtual video device on Linux
- you want to route generated or processed video into camera-consuming applications
- you are building video streaming or effects tooling on Linux

## When to avoid
- you are on Windows or macOS
- you need a userspace-only solution without kernel module compilation
- you cannot install matching kernel headers or load kernel modules

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: video-processing, graphics, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, media
- platform: c
- tags: kernel-module, v4l2, virtual-video-device, loopback, webcam, streaming, video, linux

## Member repositories
- v4l2loopback/v4l2loopback (main) score 76

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:39.378883+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 2026-08-29T18:22:22.464511+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/v4l2loopback/v4l2loopback (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:39.378883+00:00, sha e3bb1803bf8e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.