# youki-dev/youki

A container runtime written in Rust

Repository: https://github.com/youki-dev/youki
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/youki
Homepage: https://youki-dev.github.io/youki/
Language: Rust
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: docker, oci, containers, rust, kubernetes
Last push: 2026-08-26T00:44:41+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 94/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 83, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1985, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 39, "gap_med": 60.5, "n_releases_24m": 11}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7566, forks 458 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:01.665471+00:00)

## What it is
youki is an implementation of the OCI container runtime specification written in Rust, serving as a low-level container runtime similar to runc. It creates, starts, and deletes containers as invoked by higher-level tools like Docker, Podman, and Kubernetes.

## Use cases
- replace runc as the low-level runtime for docker or podman
- run containers with a memory-safe rust runtime
- use a container runtime in memory-constrained environments
- experiment with or contribute to OCI runtime-spec implementation
- speed up container create/start/delete lifecycle

## When to choose
- you want a faster, lower-memory alternative to runc
- you prefer memory safety of Rust over Go/C runtimes
- you're building or studying container runtime internals
- you need an OCI-compliant runtime for Linux

## When to avoid
- you need the most battle-tested, production-proven runtime (runc)
- you need crun-level performance
- you need a non-Linux platform
- you want a high-level container manager rather than a low-level runtime

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: container-runtime, cli, security
- domain: cloud-computing, developer-tools
- platform: rust, cli
- tags: oci-runtime, runc-alternative, low-level-runtime, memory-safety, containers, devops, linux, docker, kubernetes

## Member repositories
- youki-dev/youki (main) score 94

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:01.665471+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 2026-08-29T17:37:22.114906+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/youki-dev/youki (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:01.665471+00:00, sha 41bcc1b8c270)
  - homepage: https://youki-dev.github.io/youki/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:32:19.967573+00:00, sha d5ad2a1e65f2)
  - registry_crates: https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/youki (fetched 2026-08-29T08:32:19.976514+00:00, sha c4288c9f1b26)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.