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cilium/tetragon

eBPF-based Security Observability and Runtime Enforcement

C ◇ bpf Apache-2.0
★5.1KSTARS
⑂619FORKS
!293ISSUES
🏆#1,831GLOBAL RANK
🔥1DAYS TRENDING
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Momentum

+127

STARS · LAST 30 DAYS

4

PER DAY

#16

MOST-STARRED C

Window7 days30 days90 days
Stars gained+28+127+360
Per day444
Forks gained+3+12+31

tetragon gained 127 stars in the last 30 days, about 4 a day, and now has 5.1K. It is about 5 years old and has averaged roughly 1K stars a year. It ranks #16 among C repositories and #1,831 across all languages on GitHubRepo.

Trending Record

tetragon has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #3802. Below is the 30-day activity profile:

💡 Overview

tetragon is an open-source project written in C: eBPF-based Security Observability and Runtime Enforcement.

Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in bpf, ebpf, kernel. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.

⚡ Key Features

1

Optimized execution pipeline written in C for predictable speed.

2

Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.

3

Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.

4

Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.

5

Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.

6

Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.

📥 Installation

terminal
$ git clone https://github.com/cilium/tetragon.git
cd tetragon

⚙ System Requirements

Platforms

  • • macOS
  • • Linux
  • • Windows

Runtime & Dependencies

C99 or C11 compiler with CMake / make

Architecture

x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)

🧠 How It Works

tetragon coordinates its core functionality through a modular C pipeline. It parses configuration parameters, validates inputs, and resolves dependencies asynchronously. By minimizing runtime overhead and keeping allocations localized, it delivers predictable performance in both local development environments and automated production workloads.

🎯 Production Use Cases

Production System Integration

Embed tetragon into C backend services to handle core application logic.

CI/CD Automated Pipelines

Run automated validation, builds, and integration suites during deployments.

Developer Tooling & Workflows

Accelerate developer onboarding with pre-configured project utilities.

Open Source Extension

Fork and customize internal modules under the repository's open Apache-2.0 license.

🚀 Getting Started

1

Install tetragon using your package manager: `git clone https://github.com/cilium/tetragon.git`

2

Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for tetragon.

3

Import tetragon into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.

4

Execute your test suite or run `tetragon --help` to verify successful setup.

👍 Strengths

Active community backing with 5,060 GitHub stars and verified adoption.
Permissive open-source distribution under the Apache-2.0 license.
Built in C for high execution speed and developer familiarity.
Cross-platform compatibility across modern Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Clean modular design allowing flexible configuration and pipeline integration.

⚠️ Considerations

Requires familiarity with C and modern CLI workflows.
Ecosystem extensions may require manual configuration depending on environment constraints.
Active development roadmap means breaking API changes may occur across major versions.

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👥 Who Should Use This

Developers and engineering teams building with C, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.

🏆 Nearby in the Rankings

cilium/tetragon is currently ranked #1,831 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:

RankRepositoryLanguageStarsAction
#1,826 vllm-project/aibrix Go ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,827 domcyrus/rustnet Rust ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,828 apache/ignite Java ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,829 nginx/kubernetes-ingress Go ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,830 giggsey/libphonenumber-for-php PHP ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,831 cilium/tetragon This Project C ★ 5.1K
#1,832 kimai/kimai PHP ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,833 pypa/virtualenv Python ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,834 corna/me_cleaner Python ★ 5.1K Compare ↗
#1,835 arduino/arduino-cli Go ★ 5K Compare ↗
#1,836 Expensify/App TypeScript ★ 5K Compare ↗

Frequently Asked Questions

What does tetragon do? +

eBPF-based Security Observability and Runtime Enforcement

What language is tetragon written in? +

The primary language is C. Topics include: bpf, ebpf, kernel, kubernetes, security.

Is tetragon actively maintained? +

Yes, the last recorded push was on Oct 6, 2026 with 293 open issues being tracked.

How many stars does tetragon have? +

tetragon has 5,060 stars and 619 forks on GitHub.

How does tetragon rank among GitHub repositories? +

With 5,060 stars, cilium/tetragon is ranked #1,831 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #16 among C projects.

What license is tetragon distributed under? +

The repository reports a Apache-2.0 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.

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