containers/crun
A fast and lightweight fully featured OCI runtime and C library for running containers
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+103
STARS · LAST 30 DAYS
3
PER DAY
#9
MOST-STARRED C
| Window | 7 days | 30 days | 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars gained | +21 | +103 | +270 |
| Per day | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Forks gained | +2 | +9 | +23 |
crun gained 103 stars in the last 30 days, about 3 a day, and now has 4.1K. It is about 9 years old and has averaged roughly 460 stars a year. It ranks #9 among C repositories and #1,610 across all languages on GitHubRepo.
Trending Record
3
DAYS ON TRENDING
#2227
BEST RANK
Sep 29, 2026
FIRST APPEARANCE
Active
STATUS TODAY
crun has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #2227. Below is the 30-day activity profile:
💡 Overview
crun is an open-source project written in C: A fast and lightweight fully featured OCI runtime and C library for running containers.
Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in containers, iot, iot-cloud. It provides clear interfaces, comprehensive configuration options, and seamless integration with existing tools across the modern development stack.
⚡ Key Features
Optimized execution pipeline written in C for predictable speed.
Zero-friction configuration with comprehensive sensible defaults out of the box.
Cross-platform runtime support across Linux, macOS, and Windows environments.
Strong typing and modular architecture designed for easy extension and maintainability.
Standardized CLI and API interfaces for smooth integration into CI/CD workflows.
Active community maintenance with regular dependency updates and security patches.
📥 Installation
$ git clone https://github.com/containers/crun.git
cd crun⚙ 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
crun 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
Autonomous AI Agents
Orchestrate intelligent workflows and tool-calling routines with crun.
Model Inference & Prompting
Integrate fast, local or cloud-hosted generative AI models directly into production code.
Context Memory & RAG
Augment language models with dynamic vector retrieval and structured project memory.
Developer Productivity
Automate repetitive engineering tasks, code generation, and test creation using AI agents.
🚀 Getting Started
Install crun using your package manager: `git clone https://github.com/containers/crun.git`
Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for crun.
Import crun into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.
Execute your test suite or run `crun --help` to verify successful setup.
👍 Strengths
⚠️ Considerations
⇄ Alternatives & Direct Competitors
👥 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
containers/crun is currently ranked #1,610 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:
| Rank | Repository | Language | Stars | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1,604 | Gaurav-Gosain/tuios | Go | ★ 4.2K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,606 | pypi/warehouse | Python | ★ 4.2K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,607 | openagents-org/openagents | TypeScript | ★ 4.2K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,608 | Dispatcharr/Dispatcharr | JavaScript | ★ 4.2K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,609 | symfony/cache | PHP | ★ 4.2K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,610 | containers/crun This Project | C | ★ 4.1K | |
| #1,611 | typhoeus/typhoeus | Ruby | ★ 4.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,612 | stringer-rss/stringer | Ruby | ★ 4.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,613 | troessner/reek | Ruby | ★ 4.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,614 | AzureAD/microsoft-authentication-library-for-js | TypeScript | ★ 4.1K | Compare ↗ |
| #1,615 | moonrepo/moon | Rust | ★ 4.1K | Compare ↗ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does crun do? +
A fast and lightweight fully featured OCI runtime and C library for running containers
What language is crun written in? +
The primary language is C. Topics include: containers, iot, iot-cloud, linux, oci.
Is crun actively maintained? +
Yes, the last recorded push was on Sep 29, 2026 with 48 open issues being tracked.
How many stars does crun have? +
crun has 4,139 stars and 451 forks on GitHub.
How does crun rank among GitHub repositories? +
With 4,139 stars, containers/crun is ranked #1,610 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #9 among C projects.
What license is crun distributed under? +
The repository reports a GPL-2.0 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.
