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firecracker-microvm
Home / Rust / firecracker

firecracker-microvm/firecracker

Secure and fast microVMs for serverless computing.

Rust ◇ containers Apache-2.0
★37KSTARS
⑂2.6KFORKS
!98ISSUES
🏆#283GLOBAL RANK
🔥4DAYS TRENDING
🚀
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Star History

Continuous Observations
Interactive star growth chart for firecracker-microvm/firecracker
CSV

Momentum

+924

STARS · LAST 30 DAYS

31

PER DAY

#44

MOST-STARRED Rust

Window7 days30 days90 days
Stars gained+217+924+2.8K
Per day313131
Forks gained+13+53+132

firecracker gained 924 stars in the last 30 days, about 31 a day, and now has 37K. It is about 9 years old and has averaged roughly 4.1K stars a year. It ranks #44 among Rust repositories and #283 across all languages on GitHubRepo.

Trending Record

firecracker has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #434. Below is the 30-day activity profile:

💡 Overview

firecracker is an open-source project written in Rust: Secure and fast microVMs for serverless computing.

Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in containers, minimalist, open-source. 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 Rust 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
$ cargo install firecracker

⚙ System Requirements

Platforms

  • • macOS
  • • Linux
  • • Windows

Runtime & Dependencies

Rust toolchain (rustc / cargo >= 1.70)

Architecture

x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)

🧠 How It Works

firecracker coordinates its core functionality through a modular Rust 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 firecracker.

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

1

Install firecracker using your package manager: `cargo install firecracker`

2

Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for firecracker.

3

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

4

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

👍 Strengths

Active community backing with 36,954 GitHub stars and verified adoption.
Permissive open-source distribution under the Apache-2.0 license.
Built in Rust 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 Rust 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 Rust, seeking reliable, tested, and actively maintained tooling for production workloads.

🏆 Nearby in the Rankings

firecracker-microvm/firecracker is currently ranked #283 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:

RankRepositoryLanguageStarsAction
#278 fastify/fastify JavaScript ★ 37.2K Compare ↗
#279 huggingface/pytorch-image-models Python ★ 37.2K Compare ↗
#280 google-ai-edge/mediapipe C++ ★ 37.1K Compare ↗
#281 anthropics/claude-plugins-official Python ★ 37.1K Compare ↗
#282 keycloak/keycloak Java ★ 37K Compare ↗
#283 firecracker-microvm/firecracker This Project Rust ★ 37K
#284 nextcloud/server PHP ★ 36.9K Compare ↗
#285 sgl-project/sglang Python ★ 36.5K Compare ↗
#286 gitroomhq/postiz-app TypeScript ★ 36.4K Compare ↗
#287 wailsapp/wails Go ★ 36.4K Compare ↗
#288 jax-ml/jax Python ★ 36.3K Compare ↗

Frequently Asked Questions

What does firecracker do? +

Secure and fast microVMs for serverless computing.

What language is firecracker written in? +

The primary language is Rust. Topics include: containers, minimalist, open-source, oversubscription, rust.

Is firecracker actively maintained? +

Yes, the last recorded push was on Sep 25, 2026 with 98 open issues being tracked.

How many stars does firecracker have? +

firecracker has 36,971 stars and 2,646 forks on GitHub.

How does firecracker rank among GitHub repositories? +

With 36,971 stars, firecracker-microvm/firecracker is ranked #283 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #44 among Rust projects.

What license is firecracker distributed under? +

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

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