a fast, rootless container runtime and sandbox with no daemon. It runs workloads, including agent tool calls and code generated by an LLM, in real containers enforced by the kernel.
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Momentum
+11
STARS · LAST 30 DAYS
1
PER DAY
#513
MOST-STARRED Rust
| Window | 7 days | 30 days | 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars gained | +7 | +11 | +90 |
| Per day | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Forks gained | +1 | +3 | +10 |
kern gained 11 stars in the last 30 days, about 1 a day, and now has 429. It is about 1 year old and has averaged roughly 429 stars a year. It ranks #513 among Rust repositories and #4,994 across all languages on GitHubRepo.
Trending Record
1
DAYS ON TRENDING
#4824
BEST RANK
Sep 30, 2026
FIRST APPEARANCE
Active
STATUS TODAY
kern has maintained a continuous presence across global trending indexes, peaking at #4824. Below is the 30-day activity profile:
💡 Overview
kern is an open-source project written in Rust: a fast, rootless container runtime and sandbox with no daemon. It runs workloads, including agent tool calls and code generated by an LLM, in real containers enforced by the kernel.
Engineered for speed, consistency, and developer ease, it solves common hurdles in ai-agents, cgroups, code-execution. 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 Rust 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
$ cargo install kern
⚙ System Requirements
Platforms
- • macOS
- • Linux
- • Windows
Runtime & Dependencies
Rust toolchain (rustc / cargo >= 1.70)
Architecture
x86_64, ARM64 (Apple Silicon & Graviton)
🧠 How It Works
kern 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 kern.
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 kern using your package manager: `cargo install kern`
Initialize your project workspace or configuration file for kern.
Import kern into your codebase or invoke it directly from your terminal.
Execute your test suite or run `kern --help` to verify successful setup.
👍 Strengths
⚠️ Considerations
⇄ Alternatives & Direct Competitors
👥 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
getkern/kern is currently ranked #4,994 by stars across every repository tracked on GitHubRepo. These are adjacent projects:
| Rank | Repository | Language | Stars | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #4,989 | inex/IXP-Manager | PHP | ★ 430 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,989 | valen-lang/Valen | Rust | ★ 430 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,989 | MbinOrg/mbin | PHP | ★ 430 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,989 | trimble-oss/dba-dash | C# | ★ 430 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,989 | WikiEducationFoundation/WikiEduDashboard | Ruby | ★ 430 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,994 | getkern/kern This Project | Rust | ★ 429 | |
| #4,994 | sporkmonger/uuidtools | Ruby | ★ 429 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,994 | thibaudgg/video_info | Ruby | ★ 429 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,994 | cryptomator/cli | Java | ★ 429 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,994 | intelligo-dev/intelligo | TypeScript | ★ 429 | Compare ↗ |
| #4,994 | WhatsApp/erlang-language-platform | Rust | ★ 429 | Compare ↗ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does kern do? +
a fast, rootless container runtime and sandbox with no daemon. It runs workloads, including agent tool calls and code generated by an LLM, in real containers enforced by the kernel.
What language is kern written in? +
The primary language is Rust. Topics include: ai-agents, cgroups, code-execution, code-interpreter, container-runtime.
Is kern actively maintained? +
Yes, the last recorded push was on Sep 29, 2026 with 0 open issues being tracked.
How many stars does kern have? +
kern has 429 stars and 10 forks on GitHub.
How does kern rank among GitHub repositories? +
With 429 stars, getkern/kern is ranked #4,994 globally across all repositories tracked on GitHubRepo and #513 among Rust projects.
What license is kern distributed under? +
The repository reports a Apache-2.0 license. Always verify the repository LICENSE file for legal terms.