MCAP

MCAP is a logging library and file format. It is commonly used in robotics applications, and works well under various workloads, resource constraints, and durability requirements.

Documentation

• File format specification
  • Kaitai Struct definition
  • Registered media type: application/vnd.mcap
• Motivation
• Support Matrix

Quickstart

MCAP libraries are provided in the following languages. For guidance on each language, see its corresponding README:

Language	Readme	API docs	Package name	Version
C++	readme	API docs	mcap
Go	readme	API docs		see releases
Python	readme	API docs	mcap
JavaScript/TypeScript	readme	API docs	@mcap/core
Swift	readme	API docs		see releases
Rust	readme	API docs	mcap

CLI

Inspect, merge, and split MCAP files from the command line using the MCAP CLI. See the CLI documentation for installation and usage.

Install with brew install mcap or download the latest version directly from the releases page.

Contributing

See AGENTS.md for build/test/lint commands, prerequisites, and development setup for each language. For releasing packages, see RELEASING.md.

Stay in touch

Join our Discord community to ask questions, share feedback, and stay up to date on what our team is working on.

Citations

If you use MCAP in your research, please cite it in your work. Our suggested citation format is:

@software{MCAP,
  title = {MCAP: serialization-agnostic log container file format},
  author = {{Foxglove Developers}},
  url = {https://mcap.dev},
  version = {your version},
  date = {your date of access},
  year = {2024},
  publisher = {{Foxglove Technologies}},
  note = {Available from https://github.com/foxglove/mcap}
}

Please replace the version and date fields with the version of the software you used, and the date you obtained it. Citing MCAP will help spread awareness of the project and strengthen the ecosystem.

License

MIT License.