---
id: barectf
version: "3.1.2"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# barectf — Generator of ANSI C tracers which output CTF data streams

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 102.3K/mo

## What it is and what it does

barectf is a code generator that takes a configuration (typically in YAML) and produces ANSI C tracer implementations that emit events in the Common Trace Format (CTF), a standardized format for low-level system and performance tracing. It bridges the gap between high-level trace specifications and bare-metal or embedded systems where traditional profiling tools may not be available or practical. The generated C code can be compiled and linked into your application to capture events at runtime, producing CTF data streams that can later be analyzed with tools that understand the CTF format.

The package is built on common Python dependencies—jinja2 for code generation, pyyaml for configuration parsing, jsonschema for validation—and is designed for developers working on embedded systems, kernel-level code, or performance-critical applications where fine-grained tracing is essential. It has been actively maintained since 2014 and supports modern Python versions (3.7 through 3.11).

Use it for:

- Generate custom C tracers for embedded systems or bare-metal firmware that need to emit structured trace events.
- Create low-overhead event logging for real-time systems where traditional profilers are too intrusive.
- Define and generate tracer code from a YAML specification to standardize tracing across multiple projects.
- Produce CTF-compatible trace data for post-mortem analysis with tools that consume the Common Trace Format.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

barectf generates ANSI C tracers that output CTF (Common Trace Format) data streams, typically used for low-level performance analysis and debugging on bare-metal or resource-constrained systems.

Yes, if you need to generate C tracers for embedded, bare-metal, or performance-critical systems. The package is mature, actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and installs with low friction. It is not useful for general application tracing or if you need a pre-built tracer rather than a code generator.

## Install

pip install barectf
uv add barectf
poetry add barectf

## Installing barectf

Before you install: Low friction: pure Python wheel with five common dependencies (termcolor, pyyaml, jsonschema, setuptools, jinja2). Actively maintained; last commit 2026-04-02, mature status since 2014.

License in practice: MIT license (permissive): you may use, modify, and distribute barectf and code it generates with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.

Quickstart:

pip install barectf

barectf generate --help

Requires Python 3.6.2 or later. Testing requires a little-endian architecture, C compiler, GNU Make, and tox; generation itself has no such constraints.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the generated C tracer code requires external CTF libraries or runtime dependencies beyond the generated output itself.
- Performance overhead and typical use cases for the generated tracers on actual embedded or bare-metal targets.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 102.3K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

CTF tracer generator, bare-metal tracing, C tracer code generation, performance profiling tool, embedded system tracing, low-level event logging, trace data stream generation, code-generation, embedded-systems, tracing

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/barectf) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/barectf/)