st2
StackStorm is an event-driven automation platform that connects tools and services to automatically respond to operational events. It provides a rules engine, workflow orchestration, 160+ integration packs, and ChatOps capabilities for DevOps and SRE teams to automate remediation, incident response, and deployments.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | StackStorm/st2 |
| Owner | StackStorm |
| Primary language | Python |
| License | Apache-2.0 — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 6.5k |
| Forks | 785 |
| Open issues | 601 |
| Latest release | v3.9.0 (2026-01-12) |
| Last updated | 2026-02-19 |
| Source | https://github.com/StackStorm/st2 |
What st2 is
StackStorm is a microservice-based Python platform that uses sensors to ingest events from external systems, applies rules to trigger actions or workflows, and maintains an audit trail. It exposes a REST API, CLI, and web UI, scaling horizontally via a message bus architecture with pluggable content organized into packs.
Get the st2 source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/StackStorm/st2.gitcd st2# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- Requires a clean 64-bit Linux host; review system requirements at https://docs.stackstorm.com/install/system_requirements.html before deployment.
- Design and version control rules, workflows, and custom packs as code in Git to leverage the collaboration model; pack structure is critical for scaling.
- Audit trail and action execution logging must be integrated with your logging/SIEM pipeline (LogStash, Splunk, syslog) for compliance and troubleshooting.
- Plan for horizontal scaling: StackStorm is microservice-based and communicates via a message bus; ensure your infrastructure supports this architecture.
- Evaluate the 160+ pre-built packs on StackStorm Exchange, but budget time to develop and test custom sensors and actions for proprietary systems.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Simple point-to-point integrations — If you need only one-off webhook or API connections between two systems, StackStorm's full microservice deployment overhead is likely excessive; consider simpler webhooks or iPaaS.
- No existing Python or Linux infrastructure expertise — StackStorm requires Linux deployment, Python plugin development capability, and operational comfort with microservices (message bus, sensors, actions); teams without these skills may face onboarding friction.
- Strict Windows-only environments — Installer and core platform require 64-bit Linux; no native Windows support stated. Windows-based teams would need Linux VMs or containers.
- Light-touch, fully managed SaaS requirements — StackStorm is self-hosted and requires operational ownership; no serverless or fully managed cloud offering is mentioned. Teams seeking minimal DevOps overhead should consider SaaS alternatives.
License & commercial use
Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (Apache-2.0), a permissive OSI-approved license allowing commercial use, modification, and distribution with limited liability.
Apache-2.0 permits commercial use and redistribution; however, no explicit commercial support, SLAs, or vendor indemnification are stated in the provided data. For production deployments with SLA requirements, verify commercial support offerings and indemnification terms directly with the vendor or community.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Strong |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Moderate |
| DEV.co fit | Strong |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Project maintains a private security reporting process ([email protected], 48-hour response target). CII Best Practices badge and codecov integration suggest ongoing code quality and testing practices. As a self-hosted automation platform with broad system access (SSH actions, API calls, webhook ingestion), operator responsibility for credential management, network isolation, RBAC, and audit logging is critical. No mention of encryption in transit/at-rest, secrets management integration, or compliance frameworks in provided data; review https://docs.stackstorm.com/latest/security.html for details.
Alternatives to consider
Airflow (Apache)
Workflow orchestration and DAG-based scheduling, but optimized for batch/data pipelines rather than event-driven operational automation; less emphasis on ChatOps and real-time incident response.
Kubernetes operators + Helm charts
Declarative, code-driven automation for cloud-native infrastructure, but narrower scope (Kubernetes-centric); requires Kubernetes expertise and is less suited for legacy system orchestration.
Zapier / Make / IFTTT (SaaS iPaaS)
Simpler, no-code integration and automation across SaaS tools; lower operational overhead but limited on-premise tool support, lower throughput, and vendor lock-in.
Build on st2 with DEV.co software developers
Explore StackStorm's documentation, join the community Slack, or review the 160+ integration packs on StackStorm Exchange to assess fit for your DevOps and SRE use cases.
Talk to DEV.coRelated on DEV.co
Explore the category and the services that help you build with it.
st2 FAQ
Can I use StackStorm for incident response automation?
What are packs and how do I create custom ones?
Does StackStorm support Windows or cloud-only deployment?
What Python versions are supported?
Software developers & web developers for hire
Adopting st2 is usually one piece of a larger software development effort. As a software development agency, DEV.co provides software development services and web development expertise — pairing senior software developers and web developers with your team to design, build, and operate open-source devops software in production.
Ready to automate your operational workflows?
Explore StackStorm's documentation, join the community Slack, or review the 160+ integration packs on StackStorm Exchange to assess fit for your DevOps and SRE use cases.