# libbeat - Framework for building the Beats

libbeat is a Go library containing the common packages for all the
[Beats](https://www.elastic.co/products/beats).
It is Apache licensed and actively maintained by the Elastic team.

If you want to create a new project that reads some sort of operational data
and ships it to Elasticsearch, we suggest you make use of this library. Please
start by reading our [CONTRIBUTING](../CONTRIBUTING.md) file. We also have a
[developer
guide](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/libbeat/current/new-beat.html) to
help you with the creation of new Beats.

Please also open a topic on the [forums](https://discuss.elastic.co/c/beats/libbeat) and
we'll help you get started.

To see the Beats that are built on top of this library, please see the list
from the main [README](../README.md) file and the list of [community
Beats](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/beats/libbeat/master/community-beats.html).