> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://astronomer.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Astronomer Runtime overview

Astro Runtime is Astronomer's managed distribution of Airflow. It provides a prebuilt, secure environment with Airflow, core providers, and dependencies bundled into standardized images, so you can focus on building and running pipelines rather than maintaining infrastructure.

Astronomer Runtime includes exclusive features, timely support for new Apache Airflow versions, and enhanced functionality designed specifically for production data orchestration environments.

## Astronomer Runtime features

With Astronomer Runtime, you get:

* **Production-ready distribution**: A carefully curated and tested distribution of Apache Airflow with enhanced stability and performance.
* **Exclusive features**: Smart task concurrency defaults, high availability configurations, and custom UI enhancements.
* **Data lineage**: Built-in OpenLineage integration for comprehensive data lineage tracking across your workflows.

## Get started

<CardGroup>
  <Card title="Runtime architecture" icon="building" iconType="regular" href="/docs/runtime/runtime-image-architecture">
    Learn about Astronomer Runtime architecture, versioning, and Docker image types.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Provider reference" icon="puzzle-piece" iconType="regular" href="/docs/runtime/runtime-provider-reference">
    View the provider packages and versions included in each Runtime release.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Release notes" icon="notes" iconType="regular" href="/docs/runtime/runtime-release-notes">
    Review the latest changes and features in Astronomer Runtime releases.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lifecycle policy" icon="calendar-clock" iconType="regular" href="/docs/runtime/runtime-version-lifecycle-policy">
    Understand Runtime maintenance windows, support policies, and version lifecycle.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>