Garmin Technologies

This page stays in English for every language on the site. Garmin's licence for the FIT SDK does not permit translating a notice that relates to it, so the wording below is left as Garmin wrote it.

The .FIT format

Flexible and Interoperable Data Transfer, or FIT, is the file format Garmin devices use to record activities. It's a compact binary format built for GPS and fitness hardware. Cordelia reads .FIT files using Garmin's own FIT SDK and turns the messages inside them (activity, session, lap, record, and many others) into rows in a database. The Data Dictionary covers what those messages contain.

Garmin's licence

Cordelia links Garmin's compiled FIT SDK to read the format. That SDK is Garmin's software, and every source file in it carries this notice:

Copyright 2026 Garmin International, Inc.
Licensed under the Flexible and Interoperable Data Transfer (FIT) Protocol License; you may not use this file except in compliance with the Flexible and Interoperable Data Transfer (FIT) Protocol License.

Garmin publishes the agreement itself, so read it at the source rather than from a copy that could fall behind. The current LICENSE.txt is in Garmin's FIT C++ SDK repository, and Cordelia builds against version 21.214.0. Garmin may amend the terms at any time, which is a second reason not to mirror them here.

Cordelia's own code is a separate matter under separate terms; see the Cordelia License. Garmin's SDK is not redistributed. The download carries the compiled program and nothing from Garmin's source tree.

Trademarks and affiliation

Garmin, FIT, and Flexible and Interoperable Data Transfer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Cordelia is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or approved by Garmin. It is an independent, third-party tool that reads a file format Garmin publishes. Nothing about Cordelia implies any relationship with Garmin beyond that.

See also