beyondgrep/ack2
**ack 2 is no longer being maintained. ack 3 is the latest version.** observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
32/100
- Activity 0
- Release rhythm 35
- Longevity 100
Flags: no_releases no_license
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 5695
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 2724
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
1466 stars · 138 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
ack 2 is a grep-like code-searching tool written in pure Perl, optimized for programmers searching large trees of source code. This version is no longer maintained; ack 3 is the actively developed successor.
Use cases
- search source code across a project tree
- grep alternative optimized for programmers
- find text in large codebases
- search code ignoring version control and backup directories
- portable code search on any platform with Perl
When to choose
- you need a grep-like tool on a system limited to Perl 5.8.8
- you must maintain legacy environments pinned to ack 2
When to avoid
- starting a new project - use ack 3 instead
- you need active maintenance, bug fixes, or newer features
- you want ripgrep-level performance
Facets
cli-tool · maturity abandoned
search-engine developer-tools cli developer-tools files cli cross-platform windows grep source-code-search perl text-search superseded command-line linux macos
2 sources
- readme: https://github.com/beyondgrep/ack2 · fetched 2026-08-28 · 66337bb6b3cc
- homepage: https://github.com/beyondgrep/ack3/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · fd2acb22ebd2
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| beyondgrep/ack2 | main | 32 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem