# basecamp/pow

Zero-configuration Rack server for Mac OS X

Repository: https://github.com/basecamp/pow
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/basecamp-pow
Homepage: http://pow.cx/
Language: CoffeeScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Archived: true
Last push: 2020-05-14T20:48:22+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5656, "days_push": 2302, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3403, forks 247 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:02.972270+00:00)

## What it is
Pow is a zero-configuration Rack server for Mac OS X that runs Rails and Rack apps locally with a simple symlink setup, serving them at .test domains. It bundles an HTTP server with automatic DNS configuration for local development.

## Use cases
- run rack apps locally on mac without configuration
- serve multiple rails apps with custom .test domains
- zero-config local web server for mac development
- symlink a project directory to get a local hostname
- replace manual /etc/hosts and port numbers in local dev

## When to choose
- you develop Rails or Rack apps on macOS and want zero-setup local hosting
- you want automatic .test domain resolution for many local projects

## When to avoid
- you are not on macOS
- you need a maintained or actively supported tool (last release 2020, project appears abandoned)
- you develop non-Ruby web apps or need production serving

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: abandoned
- function: http-server, web-framework, developer-tools
- domain: web-development, developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: cli
- tags: rack, zero-configuration, local-development, rails, coffeescript, dns-server, macos, web-server

## Member repositories
- basecamp/pow (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:02.972270+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:38:37.837582+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/basecamp/pow (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:02.972270+00:00, sha 98bf9a578bf5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.