# bazel-contrib/bazel-gazelle

Gazelle is a Bazel build file generator for Bazel projects. It natively supports Go and protobuf, and it may be extended to support new languages and custom rule sets.

Repository: https://github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel-gazelle
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bazel-gazelle
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-25T11:30:27+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 99/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 98, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3198, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 14, "gap_med": 25.0, "n_releases_24m": 21}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1414, forks 444 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:39.460670+00:00)

## What it is
Gazelle is a Bazel build file generator that creates and updates BUILD.bazel files for projects, with native support for Go and protobuf. It can be run as a Bazel rule or a standalone command-line tool and extended to support additional languages and custom rule sets.

## Use cases
- generate Bazel BUILD files for a Go project
- update existing BUILD.bazel files with new sources and dependencies
- generate build files for protobuf libraries
- write a Gazelle extension for a custom language or rule set
- generate build files for external Go repositories

## When to choose
- you use Bazel and want BUILD files maintained automatically from source conventions
- your project is Go or protobuf based and you want native support
- you need a pluggable build file generator for a custom Bazel rule set

## When to avoid
- your project does not use Bazel
- you need a fully stable, frozen tool - Gazelle's interface and generated rules may change

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: build-tool, cli, developer-tools, plugin-system
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: cli, go, cross-platform
- tags: bazel, build-files, code-generation, go, protobuf, build, automation

## Member repositories
- bazel-contrib/bazel-gazelle (main) score 99

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:39.460670+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 2026-08-30T04:38:12.330510+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/bazel-contrib/bazel-gazelle (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:39.460670+00:00, sha c220fde27663)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.