# jart/blink

tiniest x86-64-linux emulator

Repository: https://github.com/jart/blink
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/blink
Language: C
License: ISC
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2025-12-10T18:05:00+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 48/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 56, release rhythm 8, longevity 99
- inputs: {"age_days": 1399, "days_push": 266, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7575, forks 276 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:01.719228+00:00)

## What it is
Blink is a tiny x86-64 Linux user-mode emulator written in C that runs x86-64-linux binaries on other operating systems and architectures, as a lightweight alternative to qemu-x86_64. It also ships with a terminal UI debugger, blinkenlights, that visualizes program execution and supports reverse debugging.

## Use cases
- run x86-64 linux binaries on mac or arm
- lightweight alternative to qemu-x86_64
- emulate linux elf binaries cross-platform
- visually debug assembly with a terminal ui
- reverse debug program execution
- run ephemeral programs like compilers faster than qemu

## When to choose
- you need a small, fast user-mode x86-64 emulator on POSIX systems
- you want to run Linux binaries on macOS, BSD, or non-x86-64 hardware
- you want a visual TUI debugger with reverse execution

## When to avoid
- you need full system emulation or non-x86-64 guest architectures
- you need Windows-native support outside Cygwin
- you require perfect fidelity for obscure x86-64 instructions or kernel features

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, developer-tools, cli, terminal-ui
- domain: developer-tools, operating-systems, cross-platform
- platform: bsd, cli, cross-platform
- tags: x86-64-emulator, user-mode-emulation, qemu-alternative, reverse-debugging, virtual-machine, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- jart/blink (main) score 48

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:01.719228+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 2026-08-29T17:36:55.361127+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/jart/blink (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:01.719228+00:00, sha 90a93adb64e2)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.