# ktock/buildg

Interactive debugger for Dockerfile, with support for IDEs (VS Code, Emacs, Neovim, etc.)

Repository: https://github.com/ktock/buildg
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/buildg
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-30T20:03:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 95, release rhythm 40, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1577, "days_push": 34, "days_rel": 478, "gap_med": 8.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1502, forks 41 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:54.401707+00:00)

## What it is
buildg is an interactive debugger for Dockerfiles built on top of BuildKit. It supports source-level inspection, breakpoints, step execution, and interactive shells within build steps, with IDE integrations for VS Code, Emacs, and Neovim.

## Use cases
- debug a failing Dockerfile build step by step
- set breakpoints in a Dockerfile and inspect the filesystem
- open an interactive shell inside a build step to run debugging tools
- debug Docker builds without a container runtime daemon using rootless mode
- step through Dockerfile RUN instructions from an IDE like VS Code or Neovim

## When to choose
- you need to debug why a Dockerfile build fails or produces wrong output
- you want breakpoints and step execution for container image builds
- you prefer rootless, daemon-less debugging based on BuildKit

## When to avoid
- you only need to build images without debugging
- you need a fully stable tool - it is early-stage and relies on unmerged BuildKit patches
- you debug non-Dockerfile build systems

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, container-runtime, cli
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: cli, go
- tags: dockerfile, buildkit, debugger, rootless, ide-integration, debugging, containers, devops, linux

## Member repositories
- ktock/buildg (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:54.401707+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 2026-08-30T04:32:53.443801+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ktock/buildg (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:54.401707+00:00, sha d96833b4ef0c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.