# crosire/blink

A tool which allows you to edit source code of any MSVC C++ project live at runtime

Repository: https://github.com/crosire/blink
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/crosire-blink
Language: C++
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: c-plus-plus, linker, pdb, live-coding
Last push: 2023-12-18T22:11:42+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3784, "days_push": 989, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1179, forks 85 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:53.140051+00:00)

## What it is
A Windows tool that enables live editing of C++ source code in running MSVC-compiled applications. It acts as a runtime linker, detecting source changes, recompiling them, and patching functions in the running process without requiring project modifications.

## Use cases
- live edit c++ code while the app is running
- avoid compile-and-restart cycle during c++ development
- hot reload functions in a windows c++ application
- attach a live coding tool to a running process
- iterate quickly on game or graphics c++ code

## When to choose
- you develop C++ with MSVC on Windows and want live code editing without project changes
- your target app produces PDB debug symbols and you have its source
- you want to attach live patching to an already running process

## When to avoid
- you target non-Windows platforms (use jet-live instead)
- your build lacks debug symbols/PDB files
- you need to change global state or data layouts, not just function bodies

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: compiler, developer-tools, build-tool
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, cli
- tags: live-coding, hot-reload, runtime-linker, pdb, msvc, c-plus-plus, command-line

## Member repositories
- crosire/blink (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:53.140051+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 2026-08-30T06:25:33.544727+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/crosire/blink (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:53.140051+00:00, sha bc4c861ffbb5)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.