# david-vanderson/dvui

Immediate Zig GUI for Apps and Games

Repository: https://github.com/david-vanderson/dvui
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/dvui
Homepage: https://david-vanderson.github.io/
Language: Zig
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-24T23:12:05+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 81/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 48, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1571, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 139, "gap_med": 226.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1642, forks 139 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:15.423032+00:00)

## What it is
DVUI is an immediate-mode GUI toolkit written in Zig for building whole applications or adding debug windows to existing apps and games. It supports multiple backends including SDL2/SDL3, Raylib, GLFW, and DX11, and can run standalone, manage its own main loop, or overlay on top of an existing app.

## Use cases
- build a desktop application GUI in Zig
- add a debug HUD overlay to an existing game
- create a standalone debug window inside a game engine
- prototype UI with an immediate mode API
- run a Zig GUI app in the browser via web demo
- render UI with SDL3 GPU backend

## When to choose
- you are writing a Zig application or game and need a GUI
- you want an immediate-mode API with full input event access
- you need a debug overlay on top of an existing app or game
- you want low/variable framerate support with event-driven rendering

## When to avoid
- you need a retained-mode or declarative UI framework
- your project is not in Zig or lacks Zig interop
- you need a mature toolkit with long-term API stability guarantees
- you require a specific backend not yet supported (e.g. SDL3GPU app mode)

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: gui, ui-components, graphics
- domain: desktop-applications, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: cross-platform, cpp
- tags: immediate-mode, zig, gui-toolkit, sdl, raylib, debug-overlay, wasm, game-development, desktop, web-server, gpu

## Member repositories
- david-vanderson/dvui (main) score 81

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:15.423032+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 2026-08-30T03:46:20.007512+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/david-vanderson/dvui (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:15.423032+00:00, sha c96499dc4680)
  - homepage: https://david-vanderson.github.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T11:19:09.961233+00:00, sha ed607e30a06a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.