# cycfi/elements

Elements C++ GUI library

Repository: https://github.com/cycfi/elements
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/elements
Homepage: http://cycfi.github.io/elements/
Language: C++
License Family: other
Topics: cpp, cpp17, cpp17-library, gui, modern-cpp, c-plus-plus
Last push: 2026-06-13T22:38:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 71/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 87, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3811, "days_push": 81, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3721, forks 281 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:15.520810+00:00)

## What it is
Elements is a lightweight, modular, resolution-independent C++20 GUI library with a declarative DSEL syntax written entirely in C++. It is embeddable in other applications and plugin hosts (e.g., VST, AU) since it does not own the event loop.

## Use cases
- build a desktop gui in modern c++
- create ui for an audio plugin like vst or au
- embed a gui in an existing application alongside other frameworks
- write declarative ui layouts without a visual gui editor
- build resolution-independent cross-platform interfaces

## When to choose
- you want a lightweight, embeddable C++ GUI that coexists with other frameworks or plugin hosts
- you prefer declaring UI in C++ with a DSEL rather than XML or a GUI editor
- you are building audio plugins or applications needing fine-grained, modular UI elements

## When to avoid
- you need a production-ready, API-stable GUI toolkit today, as the API is still changing
- you need comprehensive documentation, which is still a work in progress
- you need a mature ecosystem with extensive third-party widgets and tooling

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: experimental
- function: gui, ui-components, graphics
- domain: desktop-applications, cross-platform, developer-tools
- platform: cpp, cross-platform
- tags: declarative-ui, dsel, modern-cpp, embeddable, skia, cairo, audio-plugins, desktop

## Member repositories
- cycfi/elements (main) score 71

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:15.520810+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 2026-08-29T18:29:19.453531+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cycfi/elements (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:15.520810+00:00, sha ce149a5277ba)
  - homepage: http://cycfi.github.io/elements/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:23:58.706783+00:00, sha 10791bc1c341)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.