# wader/fq

fq - jq for binary formats. Tool, language and decoders for working with binary formats.

Repository: https://github.com/wader/fq
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/fq
Homepage: https://wader.github.io/fq/
Language: Go
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: jq, binary, hexdump, go, json, decode, query, repl, cli, pcap, xml, golang, tls
Last push: 2026-08-25T17:38:34+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 91/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 75, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2033, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 119.0, "n_releases_24m": 7}
- 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 10581, forks 253 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:42.447562+00:00)

## What it is
fq is a command-line tool, expression language, and set of decoders for inspecting and querying binary formats, modeled after jq and using the same expression syntax. It provides a structural hex viewer, nested format decoding, bit-level slicing, and an interactive REPL with auto-completion.

## Use cases
- inspect and query binary file structures from the terminal
- decode mp4, flac, pcap, tls and other formats into queryable values
- hexdump a file with structural annotations
- extract fields from binary protocols like pcap or dns
- slice and concatenate raw bytes and bit-level data
- convert between serialization formats like xml, yaml, toml and json

## When to choose
- you want jq-like querying over binary data instead of writing custom parsers
- you need to reverse-engineer or debug file formats and network captures
- you prefer a fast CLI with a REPL over GUI hex editors

## When to avoid
- you need to edit or write binary formats rather than inspect them
- you need a format fq does not support and cannot extend
- you only work with plain text or JSON, where jq alone suffices

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: parser, cli, developer-tools, serialization, json
- domain: developer-tools, files, parsers
- platform: windows, cli, cross-platform
- tags: binary-formats, hex-viewer, jq, repl, bit-level-decoding, protocol-analysis, media-formats, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- wader/fq (main) score 91

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:42.447562+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 2026-08-29T17:18:30.726415+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/wader/fq (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:42.447562+00:00, sha 38c63d72531a)
  - homepage: https://wader.github.io/fq/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:37.487260+00:00, sha e51537f01d12)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.