# guardian/frontend

The Guardian DotCom.

Repository: https://github.com/guardian/frontend
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/frontend
Homepage: https://theguardian.com
Language: Scala
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: production
Last push: 2026-08-26T15:16:52+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5220, "days_push": 7, "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 5899, forks 572 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:32.067586+00:00)

## What it is
The backend Scala application powering theguardian.com, built as a set of Play Framework 2 services. It fetches content from the Guardian's Content API and builds JSON consumed by the Dotcom Rendering service to produce the website.

## Use cases
- serve a high-traffic news website backend
- build JSON responses from a content API for server-side rendering
- study a large production Play Framework Scala codebase
- learn how a major newsroom structures its web architecture
- implement strict caching and latency budgets for web endpoints

## When to choose
- you contribute to or deploy the Guardian website
- you want a real-world reference for Play Framework Scala at scale
- you need patterns for cacheable, low-latency content endpoints

## When to avoid
- you want a general-purpose web framework or starter template
- you need a frontend JavaScript project - rendering lives in dotcom-rendering
- you want a reusable CMS for your own site

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: http-server, api-framework, templating, caching, routing
- domain: web-development, backend, media, cms
- platform: jvm, cloud
- tags: play-framework, news-website, scala, guardian, content-api, dotcom-rendering, news, web-server

## Member repositories
- guardian/frontend (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:32.067586+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 2026-08-29T17:51:19.133099+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/guardian/frontend (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:32.067586+00:00, sha 7cd9034cd55e)
  - homepage: https://theguardian.com (fetched 2026-08-29T08:46:46.608638+00:00, sha 3b8d13dfd762)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.