# goldfire/howler.js

Javascript audio library for the modern web.

Repository: https://github.com/goldfire/howler.js
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/howlerjs
Homepage: https://howlerjs.com
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: javascript, audio, html5-audio, playback, volume, web-audio, audio-library, howler
Last push: 2025-11-23T23:49:01+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 47/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 53, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4965, "days_push": 283, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 25337, forks 2275 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:38.121105+00:00)

## What it is
howler.js is a JavaScript audio library that provides a single, consistent API for audio playback on the web, defaulting to the Web Audio API with an HTML5 Audio fallback. It supports all codecs, audio sprites, spatial/3D sound, and works across all major browsers with zero dependencies.

## Use cases
- play sound effects in a browser game
- build a music player in javascript
- play audio sprites with precise control
- add 3D spatial audio or stereo panning to a web app
- handle cross-browser audio playback quirks
- fade, loop, and seek audio in the browser
- play multiple sounds simultaneously in javascript

## When to choose
- you need reliable cross-browser audio playback including older browsers like IE9
- you want a tiny, dependency-free audio library (~7kb gzipped)
- you need audio sprites, spatial audio, or fine-grained playback control
- you're building a web game or interactive experience with sound

## When to avoid
- you need audio synthesis or generative music rather than playback of audio files
- you're working in Node.js or another non-browser environment
- you need advanced DSP effects chains beyond what Web Audio basics offer
- you're building a native mobile app without a web view

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: audio-processing, ui-components
- domain: web-development, frontend
- platform: browser, cross-platform
- tags: web-audio, html5-audio, audio-sprites, spatial-audio, sound-playback, zero-dependencies, audio, game-development, javascript

## Member repositories
- goldfire/howler.js (main) score 47

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:38.121105+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 2026-08-29T16:56:03.853927+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/goldfire/howler.js (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:38.121105+00:00, sha f2fa6eba8897)
  - homepage: https://howlerjs.com (fetched 2026-08-29T07:53:15.424613+00:00, sha 6deff97e8d10)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.