# GoogleChromeLabs/idlize

Helper classes and methods for implementing the idle-until-urgent pattern

Repository: https://github.com/GoogleChromeLabs/idlize
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/idlize
Homepage: https://philipwalton.com/articles/idle-until-urgent/
Language: JavaScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Archived: true
Last push: 2023-04-29T10:20:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2906, "days_push": 1222, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1062, forks 38 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:26.172052+00:00)

## What it is
A collection of small JavaScript helper classes and methods for implementing the idle-until-urgent performance pattern, built around requestIdleCallback(). It includes helpers like IdleQueue, IdleValue, defineIdleProperty, and polyfills for idle callback APIs.

## Use cases
- reduce first input delay by deferring non-critical work
- polyfill requestIdleCallback in older browsers
- run initialization code during browser idle time
- defer expensive property computation until needed
- queue background tasks to avoid blocking the main thread

## When to choose
- you need to reduce main-thread blocking and improve interaction latency
- you want a lightweight, per-helper importable utility for idle scheduling
- you must support legacy browsers like IE9+ with idle callback polyfills

## When to avoid
- your runtime is not a browser environment
- you need a maintained, actively developed solution (last release 2023)
- you use a framework that already provides built-in idle-time scheduling

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: developer-tools, concurrency
- domain: web-development, frontend, performance
- platform: browser
- tags: idle-until-urgent, requestidlecallback, performance-optimization, browser-polyfills, es-modules, nodejs, javascript

## Member repositories
- GoogleChromeLabs/idlize (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:26.172052+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 2026-08-30T06:56:41.893522+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/GoogleChromeLabs/idlize (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:26.172052+00:00, sha 96693f2ecdde)
  - homepage: https://philipwalton.com/articles/idle-until-urgent/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:58:14.152301+00:00, sha 936443c49650)
  - site_page: https://philipwalton.com/about (fetched 2026-08-29T12:58:14.162281+00:00, sha 05039d341369)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/idlize (fetched 2026-08-29T12:58:14.164195+00:00, sha 908ef48a8c4a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.