# qicosmos/iguana

universal serialization engine

Repository: https://github.com/qicosmos/iguana
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/iguana
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: c-plus-plus, serialization, json, xml, binary
Last push: 2026-08-12T13:46:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 91/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 78, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3526, "days_push": 21, "days_rel": 70, "gap_med": 85, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1330, forks 241 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:24.080908+00:00)

## What it is
iguana is a C++17/C++20 header-only serialization engine built on compile-time reflection, supporting JSON, XML, YAML, and binary/protobuf formats. It can also leverage C++26 static reflection when compiled with a reflection-capable compiler.

## Use cases
- serialize C++ structs to
- parse  into C++ objects without runtime overhead
- convert structs to xml or yaml
- serialize objects to a protobuf-like binary format
- implement custom serialization formats via reflection
- fast zero-copy  parsing in C++

## When to choose
- you need high-performance serialization in modern C++ without code generation
- you want one library to handle multiple formats (, xml, yaml, binary)
- you can use C++17/20 and want compile-time reflection instead of macros or runtime introspection

## When to avoid
- you need language-agnostic schema evolution like full protobuf ecosystem support
- your compiler is old and lacks C++17 support
- you need serialization across many languages, not just C++

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: serialization, parser
- domain: developer-tools, backend, apis
- platform: windows, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: compile-time-reflection, c-plus-plus, xml, yaml, protobuf, header-only, c-plus-plus-20, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- qicosmos/iguana (main) score 91

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:24.080908+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 2026-08-30T04:45:33.027892+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/qicosmos/iguana (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:24.080908+00:00, sha 018897ffdf23)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.