# johnculviner/jquery.fileDownload

jQuery File Download is a cross server platform compatible jQuery plugin that allows for an Ajax-like file download experience that isn’t normally possible using the web.

Repository: https://github.com/johnculviner/jquery.fileDownload
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/jqueryfiledownload
Homepage: http://johnculviner.com/post/2012/03/22/Ajax-like-feature-rich-file-downloads-with-jQuery-File-Download.aspx
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-08-22T14:06:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5253, "days_push": 741, "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 1063, forks 950 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:26.362883+00:00)

## What it is
A jQuery plugin that provides an Ajax-like file download experience using a hidden iframe and a success cookie, since true Ajax downloads are not possible in browsers. It works across server platforms and legacy browsers, with a modern fetch/blob alternative documented in the README.

## Use cases
- download files from a server with ajax-like UX in jquery apps
- show success or failure feedback when a file download completes
- support file downloads in legacy browsers like IE6+
- trigger file downloads without navigating away from the page
- handle download failures gracefully across browsers

## When to choose
- you maintain a legacy jQuery codebase needing cross-browser file downloads
- you must support old browsers like IE6+ where fetch/blob is unavailable
- you need a server-platform-agnostic download mechanism with cookie-based completion signals

## When to avoid
- you target only modern browsers - use fetch with blob URLs or FileSaver.js instead
- you need to send custom headers with the download request
- you are downloading very large files that could exhaust memory with blob approaches
- you are starting a new project without jQuery

## Facets
- artifact type: plugin
- maturity: maintenance
- function: file-upload, http-client
- domain: web-development, frontend, files
- platform: browser
- tags: jquery-plugin, file-download, ajax-like-download, iframe, cookie-based, jquery

## Member repositories
- johnculviner/jquery.fileDownload (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:26.362883+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 2026-08-30T06:56:39.525723+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/johnculviner/jquery.fileDownload (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:26.362883+00:00, sha 0f73f1b2aa1e)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.