# saitoha/libsixel

A SIXEL encoder/decoder implementation derived from kmiya's sixel (https://github.com/saitoha/sixel).

Repository: https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/libsixel
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: sixel
Last push: 2026-08-19T13:01:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 84/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 58, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4761, "days_push": 14, "days_rel": 122, "gap_med": 122.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2841, forks 100 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:24.761504+00:00)

## What it is
libsixel is a C library providing an encoder and decoder for the DEC SIXEL graphics format, along with converter tools like img2sixel that display images directly in SIXEL-capable terminals. It supports GIF animation decoding and integrates with projects for video streaming and SDL-based GUI rendering in terminals.

## Use cases
- display images in the terminal with img2sixel
- convert images to sixel format
- view GIF animations in a sixel terminal
- render video frames to a terminal via sixel
- embed sixel encoding in a C application
- run GUI apps on sixel-capable terminals

## When to avoid
- your terminal does not support SIXEL graphics
- you need modern protocols like the kitty graphics protocol or iTerm2 inline images
- you need a high-level language binding out of the box

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: image-processing, cli, graphics
- domain: graphics, media
- platform: windows, cross-platform, cli
- tags: sixel, terminal-graphics, image-conversion, dec-vt, command-line, terminal, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- saitoha/libsixel (main) score 84

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:24.761504+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 2026-08-30T07:37:15.531965+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/saitoha/libsixel (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:24.761504+00:00, sha cd952a0b62d1)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.