# mathiasbynens/small

Smallest possible syntactically valid files of different types

Repository: https://github.com/mathiasbynens/small
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mathiasbynens-small
Homepage: https://mathiasbynens.be/notes/minimal-html
Language: HTML
License Family: other
Last push: 2024-07-18T23:58:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5371, "days_push": 776, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2298, forks 194 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:35.289514+00:00)

## What it is
A curated collection of the smallest possible syntactically valid files across many formats, including archives, images, executables, documents, and programming languages. It serves as reference material and test fixtures for anyone studying or testing file format handling.

## Use cases
- find the smallest valid png or jpeg file
- get minimal test fixture files for a parser
- test file type detection with tiny sample files
- learn the minimum bytes needed for a valid html document
- download minimal sample files of many formats
- benchmark file parsers with tiny inputs

## When to choose
- you need tiny valid sample files for testing parsers or file-type detection
- you want to study the minimal structure of a file format
- you need reference fixtures across many file types in one place

## When to avoid
- you need production-grade sample data or large realistic files
- you need a library or tool rather than static sample files
- you need files with permissive licensing guarantees for redistribution in products

## Facets
- artifact type: dataset
- maturity: maintenance
- function: developer-tools, file-system, parser
- domain: developer-tools, files, parsers
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: minimal-files, file-format-samples, test-fixtures, reference-data

## Member repositories
- mathiasbynens/small (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:35.289514+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 2026-08-30T02:40:17.465570+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mathiasbynens/small (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:35.289514+00:00, sha 29ed197096a5)
  - homepage: https://mathiasbynens.be/notes/minimal-html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:20:31.300703+00:00, sha ed2a6ccadd20)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.