# Pry

A runtime developer console and IRB alternative with powerful introspection capabilities.

Repository: https://github.com/pry/pry
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pry
Homepage: http://pry.github.io
Language: Ruby
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: irb, console, ruby, debugger, runtime, pry, introspection, reflection
Last push: 2026-03-02T03:40:39+00:00
Link (homepage): http://pry.github.io

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 74/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 70, release rhythm 63, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5748, "days_push": 184, "days_rel": 250, "gap_med": 19.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6836, forks 609 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:48.934300+00:00)

## What it is
Pry is a runtime developer console and IRB alternative for Ruby with powerful introspection capabilities such as source and documentation browsing, syntax highlighting, and state navigation. It can be used as a REPL, a developer console, or a debugger, and integrates with Rails via pry-rails.

## Use cases
- replace irb with a better ruby repl
- inspect ruby object source code at runtime
- browse method documentation from the console
- use pry as the rails console
- debug ruby code with a runtime console
- navigate and explore object state with cd and ls
- edit methods in an editor from the repl

## When to choose
- you want a more powerful Ruby REPL than IRB
- you need runtime introspection of Ruby objects and methods
- you want an enhanced Rails console experience
- you need a lightweight runtime debugger for Ruby

## When to avoid
- you are not working in Ruby
- you need a full graphical IDE debugger
- you need a REPL for another language

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: developer-tools, cli, editor
- domain: developer-tools, programming-languages
- platform: ruby, cli, cross-platform
- tags: repl, irb-alternative, debugger, introspection, ruby-console, runtime-invocation, command-line

## Member repositories
- pry/pry (main) score 74
- pry/pry-rails (plugin) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:48.934300+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 2026-08-29T17:41:52.246625+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/pry/pry (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:48.934300+00:00, sha 3203c54fcf0a)
  - homepage: http://pry.github.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:37:48.872272+00:00, sha bed62910a821)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.