# cferdinandi/reef

A lightweight library for creating reactive, state-based components and UI.

Repository: https://github.com/cferdinandi/reef
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/reef
Homepage: https://reef.gomakethings.com
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: vanilla-js, javascript, javascript-framework, vuejs, reactjs, angularjs, components, ui
Last push: 2025-02-26T15:14:26+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 36/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 8, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2967, "days_push": 553, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1261, forks 76 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:10.140654+00:00)

## What it is
Reef is a tiny (2.6kb) vanilla JavaScript utility library for building reactive, state-based UI components using signals, rendering, and DOM diffing. It requires no build steps or special syntax, serving as a simpler alternative to React, Vue, and Angular.

## Use cases
- build reactive UI components without a build step
- lightweight alternative to React or Vue for small sites
- add state-based rendering to vanilla JavaScript projects
- render templates from JavaScript strings with DOM diffing
- protect against XSS with automatic HTML sanitization
- create interactive widgets with plain script tags

## When to choose
- you want reactive UI with zero dependencies and no tooling
- your project is small-to-medium and doesn't need a full framework
- you prefer writing vanilla JavaScript with minimal abstractions
- you need a tiny footprint for performance-sensitive pages

## When to avoid
- you need a large ecosystem, routing, or mature tooling
- your team relies on JSX or single-file component workflows
- you must support legacy browsers without transpiling
- you need server-side rendering or a full application framework

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: frontend-framework, state-management, ui-components, templating
- domain: web-development, frontend, developer-tools
- platform: browser, cross-platform
- tags: vanilla-js, reactive-ui, dom-diffing, no-build-step, lightweight, xss-sanitization, signals, alternative-to-react, nodejs

## Member repositories
- cferdinandi/reef (main) score 36

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.140654+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 2026-08-30T05:04:17.882691+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/cferdinandi/reef (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.140654+00:00, sha 4e5ec936352c)
  - homepage: https://reef.gomakethings.com (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:36.754449+00:00, sha 13e335103952)
  - site_page: https://reef.gomakethings.com/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:36.763699+00:00, sha d17a97873e71)
  - site_page: https://reef.gomakethings.com/about (fetched 2026-08-29T12:16:36.765647+00:00, sha 7c4ef61323c7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.