# jescalan/roots

a toolkit for rapid advanced front-end development

Repository: https://github.com/jescalan/roots
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/roots
Homepage: http://roots.netlify.com/
Language: CoffeeScript
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2020-04-14T14:25:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5097, "days_push": 2332, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- 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 1447, forks 126 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:45.376094+00:00)

## What it is
Roots is a fast, customizable static site compiler for front-end web development, installed via npm and run from the command line. It is now in maintenance mode with no new features, and its team recommends the successor project Spike for new work.

## Use cases
- compile a static website quickly
- build fast cheap-to-host marketing sites
- use a static site generator with client-side mv* frameworks like backbone or angular
- optimize and simplify website build workflow
- rapidly prototype front-end projects

## When to choose
- maintaining an existing roots-based site
- you prefer its conventions over newer generators
- a small static site where a legacy tool is acceptable

## When to avoid
- starting any new project - use spike or a modern static site generator instead
- you need active development, new features, or long-term support
- you want a tool with a large current community

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: static-site-generator, build-tool, cli
- domain: web-development, frontend, developer-tools
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: coffeescript, static-site-compiler, legacy, superseded-by-spike, nodejs

## Member repositories
- jescalan/roots (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:45.376094+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 2026-08-30T04:36:06.849300+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/jescalan/roots (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:45.376094+00:00, sha 7541dda23267)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.