# ryboe/q

Quick and dirty debugging output for tired Go programmers

Repository: https://github.com/ryboe/q
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ryboe-q
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: go, golang, debugger
Last push: 2026-07-10T18:33:50+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 76/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 91, release rhythm 42, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3860, "days_push": 54, "days_rel": 178, "gap_med": 194.0, "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 1546, forks 69 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:01.572019+00:00)

## What it is
q is a Go library that provides quick print-statement debugging via a single q.Q() call, pretty-printing variables and expressions to a temp log file instead of stdout. It is a Go port of Python's q debugging module, designed for tired programmers who want fast, colorful debug output.

## Use cases
- debug go variables without fmt.Printf
- pretty-print structs while debugging
- send debug output to a separate log file
- quick print statement debugging in go
- tail debug output in a dedicated terminal
- add debug snippets to my editor

## When to choose
- you want faster, prettier print debugging than fmt.Printf in Go
- you want debug output kept off stdout and away from program output
- you like tailing a single log file while coding

## When to avoid
- you need structured or production-grade logging
- you require a full debugger with breakpoints and stepping
- your project cannot write to temp files

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: logging, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools
- platform: go, cli, cross-platform
- tags: print-debugging, debug-output, pretty-printing, go-library, debugging, go

## Member repositories
- ryboe/q (main) score 76

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:01.572019+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 2026-08-30T04:30:34.430789+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ryboe/q (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:01.572019+00:00, sha e2726fce45f3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.