# mdqinc/SDL_GameControllerDB

A community sourced database of game controller mappings to be used with SDL Game Controller functionality

Repository: https://github.com/mdqinc/SDL_GameControllerDB
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/sdl_gamecontrollerdb
Homepage: http://libsdl.org
Language: Python
License: Zlib
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-25T10:17:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4662, "days_push": 8, "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 1756, forks 607 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:32.166196+00:00)

## What it is
A community-sourced database of game controller mappings (gamecontrollerdb.txt) for SDL2 and SDL3's Game Controller API. It maps controller GUIDs to button and axis layouts across platforms so games can support many gamepads without per-device code.

## Use cases
- add gamepad support to an SDL game without writing per-controller code
- fix a controller not being recognized in an SDL2 or SDL3 app
- load community controller mappings from a file at runtime
- find the correct mapping string for a specific gamepad model
- contribute a new controller mapping for an unsupported device

## When to choose
- your game or emulator uses SDL's Game Controller API and needs broad gamepad compatibility
- you want a maintained, community-tested mapping file instead of hand-writing mappings
- you need mappings across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android

## When to avoid
- your engine or framework has its own input abstraction and doesn't use SDL
- you need raw joystick or force-feedback handling outside SDL's controller model
- you need runtime GUI mapping creation rather than a static database

## Facets
- artifact type: dataset
- maturity: active
- function: game-engine, developer-tools
- domain: gaming-tools, cross-platform
- platform: cross-platform, windows
- tags: sdl, sdl2, sdl3, gamepad, controller-mappings, community-database, game-development, macos, linux, android, ios

## Member repositories
- mdqinc/SDL_GameControllerDB (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:32.166196+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 2026-08-30T03:27:52.441667+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mdqinc/SDL_GameControllerDB (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:32.166196+00:00, sha ae240117078a)
  - homepage: http://libsdl.org (fetched 2026-08-29T11:05:57.944089+00:00, sha 604158a043bf)
  - site_page: https://libsdl.org/index.php (fetched 2026-08-29T11:05:57.947835+00:00, sha bd8a0122ed56)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.