# creationix/step

An async control-flow library that makes stepping through logic easy.

Repository: https://github.com/creationix/step
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/step
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2017-08-08T23:49:46+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5993, "days_push": 3312, "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 2193, forks 186 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:24.984031+00:00)

## What it is
Step is a small Node.js control-flow library that lets you write serial and parallel asynchronous logic as a sequence of functions, with automatic error forwarding in Node callback style. It provides `this.parallel()` and `this.group()` helpers for coordinating multiple concurrent callbacks.

## Use cases
- run async tasks in sequence without nested callbacks
- execute multiple file reads in parallel and collect results
- handle async errors without crashing a long-running node server
- process a dynamic list of files concurrently with a group
- simplify callback-based node.js code

## When to choose
- maintaining legacy Node.js codebases already using callback-style async
- you want a tiny, dependency-free control-flow helper for callback APIs

## When to avoid
- starting a new project - use async/await or modern promise-based libraries instead
- the project is unmaintained with no releases since 2017

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: abandoned
- function: concurrency, error-handling
- domain: developer-tools, backend
- platform: -
- tags: async-control-flow, callback-management, nodejs, automation

## Member repositories
- creationix/step (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:24.984031+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 2026-08-30T02:47:18.642804+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/creationix/step (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:24.984031+00:00, sha d3a4bcb2dca2)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/step (fetched 2026-08-29T10:27:58.808274+00:00, sha aa667e8c28c6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.