# sheredom/subprocess.h

🐜 single header process launching solution for C and C++

Repository: https://github.com/sheredom/subprocess.h
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/subprocessh
Language: C
License: Unlicense
License Family: permissive
Topics: c, cpp, process, subprocess-run, subprocess
Last push: 2026-08-21T14:14:48+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 83/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 53, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3183, "days_push": 12, "days_rel": 103, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1413, forks 110 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:39.536477+00:00)

## What it is
A single-header C/C++ library for launching and interacting with subprocesses across Linux, macOS, and Windows. It provides APIs to spawn processes, pipe stdin/stdout/stderr, and wait for completion.

## Use cases
- launch a child process from C or C++
- run an external command and capture its output
- pipe data to a subprocess's stdin
- cross-platform process spawning without platform-specific code
- embed process execution in a single-header dependency

## When to choose
- you need a lightweight, dependency-free way to spawn processes in C/C++
- you need cross-platform subprocess support on Linux, macOS, and Windows
- you want to avoid pulling in large frameworks like Boost.Process

## When to avoid
- you need advanced features like process groups, signals, or async I/O multiplexing
- you are working in a language with built-in subprocess support
- you need shell-style piping between multiple processes

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: concurrency, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform, operating-systems
- platform: windows, cpp, c, cross-platform
- tags: single-header, subprocess, process-launching, header-only, c-cpp, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- sheredom/subprocess.h (main) score 83

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:39.536477+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 2026-08-30T04:38:17.860118+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/sheredom/subprocess.h (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:39.536477+00:00, sha dc7d1e7c6f62)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.