# tavianator/bfs

A breadth-first version of the UNIX find command

Repository: https://github.com/tavianator/bfs
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/tavianator-bfs
Homepage: https://tavianator.com/projects/bfs.html
Language: C
License: 0BSD
License Family: permissive
Topics: find, command-line, filesystem, directory-tree, breadth-first-search, linux, macos, bsd, unix
Last push: 2026-08-24T18:25:11+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 92/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 78, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4098, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 65, "gap_med": 39, "n_releases_24m": 12}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1258, forks 43 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:09.534419+00:00)

## What it is
bfs is a breadth-first variant of the UNIX find command, written in C. It is largely compatible with POSIX, GNU, BSD, and macOS find, but returns files shallowest-first so matches are typically found faster.

## Use cases
- find files in a directory tree faster than find
- drop-in replacement for unix find command
- search filesystem breadth-first
- locate shallow files without waiting for deep subtrees
- compatible find command for linux and macos

## When to choose
- you use find regularly and want faster, shallower-first results
- you want a mostly drop-in find replacement with extra features
- you work on Linux, macOS, or BSD and want a fast C implementation

## When to avoid
- you need exact depth-first traversal order of GNU find
- you rely on scripts depending on find's precise output ordering

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: file-system, search-engine, cli
- domain: developer-tools, files
- platform: bsd, cli
- tags: find-replacement, breadth-first-search, unix-tools, file-search, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- tavianator/bfs (main) score 92

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:09.534419+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 2026-08-30T05:05:37.328963+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/tavianator/bfs (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:09.534419+00:00, sha 3773177676d4)
  - homepage: https://tavianator.com/projects/bfs.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:17:15.642470+00:00, sha 591abf285ede)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.