# microsoft/wil

Windows Implementation Library

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/wil
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/wil
Language: C++
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-25T21:06:45+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 36, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2856, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 219, "gap_med": 307, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2968, forks 299 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:32.650501+00:00)

## What it is
A header-only C++ library from Microsoft providing readable, type-safe C++ interfaces for common Windows coding patterns. It includes RAII resource wrappers, Win32 API helpers, registry helpers, network helpers, error-handling macros, and TraceLogging telemetry support.

## Use cases
- manage Windows HANDLEs and resources with RAII smart pointers
- check Windows API errors and surface them as error codes or exceptions
- read and write the Windows registry in a type-safe way
- watch for Windows registry changes and trigger callbacks
- simplify Winsock and sockaddr handling in C++
- log telemetry with TraceLogging from C++

## When to choose
- you are writing modern C++ that calls Win32 APIs and want RAII and type safety
- you want consistent error handling across the many Windows error-reporting conventions
- you need registry, networking, or telemetry helpers without writing boilerplate

## When to avoid
- you are targeting non-Windows platforms
- your project is pure C or does not use C++
- you want a large framework rather than lightweight header-only helpers

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: error-handling, logging, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, windows, operating-systems
- platform: windows, cpp
- tags: raii, header-only, win32, windows-api, telemetry, registry

## Member repositories
- microsoft/wil (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:32.650501+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 2026-08-30T07:31:52.372068+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/microsoft/wil (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:32.650501+00:00, sha a6cf9e098b7f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.