# johnno1962/Xtrace

Trace Objective-C method calls by class or instance

Repository: https://github.com/johnno1962/Xtrace
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/xtrace
Language: Objective-C++
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2021-02-18T15:45:01+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4567, "days_push": 2022, "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 1830, forks 132 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:41.738336+00:00)

## What it is
Xtrace is an Objective-C library (a header and C++ implementation file) that intercepts and logs all method calls to a class or specific instance using the Objective-C runtime. It is primarily useful for debugging iOS/macOS apps and has been superseded by the author's SwiftTrace project.

## Use cases
- trace all Objective-C method calls to a class
- trace method calls on a specific object instance
- trace an entire app bundle or embedded framework's classes
- trace all UIKit methods matching a class name pattern
- dump pseudo-header of a class from lldb
- colorize method traces in Xcode console

## When to choose
- you need to see every Objective-C method call made to a class or instance for debugging
- you want to explore undocumented framework behavior by observing method traffic
- you work in an Objective-C codebase and want a lightweight, header-only tracing tool

## When to avoid
- your project is primarily Swift - use SwiftTrace instead
- you need actively maintained tooling - the project is superseded and last released in 2021
- you need production-safe tracing rather than a development-time debugging aid

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: developer-tools, logging, tracing
- domain: developer-tools, apple-ecosystem
- platform: cpp
- tags: objective-c, method-tracing, runtime-interception, xcode, debugging, macos, ios

## Member repositories
- johnno1962/Xtrace (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:41.738336+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 2026-08-30T03:19:15.114435+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/johnno1962/Xtrace (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:41.738336+00:00, sha 362d25ea1d8d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.