# zealdocs/zeal

Offline documentation browser. Your personal reference library, searchable in an instant.

Repository: https://github.com/zealdocs/zeal
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/zeal
Homepage: https://zealdocs.org
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: documentation, docset, zeal, docs, api, api-documentation, dash, documentation-tool, developer-tools, offline, desktop-application, qt, linux, reference, windows
Last push: 2026-08-18T13:27:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 83, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4974, "days_push": 15, "days_rel": 36, "gap_med": 74.5, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 12778, forks 836 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:59.747070+00:00)

## What it is
Zeal is an offline documentation browser for Windows and Linux, inspired by macOS's Dash, that lets developers download and search hundreds of API docsets instantly. It supports the Dash docset format with scoped queries (e.g. `python:pprint`) and a command-line launcher.

## Use cases
- browse programming language and library docs offline
- instantly search API references across multiple docsets
- look up documentation without an internet connection
- search docs from the command line like `zeal python:pprint`
- filter searches to specific docsets like `cpp:vector`
- replace Dash on Windows or Linux

## When to choose
- you need offline access to API documentation on Windows or Linux
- you want fast, keyboard-driven search across many docsets
- you already use Dash docsets or the Dash ecosystem

## When to avoid
- you are on macOS and can use Dash directly
- you need always-up-to-date online docs with community comments
- you need a web-based or team-shared documentation portal

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: documentation, search-engine, developer-tools
- domain: documentation, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: offline-documentation, docsets, dash-compatible, qt, api-reference, instant-search, command-line, linux, desktop

## Member repositories
- zealdocs/zeal (main) score 93

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:59.747070+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 2026-08-29T17:13:48.260827+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/zealdocs/zeal (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:59.747070+00:00, sha a44a5fc230d7)
  - homepage: https://zealdocs.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:09:55.063730+00:00, sha 2b65d63f9b58)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.