schachmat

schachmat/wego

Go ISC Productivity Single maintainer risk

weather app for the terminal

8.5k stars
506 forks
recent
GitHub +2 / week

8.5k

Stars

506

Forks

15

Open issues

30

Contributors

2.4 11 Apr 2026

AI Analysis

wego is a terminal weather client written in Go that displays forecasts with multiple visualization and data source options. It serves developers and terminal enthusiasts who prefer command-line interfaces and want lightweight weather information without leaving their shell. Best suited for Linux/Unix users and CLI-first workflows; not intended as a replacement for graphical weather apps.

Productivity Application Discovery value: 5/10
Documentation 8/10
Activity 9/10
Community 7/10
Code quality 5/10

Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.

Overall score 8/10

AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.

weather-api terminal-ui golang-cli ascii-art forecast
Actively maintained Well documented Niche/specialized use case Beginner friendly Production ready
Deep Analysis · Based on README and public signals
2w ago

wego: a mature, composable terminal weather client with multiple backends and frontends

wego is a terminal-based weather forecast tool written in Go that fetches and displays multi-day weather data in a configurable ASCII/emoji/markdown/JSON format. It targets developers, sysadmins, and power users who prefer staying in the terminal. Its plugin-style architecture supports eight weather backends and four frontends, including free keyless options (Open-Meteo, SMHI). The JSON composability feature makes it scriptable. It has been maintained for over a decade, is packaged in multiple Linux distributions, and has accumulated ~8,500 stars, indicating a stable, well-regarded niche tool.

Origin

Created in November 2014, wego predates many similar tools and likely inspired the broader terminal-weather genre. It has evolved from a single-backend tool to a multi-backend, multi-frontend system over roughly 12 years.

Growth

Growth was driven largely by organic discovery from developer communities (Reddit, Hacker News, dotfiles culture) and word-of-mouth among terminal enthusiasts. Stars accumulate slowly now (~6/week) reflecting a settled niche rather than viral growth. The project is mature and no longer in rapid expansion.

In production

Packaged in multiple Linux distributions (evidenced by the Repology badge in the README), which provides a concrete signal of ecosystem integration. Used by terminal power users and dotfile sharers. Adoption not verified at enterprise or large-scale production level — this is a personal productivity tool by nature.

Code analysis
Architecture

Appears to use a backend/frontend plugin architecture where data acquisition (backends) and rendering (frontends) are separated. The JSON pipeline capability suggests a clean interface contract between components. Likely structured as a Go CLI application with per-backend and per-frontend packages. Config management is handled via the 'ingo' library.

Tests

Not documented in README.

Maintenance

Last push was 2026-06-02, approximately 25 days before the evaluation date — indicating active maintenance. The project has been continuously maintained since 2014 with no apparent abandonment periods based on metadata. README is thorough and up-to-date with modern backends like Open-Meteo and PirateWeather.

Honest verdict

ADOPT IF: you live primarily in a terminal, want a locally-installed weather tool with multiple backend choices, disk caching, and JSON composability for scripting. AVOID IF: you need weather data in a non-terminal context, do not want to manage an API key (though Open-Meteo is free and keyless), or need real-time weather rather than forecasts. MONITOR IF: you rely on a specific backend (e.g., WorldWeatherOnline, which no longer offers free keys) and want to ensure continued support.

Independent dimensions

Mainstream potential

2/10

Technical importance

4/10

Adoption evidence

4/10

Risks
  • Third-party weather API backends can disappear, change terms, or require payment, potentially breaking functionality without notice (WorldWeatherOnline already dropped free keys).
  • The project's niche audience limits external contributor pressure, meaning maintenance depends heavily on the primary author's continued interest.
  • No documented test coverage may mean regressions when backends update their response formats.
  • Requires a UTF-8 terminal with 256 colors and a compatible monospaced font — setup friction in constrained environments (e.g., older servers, Windows without WSL).
  • Go 1.20+ dependency means older system Go installations may need upgrading, a minor but real friction point for some users.
Prediction

wego will likely remain a stable, slowly maintained niche tool for terminal enthusiasts. It is unlikely to grow significantly beyond its current audience but equally unlikely to be abandoned given 12 years of consistent maintenance.

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Information

Language
Go
License
ISC
Last updated
1w ago
Created
142mo ago
Analyzed with
anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5

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Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.

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vs. alternatives
chubin/wttr.in

wttr.in is a web service (curl-friendly) with ~3.5x more stars. It requires no local installation and no API key, making it more accessible for casual use. wego offers deeper customization, local caching, more frontend options, and offline/JSON composability — better for persistent local workflows.

wtfutil/wtf

WTF is a broader terminal dashboard that includes weather as one module among many. wego is a dedicated, composable weather tool. Users wanting just weather with more backend choice and scriptability would prefer wego; those wanting an all-in-one dashboard would lean toward WTF.

gizak/termui

termui is a terminal UI rendering library, not a weather tool. Not a direct competitor — wego could theoretically use such a library internally, but serves a different audience entirely.

jedib0t/go-pretty

go-pretty is a table/text rendering library for Go, not a user-facing weather tool. Not a direct competitor.