Quick Tip: Use gem.wtf to go to the GitHub repo of a gem

gem.wtf is a handy little website/tool that I use probably at least once a week. Its purpose is quite simple: enter gem.wtf/some_ruby_gem into your browser’s URL bar, and it will redirect you to that gem’s source code repository (i.e. usually their GitHub repo).

Here are some examples:

• gem.wtf/rails
• gem.wtf/sidekiq
• gem.wtf/simple_cov-formatter-terminal

This is a really quick and convenient way to get from the name of a gem to its GitHub repo, which can be handy…

• to quickly see how many GitHub stars a gem has that you’re thinking about using
• to view a gem’s README documentation
• to search/browse through the GitHub Issues/PRs/Discussions, if you’re running into a bug/problem
• to clone the git repository, so that you can dig through the code history and get some additional context about how and why the library works the way it does
• and more!

Of course, you can also find the gem’s GitHub repo through Google or RubyGems, but this saves you a click and takes you straight there.

Thanks to the creator of gem.wtf, Zeke Sikelianos. You can check out gem.wtf’s source code here (it’s actually a simple Node express app).

Bonus tip: There’s a similar tool to get to the GitHub repo for a JavaScript npm package: ghub.io. For example, ghub.io/lodash takes you to the GitHub repo for the lodash npm package.