> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.otter-shell.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# otter-utils

> Pure Zig utilities: BoundedArray, FilePath, logging, inotify, and Otter config paths.

`otter-utils` sits at the bottom of the stack. Pure Zig, no external deps. Every other library links it for bounded containers, path helpers, logging, file watching, and shared XDG paths under `~/.config/otter-shell/`.

## Quick example

```zig theme={null}
const utils = @import("otter_utils");

var arr = utils.BoundedArray(u8, 256){};
try arr.appendSlice("hello");

const mylog = utils.log.Scoped("my-app");
mylog.info("starting", .{});

var path_buf: [std.fs.max_path_bytes]u8 = undefined;
const config_path = utils.config_paths.otterConfigPath(&path_buf, "myapp.conf") orelse return error.NoHome;
```

## Documentation map

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Arrays and paths" icon="layer-group" href="/developers/libraries/otter-utils/arrays-and-paths">
    `BoundedArray`, `FilePath`, `FixedString`, and stack buffers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Logging" icon="terminal" href="/developers/libraries/otter-utils/logging">
    Scoped loggers, counters, timers, and periodic reporters.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Inotify" icon="eye" href="/developers/libraries/otter-utils/inotify">
    Generic file and directory watcher for event loops.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Config and runtime paths" icon="folder" href="/developers/libraries/otter-utils/config-and-runtime-paths">
    XDG config, data, cache, runtime dirs, and `runtime_state`.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Other exports

| Module                | Purpose                                    |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `process` / `command` | Spawn subprocesses with bounded argv       |
| `SubscriberList`      | Lightweight pub/sub for state changes      |
| `unix_socket`         | Bounded Unix socket paths and FD hardening |
| `app_id_match`        | Match Wayland `app_id` strings             |
| `assist`              | ChatML prompt helpers for `otter-assist`   |
| `cli`                 | Shared CLI flag parsing for small tools    |

## Dependencies

None.