@gesslar/colours

@gesslar/colours

256 colours for your terminal expressions. Template literal-based ANSI colour library with precise colour selection, granular styles, and semantic aliases.

Installation

npm install @gesslar/colours

Quick Start

import c from '@gesslar/colours'

console.log(c`{F045}Running:{/} {F213}${testName}{/}`)
console.log(c`{F034}[OK]{/} Build completed {F240}(${time}ms){/}`)
console.log(c`{F196}[ERR]{/} {<B}Error:{/} ${message}`)

Core Features

256 Colour Palette

Use any colour from the 256-colour terminal palette:

// Foreground colours
c`{F045}Bright green text{/}`
c`{F196}Red text{/}`
c`{F033}Blue text{/}`

// Background colours
c`{B196}Red background{/}`
c`{B045}Green background{/}`

// Combined
c`{F255}{B196}White text on red background{/}`

Granular Style Control

Turn styles on and off individually:

// Turn on styles
c`{<BU}Bold and underlined{/}`
c`{<I}Italic text{/}`
c`{<S}Strikethrough{/}`

// Turn off specific styles
c`{<BIU}All three{B>}italic and underlined{I>}just underlined{/}`

// Available styles:
// - B(old)
// - D(im)
// - F(lash)
// - I(talic)
// - O(verline)
// - R(everse),
// - S(trikethrough)
// - U(nderline)

Semantic Aliases

Create meaningful names for your colours:

// Set up aliases
c.alias.set("success", "{F034}")
c.alias.set("error", "{F196}")
c.alias.set("warning", "{F214}")
c.alias.set("muted", "{F240}")

// Use them in your code
console.log(c`{success}[OK]{/} Operation completed`)
console.log(c`{error}[ERR]{/} Something went wrong`)
console.log(c`{warning}!{/} Check this out {muted}(optional){/}`)

// Complex aliases with styles
c.alias.set("header", "{F045}{<BU}")
console.log(c`{header}IMPORTANT SECTION{/}`)

Advanced Usage

CLI Tool Styling

import c from '@gesslar/colours'

// Status messages
const success = (msg) => console.log(c`{F034}[OK]{/} ${msg}`)
const error = (msg) => console.log(c`{F196}[ERR]{/} ${msg}`)
const info = (msg) => console.log(c`{F045}[INFO]{/} ${msg}`)

success("Build completed successfully")
error("Failed to load configuration")
info(`Processing ${count} files...`)

Test Output Enhancement

// Before: boring
console.log(`Running: ${testName}`)
console.log(`[OK] ${testName} passed (${time}ms)`)

// After: beautiful
console.log(c`{F045}Running:{/} {F213}${testName}{/}`)
console.log(c`{F034}[OK]{/} {F085}${testName}{/} passed {F240}(${time}ms){/}`)

Debug Levels

const debug = {
  error: (msg) => console.log(c`{F196}{<B}[ERROR]{/} ${msg}`),
  warn: (msg) => console.log(c`{F214}[WARN]{/} ${msg}`),
  info: (msg) => console.log(c`{F045}[INFO]{/} ${msg}`),
  debug: (msg) => console.log(c`{F240}[DEBUG]{/} ${msg}`)
}

Syntax Reference

Colour Codes

• {F###} - Foreground colour (0-255)
• {B###} - Background colour (0-255)
• {/} - Reset all formatting

Style Codes

• {<STYLES} - Turn on styles (e.g., {<BU} for bold+underline)
• {STYLES>} - Turn off styles (e.g., {B>} to turn off bold)

Style Letters

• B - Bold/Bright
• D - Dim
• F - Flash/Blink
• I - Italic
• O - Overline
• R - Reverse
• S - Strikethrough
• U - Underline

Aliases

• {aliasName} - Any alias you've created
• Built-in: none (you define what you need)

Colour Selection Workflow

• Run colours command to see the colour chart (if CLI installed)
• Pick the colour number you want
• Use it in your code: c`{F045}text{/}

API Reference

Main Function

• c`template - Process template literal with colour codes

Alias Management

• c.alias.set(name, replacement) - Create an alias
• c.alias.del(name) - Remove an alias

Why @gesslar/colours?

vs ansi-colours:

• Precise colour selection with visual picker
• Cleaner syntax: c`{F045}text{/} vs ansiColors.rgb(255,100,50)('text')
• No guessing what .yellowBright actually looks like
• Granular style control

vs chalk:

• 256-colour palette support
• Template literal syntax
• Semantic aliases you define
• Lighter weight, focused scope

License

The Unlicense, because colours belong to everybody and if you disagree, well, you probably would download a car. 🤨

"I want green here, but which green?" -> colours -> "oooo ok that one"

The workflow that just works.