Vase

Vase generates small terminal avatars from fixed 9x17 text templates.

The output is plain terminal text by default, with optional ANSI 256-color rendering, foreground/background template selection, palette constraints, and paint patterns.

Importing:

import "github.com/flowercomputers/vase"

Layout

.
├── *.go              Go library package: github.com/flowercomputers/vase
├── cmd/vase/         Go command-line wrapper
├── node/             Node CLI and browser/SVG prototype
├── foregrounds.txt   Template notes/source material
└── archive/          Older experiments kept for reference

Go CLI

Run from the repo root:

go run ./cmd/vase
go run ./cmd/vase --paint-pattern=mixed
go run ./cmd/vase --background=15 --foreground=9 --plain
go run ./cmd/vase --info --ruler
go run ./cmd/vase --list-colors

Build a local binary:

go build -o vase ./cmd/vase
./vase --paint-pattern=mixed

Go Library

Minimal use:

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"math/rand"

	"github.com/flowercomputers/vase"
)

func main() {
	model, err := vase.Generate(rand.New(rand.NewSource(1)), vase.DefaultOptions())
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}

	fmt.Println(vase.RenderPlain(model))
}

Useful public entrypoints:

• vase.Generate(rng, opts) creates an avatar model.
• vase.Render(model, opts) renders text with explicit render options.
• vase.RenderPlain(model) renders copy/paste-friendly text.
• vase.RenderANSI(model) renders colored terminal text.
• vase.ParseLayer("pollen/lilac") parses reusable color layers.
• vase.ParsePattern("mixed") parses paint patterns.
• vase.ListColors() and vase.KnownFamilies() expose palette metadata.

Core Model

Each avatar combines:

• a 9x17 background template
• a 9x17 foreground template
• one or two background colors
• one or two foreground colors
• an optional paint pattern that swaps between the two colors inside a layer

Template coordinates are preserved. The generator does not recenter templates by visible bounds because the source art is already authored on the shared 9x17 canvas.

Foreground/background contrast is checked across all color pairings. Patterned layers also prefer same-family or adjacent-family color variation, so texture stays coherent while the foreground and background remain visually distinct.

Development Checks

go test ./...
go test -race ./...
go vet ./...
node --check node/avatar-grid.js

Quick output checks:

go run ./cmd/vase --plain --background=15 --foreground=9
npm --prefix node run avatar -- --plain --background=15 --foreground=9