Repolode
Submit
phlx0

phlx0/drift

A terminal screensaver written in Go that starts when your shell is idle, showing animated scenes like constellations, rain, and particles.

View on GitHub
Stars
771
Forks
20
Open issues
0
Last commit
3 days ago

What is it?

drift is a terminal screensaver that launches automatically after a period of shell inactivity and returns to your prompt on any keypress. It ships 14 animated scenes, including waveform, constellation, rain, maze, Game of Life, orrery, starfield, boids, and a clock, each rendered in the terminal with braille or box-drawing characters.

Scenes cycle on a configurable timer or can be locked to one scene. Ten built-in color themes are included, such as nord, dracula, catppuccin, and gruvbox, and an ansi theme that uses the terminal's own 16 colors. Custom themes can be defined in a TOML config file, and each scene has its own tunable parameters.

Shell integration is provided for Zsh, Bash, and Fish, and the binary can also be run directly on macOS, Linux, and Windows. An interactive showcase mode lets you browse scenes and themes. Installation options include Homebrew, AUR, Nix, prebuilt binaries, and go install.

Key features

  • 01Automatically starts after shell inactivity for Zsh, Bash, and Fish.
  • 02Includes 14 animated scenes such as waveform, rain, maze, and Game of Life.
  • 03Offers 10 built-in color themes, including an ansi theme that follows your terminal colorscheme.
  • 04Supports custom themes and per-scene settings through a TOML config file.
  • 05Provides an interactive showcase mode to browse scenes and themes.

Use cases

  • Keeping an idle terminal session visually active instead of showing a static prompt.
  • Adding ambient terminal art to a desktop or a dedicated monitor.
  • Previewing terminal color themes before adopting one in your setup.

Topics

#terminal#screensaver#tui#animation#cli#go#ascii#golang#idle#tcell

FAQ

What is drift?
A terminal screensaver written in Go that starts when your shell is idle, showing animated scenes like constellations, rain, and particles. drift is a terminal screensaver that launches automatically after a period of shell inactivity and returns to your prompt on any keypress. It ships 14 animated scenes, including waveform, constellation, rain, maze, Game of Life, orrery, starfield, boids, and a clock, each rendered in the terminal with braille or box-drawing characters.
Is drift free to use? What license does it have?
drift is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is drift still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to drift was on Oct 16, 2026.
What can I use drift for?
Keeping an idle terminal session visually active instead of showing a static prompt. Adding ambient terminal art to a desktop or a dedicated monitor. Previewing terminal color themes before adopting one in your setup.
Where can I get drift?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/phlx0/drift

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

Related projects