Tattoy – a text-based terminal compositor
Whereas this is mostly a terminal eye-candy project to get you street cred, it does have some serious aspects. Firstly it solves the age-old problem of low-contrast text, like when you `ls` a broken symlink and the red background colour is too near your current theme's foreground colour. Tattoy solves this by using none other than the web's WCAG 2.1 contrast algorithm for accessible text. Secondly, an explicit design goal is that Tattoy should be able to polyfill new terminal protocols, the `xwayland` of the TTY if you will. Say if we want to experiment with completely deprecating ANSI…
In plain words
Tattoy is a text-based terminal compositor that improves terminal display quality and accessibility. It addresses low-contrast text issues by applying the WCAG 2.1 contrast algorithm to ensure readable text regardless of color theme conflicts. Beyond aesthetics, Tattoy aims to serve as a compatibility layer for experimental terminal protocols, allowing applications using new standards to run on traditional ANSI-compatible terminal emulators without requiring those emulators to implement the new protocols directly.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Whereas this is mostly a terminal eye-candy project to get you street cred, it does have some serious aspects. Firstly it solves the age-old problem of low-contrast text, like when you `ls` a broken symlink and the red background colour is too near your current theme's foreground colour. Tattoy solves this by using none other than the web's WCAG 2.1 contrast algorithm for accessible text. Secondly, an explicit design goal is that Tattoy should be able to polyfill new terminal protocols, the `xwayland` of the TTY if you will. Say if we want to experiment with completely deprecating ANSI codes, then any application that uses a new protocol can be run in Tattoy which itself runs in any ANSI-standard terminal emulator as normal. You can read more about this idea here: https://tattoy.sh/news/an-end-to-terminal-ansi-codes/ But ultimately this has been something more akin to an art project, something to enjoy for the sheer aesthetic pleasure.
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