Colorclass

2.2.2 · active · verified Fri Apr 10

Colorclass is a Python library for creating colorful and worry-free console applications, providing ANSI color text support for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. It includes 'auto colors' functionality to adapt to dark/light terminals. The current stable version is 2.2.2, released in December 2021, and it is actively maintained.

Warnings

gotcha On Windows, ANSI color codes are not enabled by default for older terminals. You must call `Windows.enable()` in your application to properly display colors. Even on modern Windows 10/11, it's recommended for auto-color detection.
Fix: Add `from colorclass import Windows` and `Windows.enable()` at the start of your script if running on Windows.
breaking In Python 2.x, `colorclass` string objects subclass `unicode`, whereas in Python 3.x, they subclass `str`. This might lead to compatibility issues if your code explicitly checks types using `isinstance(obj, unicode)` or `isinstance(obj, str)` without considering the Python version.
Fix: Use `isinstance(obj, str)` (Python 3 compatible) or `isinstance(obj, (str, unicode))` for cross-version compatibility if strict type checking is necessary. Generally, relying on duck typing is preferred.
gotcha When `colorclass` is used via piped command line (`python -m colorclass`), environment variables like `COLOR_DISABLE=true` or `COLOR_ENABLE=true` can override automatic color detection, forcing colors off or on, respectively.
Fix: Be aware of these environment variables (`COLOR_DISABLE`, `COLOR_ENABLE`) if colors are not appearing as expected in piped contexts. They take precedence over other settings.

Install

pip install colorclass Install stable version

Imports

Color
```
from colorclass import Color
```
While Color returns a ColoredString instance, users typically import and use the Color factory class directly to create colored strings.
Windows
```
from colorclass import Windows
```
Required for enabling ANSI color support on Windows terminals.
list_tags
```
from colorclass import list_tags
```
Use to discover all available color and style tags.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to import and use the `Color` class to apply colors and styles using curly-bracket tags. It also shows how to enable Windows console support and list all available tags. The `Windows.enable()` call is conditionally applied to avoid issues in CI/CD or non-interactive environments.

from colorclass import Color, Windows, list_tags
import os

# Enable Windows console support (required for colors on Windows)
# Check if running on CI/CD or in a non-interactive environment
if os.name == 'nt' and os.environ.get('CI') != 'true' and os.isatty(1):
    Windows.enable()

# Print a simple colored string
print(Color('{red}This text is red.{/red}'))

# Combine multiple colors and styles
print(Color('{autoblue}{bgwhite}Blue text on white background.{/bgwhite}{/autoblue}'))

# Use auto colors for terminals
print(Color('{autoyellow}This text adapts to terminal background.{/autoyellow}'))

# List available tags
print('\nAvailable tags:')
for tag in sorted(list_tags()):
    print(f'- {tag}')

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