cascolor

A beautiful, cross-platform color picker with GUI and TUI support. Single static binary with comprehensive color format support.

About

cascolor is a modern color picker application written in Rust that automatically adapts to your environment. Whether you're working in a graphical desktop environment or over SSH, cascolor provides a consistent and intuitive interface for selecting, converting, and managing colors.

Built with Apple-level attention to UX design, featuring clean layouts, smooth interactions, and progressive disclosure of advanced features.

Features

• Multiple Color Formats: HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA, HSV, HSB, CMYK, Lab, LCh, Luv, XYZ, Oklab, Oklch, and CSS Named Colors
• Dual Interface:
  • GUI Mode: Beautiful Iced-based interface with smooth sliders, live preview, and one-click copy
  • TUI Mode: Terminal UI for remote sessions or systems without display
• Interactive Controls: HSL sliders with live preview, direct text input, and instant copy buttons
• Eyedropper Tool: Pick colors directly from your screen (GUI mode)
• Color History: Automatically saves your last 20 colors with visual preview
• Auto-Update: Built-in update system with stable, beta, and daily channels
• Themeable: Dark (default), Light, System, and Auto (time-based) themes
• Cross-Platform: Linux, Windows, macOS, and FreeBSD support
• Progressive Disclosure: Advanced formats hidden until needed - keeps UI clean
• Keyboard-Friendly: Full keyboard navigation in both GUI and TUI modes

Installation

Download Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page:

• Linux x86_64: cascolor-linux-x86_64
• Linux ARM64: cascolor-linux-aarch64
• Windows x86_64: cascolor-windows-x86_64.exe
• macOS x86_64: cascolor-macos-x86_64
• macOS ARM64: cascolor-macos-aarch64
• FreeBSD x86_64: cascolor-freebsd-x86_64
• FreeBSD ARM64: cascolor-freebsd-aarch64

Quick Install (Linux/macOS)

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/casapps/cascolor/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Manual Installation

1. Download the appropriate binary for your system
2. Make it executable: chmod +x cascolor-linux-x86_64
3. Move to your PATH: sudo mv cascolor-linux-x86_64 /usr/local/bin/cascolor

Usage

Basic Usage

# Launch the application (auto-detects GUI or TUI mode)
cascolor

# Show version information
cascolor --version

# Check for updates
cascolor --update

# Update from a specific channel
cascolor --update beta
cascolor --update daily

Configuration

Configuration file location:

• Linux/BSD: ~/.config/casapps/cascolor/config.toml
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/casapps/cascolor/config.toml
• Windows: %APPDATA%\casapps\cascolor\config.toml

Example configuration:

[general]
theme = "dark"              # Options: dark, light, system, auto
history_size = 20           # Number of colors to remember

[updates]
channel = "stable"          # Options: stable, beta, daily
check_on_startup = true     # Check for updates when app starts
check_in_background = true  # Periodic background checks (every 24h)
prompt_before_update = true # false = auto-update without asking

[ui]
show_system_tray = true     # System tray icon (can disable)
remember_window_position = true
default_color_format = "hex" # Default format shown

Update Channels

• stable: Production releases (recommended)
• beta: Pre-release versions with new features
• daily: Nightly builds (bleeding edge)

Development

Prerequisites

• Docker (REQUIRED for building)
• Git
• gh CLI (for releases)

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/casapps/cascolor.git
cd cascolor

# Build for all platforms (Docker-based)
make build

# Run tests (Docker-based)
make test

# Create release (Docker-based)
make release

Docker Build System

All builds use Docker to ensure consistent, reproducible binaries:

# Linux x86_64 (with GUI dependencies)
docker run --rm --platform linux/amd64 \
  -v "$(PWD)":/workspace \
  rust:latest bash -c '
    apt-get update && 
    apt-get install -y libgtk-3-dev libglib2.0-dev pkg-config &&
    cargo build --release'

# Windows x86_64 (cross-compile from Linux)
docker run --rm rust:latest bash -c '
  rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-gnu &&
  apt-get update && apt-get install -y mingw-w64 &&
  cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu'

Why Docker?

• Consistent build environment across all platforms
• No need to install Rust/dependencies locally
• Cross-compilation made simple
• CI/CD friendly

Project Structure

cascolor/
├── src/           # Source code
├── tests/         # Integration tests
├── scripts/       # Installation scripts
├── .github/       # GitHub Actions workflows
├── .gitea/        # Gitea Actions workflows
├── Cargo.toml     # Rust dependencies
├── Makefile       # Build automation
└── release.txt    # Current version

Release Process

# Create a release (automatically increments version)
make release

# Or specify a version
VERSION=1.2.3 make release

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Workflow

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests: make test
5. Build: make build
6. Commit: git commit -am 'Add new feature'
7. Push: git push origin feature/my-feature
8. Submit a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE.md for details.

Repository

• GitHub: https://github.com/casapps/cascolor
• Issues: https://github.com/casapps/cascolor/issues

Support

For bugs, feature requests, or questions, please open an issue on GitHub.