Go Module Review: lipgloss

[github-actions[bot]]

🐹 Go Fan Report: Lip Gloss

Module Overview

Lip Gloss is Charmbracelet's terminal styling library that brings CSS-like declarative APIs to terminal output. It's the visual foundation of beautiful TUIs in Go, providing comprehensive styling capabilities including colors, borders, alignment, layout utilities, and adaptive color schemes that automatically adjust to terminal backgrounds.

Repository: https://github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss (10,206 ⭐, MIT License)

Current Usage in gh-aw

Version & Integration

• Current Version: v1.1.0 (stable release from March 13, 2025)
• Files Using Lip Gloss: 3 files
  • pkg/styles/theme.go (216 lines) - Centralized style definitions
  • pkg/console/console.go (377 lines) - Console formatting & table rendering
  • pkg/console/banner.go - Banner styling

Implementation Quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 - Exemplary!)

This is one of the best Lip Gloss implementations I've reviewed! The gh-aw project follows Charmbracelet best practices perfectly:

✅ Centralized Style Definitions: All colors and styles in pkg/styles/theme.go
✅ Comprehensive Adaptive Colors: 10 adaptive colors supporting both light & dark terminals
✅ Pre-configured Styles: 19 ready-to-use styles (Error, Warning, Success, FilePath, LineNumber, etc.)
✅ Smart TTY Detection: Conditional rendering via applyStyle() helper
✅ Professional Table Rendering: Using lipgloss/table package with custom style functions
✅ Rust-like Error Formatting: Context lines, line numbers, and word-level highlighting
✅ Consistent Borders: 3 centrally-defined border types (Rounded, Normal, Thick)

Key APIs Utilized

• Adaptive Colors: lipgloss.AdaptiveColor for light/dark terminal support
• Style Creation: lipgloss.NewStyle() with method chaining
• Borders: RoundedBorder(), NormalBorder(), ThickBorder()
• Tables: lipgloss/table package for structured data
• Style Methods: Bold(), Foreground(), Background(), Padding(), Margin(), Render()

Usage Highlights

// Adaptive color scheme (Dracula-inspired for dark mode)
ColorError = lipgloss.AdaptiveColor{
    Light: "#D73737", // Darker red for light backgrounds
    Dark:  "#FF5555", // Bright red for dark backgrounds
}

// Pre-configured styles with semantic meaning
var Error = lipgloss.NewStyle().Bold(true).Foreground(ColorError)

// Conditional rendering for TTY detection
func applyStyle(style lipgloss.Style, text string) string {
    if isTTY() {
        return style.Render(text)
    }
    return text
}

// Table rendering with custom styling
t := table.New().
    Headers(config.Headers...).
    Rows(allRows...).
    Border(styles.NormalBorder).
    BorderStyle(styles.TableBorder).
    StyleFunc(styleFunc)

Research Findings

Repository Status

• Last Updated: 2025-12-07 (20 days ago)
• Activity Level: Very active (part of Charmbracelet ecosystem)
• Maintainer: Charmbracelet organization
• Related Projects: Bubble Tea, Bubbles, Huh

Recent Updates

v1.1.0 (March 13, 2025) - Current Version ✅

• Major table improvements: wrapping & smart sizing algorithms
• Content wraps by default inside table cells
• New border styles: MarkdownBorder() and ASCIIBorder()
• Improved column width calculations

Recent Main Branch (since v1.1.0):

• Performance: Removed allocations from getFirstRuneAsString() (Oct 30)
• Dependencies: Updated to charmbracelet/x/ansi v0.10.2

v2.0.0 Beta (In Active Development):

• Beta 3 (July 2025): Padding/margin character customization
• Beta 2 (June 2025): Compositing/Canvas API, enhanced tables
• Beta 1 (March 2025): Deterministic styles, custom renderers
• Breaking changes - migration effort required

Best Practices from Maintainers

1. ✅ Centralize styles in a dedicated package
2. ✅ Use adaptive colors for cross-terminal UX
3. ✅ Strip styles for non-TTY output
4. ✅ Let table content wrap naturally (v1.1.0+)
5. Custom renderers for SSH/network scenarios
6. Style copying via simple assignment

Improvement Opportunities

🏃 Quick Wins

1. Clarify Version Pinning: The go.mod has both a pseudo-version and replace directive pointing to v1.1.0. Consider:

   • Stay on stable releases: Remove pseudo-version, keep replace directive
   • Or track main: Remove replace, use pseudo-version with clear comment

2. Use MarkdownBorder: For table output copied to markdown (docs, GitHub issues):

   t := table.New().
       Border(lipgloss.MarkdownBorder()).
       BorderTop(false).
       BorderBottom(false)

3. Consider ASCIIBorder: For CI/CD logs or environments with uncertain unicode support:

   t := table.New().Border(lipgloss.ASCIIBorder())

✨ Feature Opportunities

1. List Rendering (lipgloss/list)

   • Currently unused, perfect for:
     • MCP server lists with nested items
     • Tool & output enumerations
     • Configuration option displays
   • Supports custom enumerators (bullets, numbers, roman numerals)
   • Automatic indentation for nested lists

2. Tree Rendering (lipgloss/tree)

   • Ideal for hierarchical displays:
     • Workflow structures
     • File hierarchies
     • Nested configuration visualizations
     • Directory tree output
   • Built-in enumerators: Default, Rounded

3. Layout Utilities

   • Not currently using JoinHorizontal(), JoinVertical(), Place()
   • Use cases:
     • Side-by-side comparisons
     • Multi-column layouts for dense information
     • Centered or positioned content

4. Table Wrapping Control

   • v1.1.0 wraps by default - add .Wrap(false) for:
     • Numeric data tables
     • Fixed-width column displays

📐 Best Practice Alignment

1. Document the Color Palette

   • The adaptive color scheme is excellent
   • Add comment block showing visual palette
   • Document Dracula theme inspiration for dark mode
   • Create style guide for color usage

2. Monitor v2.0.0 Beta

   • Compelling new features:
     • Compositing/Canvas API for layered content
     • Enhanced color profile control
     • Custom renderers for SSH scenarios
   • Breaking changes require migration planning

3. Explore Style Ranges

   • New feature: Style portions of text without splitting strings
   • Use cases:
     • Syntax highlighting in code snippets
     • Highlighting search terms
     • Progressive color changes

🔧 General Improvements

1. Table Customization

   • Custom column widths via table.Width() per column
   • Row height control
   • Custom cell padding
   • Conditional styling based on content

2. Performance Monitoring

   • Lip Gloss used for all console output
   • Monitor rendering performance for large tables
   • Consider caching frequently-used styles
   • Profile TTY detection overhead

3. Enhanced Error Context

   • Current error rendering is excellent
   • Could extend with:
     • Multi-line error highlights
     • Suggestion boxes using ErrorBox style
     • Stack trace formatting

Recommendations

Priority 1: Clarify Version Strategy

Decide between stable releases (v1.1.0) or tracking main branch, and update go.mod accordingly.

Priority 2: Explore Sub-packages

The lipgloss/list and lipgloss/tree packages are production-ready and could enhance gh-aw's output formatting significantly.

Priority 3: Document Color System

Create a visual style guide showing the adaptive color palette and usage guidelines.

Priority 4: Monitor v2 Progress

Keep tabs on v2.0.0 beta releases for future migration planning. The Canvas API could be valuable for complex layouts.

Next Steps

1. No Critical Changes Needed - Current implementation is production-ready
2. Consider experimenting with lipgloss/list for list-based output
3. Document the adaptive color scheme for future maintainers
4. Track v2.0.0 beta releases for migration planning

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Generated by Go Fan 🐹
Module summary saved to: specs/mods/lipgloss.md
Part of the Charmbracelet Charm ecosystem

AI generated by Go Fan

[pelikhan]

/plan

[github-actions[bot]]

🎉 Yo ho ho! Plan Command found the treasure and completed successfully! ⚓💰

[github-actions[bot]]

Plan Created ✅

I've analyzed the Lip Gloss module review and created a structured implementation plan:

Parent Tracking Issue: "Enhance Lip Gloss integration based on module review"

• Links back to this discussion
• Summarizes current excellent state (5/5 rating!)
• Outlines improvement roadmap

5 Sub-Issues Created:

1. Clarify Lip Gloss version pinning in go.mod - Clean up dependency declaration strategy
2. Document adaptive color palette - Create visual style guide showing light/dark values
3. Add lipgloss/list package - Structured list rendering for MCP servers, tools, configs
4. Add lipgloss/tree package - Hierarchical rendering for workflows and nested structures
5. Add MarkdownBorder and ASCIIBorder support - Context-appropriate table borders

Each sub-issue is:

• ✅ Clearly scoped and actionable
• ✅ Linked to the parent tracking issue
• ✅ Focused on a single enhancement
• ✅ Includes specific files, approach, and acceptance criteria

The plan prioritizes documentation clarity and expanding formatting capabilities while building on the already-excellent foundation. No breaking changes required - all enhancements are additive.

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These issues are ready for GitHub Copilot agents to work on!

AI generated by Plan Command for discussion #7854