macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install ansilovelocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install ansilove with Homebrew, apt, Nix, zypper
ANSI/ASCII art to PNG converter. Version 4.2.2 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-10.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install ansiloveDebian stable package indexes · ansilove · source: deb.debian.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#ansilovenixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/an/ansilove/package.nix · source: api.github.com
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install ansiloveopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · ansilove · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
ANSI/ASCII art to PNG converter
Project links
Commands and aliases
- ansilove
history
Project history and usage
Ansilove, also called AnsiLove/C upstream, is an ANSI and ASCII art to PNG converter. It renders classic artscene formats such as ANS, PCB, BIN, ADF, IDF, TND, and XBin using DOS and Amiga fonts, SAUCE metadata, iCE colors, and compact 4-bit PNG output.
Project history
The official README describes AnsiLove/C as a complete rewrite of AnsiLove/PHP in C. The rewrite was motivated by independence from a PHP interpreter, performance, portability, and the desire for a reusable C foundation that could support libraries and embedding.
The 4.0.0 release in 2019 switched the command-line program to libansilove, added DOS aspect-ratio handling, improved SAUCE parsing, and added support for PabloDraw 24-bit ANSI sequences. Later releases continued the package-maintainer-friendly path: CMake improvements, tests, optional seccomp support, and links to additional distro packages.
Adoption history
The README lists packages for OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD, Debian, Ubuntu, openSUSE, Solus, Gentoo, Homebrew, Guix, and Nix, making Ansilove a cross-distro preservation tool for ANSI art collections. It also names downstream or user projects such as 16colo.rs, Textfiles.com, Durdraw, and emacs-ansilove.
Its adoption is tied less to everyday shell scripting and more to digital preservation and artscene tooling. Archives use it to generate preview images from text-mode art, while editors and viewers can embed its renderer through libansilove or shell out to the CLI.
How it is used
The ansilove command takes an input file and writes a PNG, with flags for output path, font, columns, file type, iCE colors, DOS aspect ratio, Retina scale, and SAUCE inspection. In most package-manager installs it is a single-purpose media converter rather than a general terminal filter.
No official config file or credential store is documented; behavior is controlled by CLI flags and build options.
Why package nerds care
Ansilove is package-nerd catnip because it packages a niche cultural format with serious portability discipline. The upstream cares about C99, GCC and Clang, BSD platforms, CMake, man pages, test cases, and distro links, all for the humble job of turning CP437-era art into inspectable PNGs.
It also demonstrates a clean split between a CLI package and a reusable rendering library, libansilove, which matters for downstream tools that want faithful ANSI-art rendering without reimplementing SAUCE, font, and palette behavior.
Timeline
- 2019: Ansilove/C 4.0.0 switches to libansilove and expands rendering behavior.
- 2020: 4.1.x releases add type selection, seccomp work, SAUCE rendering hints, and portability fixes.
- 2022: 4.1.6 documents experimental seccomp support and modernizes CMake usage.
- 2023: 4.2.0 adds Spleen 8x16 font support.
- 2025: 4.2.1 adds project and package links including Durdraw and Guix.
- 2026: 4.2.2 fixes Topaz font selection from SAUCE metadata.
Related projects
- libansilove is the rendering library used by current Ansilove/C.
- AnsiLove/PHP is the earlier implementation from which the C rewrite departed.
- Durdraw and emacs-ansilove are documented downstream users.
Sources
- https://github.com/ansilove/ansilove#readme
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ansilove/ansilove/master/ChangeLog
- source_facts.package-manager
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
ansilove | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version4.2.2
manager updated2026-06-10
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://github.com/ansilove/ansilove
- infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/ansilove/ansilovenone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:ansilove |
|---|---|
| Version | 4.2.2 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/ansilove |
| Homepage | https://www.ansilove.org |
| Repository | https://github.com/ansilove/ansilove |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/ansilove/ansilove#readme |
| License | BSD-2-Clause |
| Source archive | https://github.com/ansilove/ansilove/releases/download/4.2.2/ansilove-4.2.2.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-06-10T21:34:49Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | libansilove |
| Build dependencies | cmake |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | ansilove |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
ansilove 4.2.0-2
ANSI and ASCII art to PNG converter
sudo apt install ansilove- Section: graphics
- Architecture: amd64
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Ansilove
Nix95%
ansilove
nix profile install nixpkgs#ansilove- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Ansilove
Ubuntu apt95%
ansilove 4.2.0-1
ANSI and ASCII art to PNG converter
sudo apt install ansilove- Section: universe/graphics
- Architecture: amd64
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Ansilove
zypper95%
ansilove 4.2.1-1.3
ANSI and ASCII art to PNG converter
sudo zypper install ansilove- License: BSD-2-Clause
- Category: Productivity/Graphics/Other
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: ansilove
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Ansilove
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment