python-output-styler

name	python-output-styler
description	Applies gorgeous terminal styling to Python scripts using Rich with plain-text fallback. Use when creating or modifying Python scripts that produce user-facing terminal output. Use when asked to "style python output", "make python pretty", "add colors to python script", or "improve python terminal UX".
license	MIT
user-invocable	true
argument-hint	[script-path]
metadata	{"author":"tsilva","version":"1.0.0"}

Python Output Styling

Style all user-facing Python script output using the bundled style.py module.

Workflow

1. Read references/style.py to understand available functions
2. If style.py doesn't exist alongside the target script, copy from references/style.py into the same directory
3. Import functions in the target script: from style import header, success, error, info, section
4. Replace raw print() statements with styled output function calls
5. Replace input() prompts with styled_input, confirm, or choose as appropriate
6. Wrap long-running iterables with progress for animated feedback
7. Wrap long-running functions with spin for animated spinner feedback
8. Verify script still works when Rich is not installed (graceful degradation to plain print)

Dependency

Rich is the preferred rendering backend. Install via:

uv run --with rich script.py

When Rich is unavailable, all functions fall back to plain print() output automatically.

Color Palette

Name	Hex	Rich Markup	Use
Brand	#AF87FF	[bold #AF87FF]	Headers, emphasis
Success	#87D787	[#87D787]	Checkmarks, completion
Error	#FF5F5F	[#FF5F5F]	Errors, failures
Warning	#FFD75F	[#FFD75F]	Warnings, caution
Info	#87CEEB	[#87CEEB]	Info messages, tips
Muted	#808080	[#808080]	Paths, secondary text

Output Functions

Function	Symbol	Color	Purpose
header(title, subtitle="")	box	Brand	Bordered header panel
section(text)	━━	Brand	Horizontal rule divider
success(text)	✓	Success	Completed actions
error(text)	✗	Error	Error messages
warn(text)	⚠	Warning	Warnings
info(text)	●	Info	Informational
step(text)	→	Muted	Action log (suppressed when quiet)
note(text)	—	Muted	"Note:" prefixed
banner(text)	box	Success	Completion banner
error_block(*lines)	│	Error	Multi-line error box
list_item(label, value)	•	Brand+Muted	Key-value display
dim(text)	—	Muted	De-emphasized text (suppressed when quiet)

Utility Functions

Function	Purpose
table(headers, *rows)	Formatted table with headers. headers is a list of strings, each row is a list of strings
pretty(obj)	Rich inspect for any Python object (falls back to pprint)

Progress Functions

Function	Returns	Purpose
progress(iterable, label="")	Wrapped iterable	Rich progress bar wrapping any iterable
spin(title, func, *args, **kwargs)	Function result	Animated spinner wrapping a function call

Interactive Functions

Function	Returns	Purpose
confirm(prompt, default=True)	bool	y/n prompt
choose(header, *options)	str	Numbered selection menu
styled_input(prompt, password=False)	str	Styled text input (avoids shadowing built-in input)

Pattern Mapping

Old Pattern	New Pattern
print("Title") + print("=====")	header("Title", "Subtitle")
print("✓ done")	success("done")
print("Error: ...")	error("...")
print("Warning: ...")	warn("...")
print(" - Label: value")	list_item("Label", "value")
input("Continue? (y/n) ")	confirm("Continue?")
print("Section...") between blocks	section("Section")
print("Note: ...")	note("...")
Multi-line error block	error_block("line1", "line2")
Numbered menu with input()	choose("Pick one:", "A", "B", "C")
input("Name: ")	styled_input("Name:")
getpass.getpass("Password: ")	styled_input("Password:", password=True)
for item in items: ... (slow)	for item in progress(items, "Processing"): ...
Long function call with no feedback	result = spin("Installing...", install_pkg, "name")
pprint(obj)	pretty(obj)

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Effect
NO_COLOR	unset	Disables all color output when set to any value
STYLE_VERBOSE	1	0=quiet (suppresses step/dim), 1=default, 2=verbose

Rules

• ALWAYS import from style.py — never use Rich directly in scripts
• NEVER hard-code ANSI codes in scripts — use style.py functions exclusively
• Use styled_input instead of input for styled prompts to avoid shadowing the built-in
• confirm returns a bool — use directly in if confirm("Continue?"): ...
• spin returns the wrapped function's return value — use: result = spin("Building...", build_fn)
• choose returns the selected option string — use: choice = choose("Pick:", "A", "B")
• progress wraps an iterable — use: for item in progress(items, "Processing"): ...
• Do NOT wrap instant operations with spin — only use for functions that take noticeable time
• Preserve all existing logic — only change output formatting, never behavior
• Scripts must work identically when Rich is not installed (plain print fallback)