# p-e-w/ternimal

Simulate a lifeform in the terminal

Repository: https://github.com/p-e-w/ternimal
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ternimal
Language: Rust
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: art, terminal, linux, macos, rust
Last push: 2018-11-19T08:05:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3244, "days_push": 2844, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1112, forks 32 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:37.890970+00:00)

## What it is
Ternimal is a Rust program that renders an animated, glowing lifeform in the terminal using Unicode block symbols, with many command-line parameters controlling its shape, path, and color gradient. It is a minimalist, dependency-free art toy (~1000 lines of Rust) showcasing techniques like Fourier-based shape description and skeletal deformation.

## Use cases
- animate a snake-like creature in my terminal
- add fun terminal eye candy to my dotfiles
- demo cool math and rendering in a terminal
- generate organic animated shapes with command-line parameters
- decorate my terminal with a glowing animated organism

## When to choose
- you want a lightweight, dependency-free terminal animation toy
- you want to tweak parameters to create custom animated lifeforms
- you want a fun demo of Rust, Fourier math, and terminal rendering

## When to avoid
- you need a practically useful terminal tool rather than art
- your terminal emulator does not support Unicode block symbols well
- you need an actively developed project with recent releases

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, animation, cli, terminal-ui
- domain: graphics, entertainment, developer-tools
- platform: cli, rust
- tags: terminal-art, ascii-animation, generative-art, toy, no-dependencies, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- p-e-w/ternimal (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:37.890970+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:42:48.952494+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/p-e-w/ternimal (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:37.890970+00:00, sha 61006c2bb2ad)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.