# retch Development Notes
## Project Overview
- **Name**: retch (published as `retch-cli` on crates.io)
- **Goal**: A fast, feature-rich system information fetcher (Fastfetch-like) written in Rust
- **Key Technologies**: sysinfo, clap, serde, toml, colored/owo-colors
- **License**: GPLv3
- **Repository**: https://github.com/l1a/retch
## Current State (as of latest session)
### Dependencies (Cargo.toml)
- `sysinfo = "0.33"` — System information gathering
- `clap = { version = "4.5", features = ["derive"] }` — CLI argument parsing
- `serde` + `toml` — Configuration
- `colored` + `owo-colors` — Terminal coloring
- `dirs` — Config directory handling
- `anyhow` — Error handling
- `chrono = "0.4"` — Date/time formatting for boot time
- `rusqlite` (bundled) — RPM package counting
- Optional graphics support: `image` + `base64` (behind `graphics` feature)
### Module Structure
- `main.rs` — Entry point + CLI special commands
- `lib.rs` — Module declarations
- `cli.rs` — Full CLI with many options
- `config.rs` — Config loading + CLI merge logic
- `fetch.rs` — Rich SystemInfo struct
- `display.rs` — Formatted + field-filtered display
- `logo.rs` — ASCII logo support
- `theme.rs` — Theming system
### Current Features Implemented
- Rich system information:
- OS, Kernel, Hostname, Arch, **Current User**
- CPU (model + cores + frequency) + **CPU Freq**
- **GPU** detection
- Memory + Swap
- **Improved Uptime** (human-readable + ISO boot time)
- Processes, Load Average
- **Disks with filesystem type** (btrfs, ext4, etc.)
- Temperatures, **Networks** (Up/Down status + RX/TX volume + color)
- Boot time (ISO + human-readable duration)
- Battery, Shell, Terminal, Desktop Environment
- **Interactive users count** (UID >= 1000)
- **Package count** (pacman, dpkg, RPM via SQLite)
- Theming system (`default`, `dark`, `light`) with `--list-themes`
- **Improved ASCII logos** + `--list-logos` command
- Graphical logo support (Kitty protocol + image loading via `chafa`-style)
- Full config support (`~/.config/retch/config.toml`)
- CLI options: `--fields`, `--generate-config`, `--write-config`, `--merge-config`, `--list-logos`
- Field selection (config + CLI)
- Smart config merging
- Clean right-aligned formatted display
- Boot time formatted with `chrono`
### Design Goals
- Support **ASCII** and **graphical logos** (Kitty / iTerm inline image protocol)
- Theming with several default themes
- Config file support (`~/.config/retch/config.toml`)
- Output modes: short, long, custom (via config)
- Highly readable output
- As feature-rich as Fastfetch
## Next Steps (Recommended Order)
1. **Enhanced theming** — Custom color overrides, more themes
2. **Documentation & polish** — Improve README, examples, help text, man page
3. **Release preparation** — Versioning, changelog, packaging, crates.io updates
4. **Optional**: Explore colorful logo support (chafa-style) for more visual appeal
## Important Notes
- We chose `sysinfo` over `libmacchina` for broader data access (especially Swap, Network, Temperatures).
- The original `retch` name was taken on crates.io, so the crate is published as `retch-cli`.
- Users interact with the tool as `retch` (binary + config directory `~/.config/retch/`).
- The project is in early development — currently a working skeleton.
## How to Resume
Just say something like:
> "Continue working on retch"
Current focus areas:
- Enhanced theming
- Documentation & polish (README, examples, help)
- Release preparation (versioning, changelog, packaging)
I should be able to pick up from here using this file + the codebase.
---
## Session Update - May 2025
### Progress Made
- **Logo System Overhaul**
- Implemented strict priority rendering: Real graphic PNG → Chafa (high-quality symbols) → Real Fastfetch ASCII
- All supported distros (Arch, Debian, Fedora, NixOS, Ubuntu) + Tux now follow the same fallback chain
- Converted real SVG logos to high-resolution PNGs (384px) and embedded them via `include_bytes!`
- Original `.svg` files are preserved in `assets/logos/` for future use
- **CLI Improvements**
- Added `--ascii-only` flag that forces ASCII logos (bypasses graphics and chafa)
- Renamed `--list-logos` → `--print-logos` (shows actual logos)
- Added `--list-distros` (simple list of known distros)
- Tux is now properly demonstrated in `--print-logos`
- **Developer Experience**
- Created `Justfile` with common tasks:
- `just build`, `just test`, `just lint`, `just fmt`
- `just logos` — regenerates PNGs from SVGs
- `just install`, `just clean`, `just dev`
- **Code Quality**
- Centralized logo logic in `print_distro_logo()` and `print_distro_logo_with_ascii()`
- All changes committed and pushed
### Current State
- Real embedded logos work in Kitty/iTerm2
- Chafa integration works on other terminals when available
- `--ascii-only` provides a reliable fallback
- All distros (including unknown → Tux) follow the same rendering priority
### Next Steps (Updated)
1. **Enhanced theming** — Custom color overrides, more themes
2. **Documentation & polish** — Improve README, examples, help text, man page
3. **Release preparation** — Versioning, changelog, packaging, crates.io updates
4. **Optional**: Explore colorful logo support or sixel protocol
5. **Optional**: Add support for more distros in the embedded logo set
---
*End of update*
---
## Final Progress Summary (as of late May 2025)
### Major Achievements
**1. Theming System (Significantly Improved)**
- Full custom theme support via config (`[custom_theme]`)
- Hex color support (e.g. `#89b4fa`)
- Automatic dark/light detection (`theme = "auto"`) — now the default
- Added many community themes: Catppuccin (all 4 variants), Solarized Light/Dark
- Renamed old "default" theme to "neutral" for clarity
- Added `--list-themes` and `--print-theme-template` commands
- Migrated from `colored` to `owo-colors` for truecolor/RGB support
**2. Output Modes**
- `--short`: OS, Kernel, Host, CPU, GPU, Memory, Disk
- Default: OS, Kernel, Host, CPU, GPU, Memory, Swap, Load, Disk, Net, Uptime
- `--long`: All fields
**3. Documentation & Polish**
- Major README overhaul with features, usage, and examples
- Comprehensive man page (`retch.1`) with theming documentation
- Default config template includes theme and output mode examples
- Added lighthearted note about being "100% vibe coded with Grok"
**4. Release & CI/CD Automation**
- `full-test` job runs on version tags (`v*`) on both Ubuntu and Fedora
- Includes: release build, all-features tests, clippy, fmt check, man page
- `release` job automatically creates GitHub Releases with binary, man page, and source tarball
- Added Dependabot + security audit workflow (`cargo audit`)
**5. Developer Experience**
- Rich Justfile with build, test, lint, logos, man page generation, install, audit, etc.
- Basic unit tests for themes and logos
**6. GitHub Repository Polish**
- Updated "About" section and topics
- Proper release permissions and naming
### Current State
The project is now in a **releasable state** with:
- Mature theming system
- Flexible output modes
- Automated release process
- Good documentation
- Security and dependency management in place
### Recommended Next Steps
1. **More Distros** — Add support and logos for additional distributions (Pop!_OS, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, openSUSE, Arch derivatives, etc.)
2. **Release Polish** — Multi-platform builds (macOS, Windows), better artifact naming, checksums, and changelog generation
3. **Shell Completions** — Add Bash, Zsh, and Fish completions
4. **Expand Testing** — More coverage, especially for config merging, theming overrides, and CLI flags
5. **Optional / Future**
- Sixel graphical output support
- Better error messages and UX improvements
- Versioning strategy and changelog maintenance
---
*End of project notes*
### Progress Made
- **Theming System Overhaul (Major Work)**
- Expanded `Theme` struct with `title_color` and `separator_color`
- Added `parse_color()` with support for named colors + hex values (e.g. `"#89b4fa"`)
- Added full support for custom themes via `[custom_theme]` section in config
- Implemented `Theme::with_custom_overrides()` and `detect_system_theme()`
- Added `theme = "auto"` to automatically follow system dark/light preference (via GTK settings)
- Made `auto` the default behavior when no theme is specified
- Added many new built-in themes:
- Catppuccin Latte, Frappe, Macchiato, Mocha
- Solarized Light and Dark
- Renamed the old "default" theme to `"neutral"` (kept backward compatibility)
- Added `--list-themes` command
- Added `--print-theme-template` to output a ready-to-use custom theme example
- **CLI Improvements**
- Added `--short` and `--long` output modes with proper field filtering
- Short mode: OS, Kernel, Host, CPU, GPU, Memory, Disk
- Default mode: OS, Kernel, Host, CPU, GPU, Memory, Swap, Load, Disk, Net, Uptime
- Long mode: Everything
- `--ascii-only` flag now fully functional
- **Documentation & Polish**
- Major README overhaul with better structure, features, installation, usage, and examples
- Added fun note: *"This project was 100% vibe coded using Grok. Real programmers are welcome."*
- Man page (`docs/retch.1.md`) significantly expanded with theming documentation
- Default config template updated with theme examples and output mode comments
- **Release & CI Automation**
- Added `full-test` job that runs on version tags (`v*`)
- Full test runs on both **Ubuntu** and **Fedora** (via containers)
- Includes: Release build, `--all-features` tests, Clippy, Format check, Man page generation
- Added `release` job that automatically creates a GitHub Release with:
- Release binary
- Man page
- Source tarball
- Auto-generated release notes
- **Testing**
- Added unit tests for `Theme` module (neutral, dark, light, etc.)
- Added unit tests for logo selection logic
- **Developer Experience**
- Improved Justfile with man page generation and `install-man` support
- Better default config examples
### Current State
- Theming system is now quite mature and flexible
- Release process is largely automated
- Documentation is in good shape (README + Man page)
- Core CLI features are solid
- Project is in a releasable state
### Next Steps (Updated Priority)
1. **More Distros** — Add logos and support for additional distributions (Pop!_OS, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, openSUSE, etc.)
2. **Release Polish** — Multi-platform binaries, better artifact naming, checksums, version handling
3. **Shell Completions** — Add Bash/Zsh/Fish completions
4. **Sixel Support** (optional) — Alternative graphical output method
5. **Expand Testing** — More coverage, especially around config merging and theming
---
*End of update*