tslime 0.1.1

A terminal screensaver, simulation playground and keyboard fidget toy. It runs a Physarum polycephalum (slime mold) transport-network simulation. Tens of thousands of agents deposit and follow pheromone trails, and the resulting network is drawn straight into your terminal. It ships as a single static binary, runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and over SSH.

Install

Any platform — cargo

cargo install tslime

Builds from source (requires Rust 1.70 or later). This is the universal path and sidesteps macOS Gatekeeper entirely.

Try it without installing — Nix

If you have Nix with flakes, run tslime ephemerally — nothing is installed:

nix run github:tamirelazar/tslime

Try it without installing — Docker

No Nix? Run the published container instead — nothing is installed on the host:

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/tamirelazar/tslime

macOS — Homebrew

brew install tamirelazar/tslime/tslime

Linux — prebuilt binary

The Linux binary is statically linked (musl) and runs on any x86_64 distribution. Paste this to install it to ~/.local/bin:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
curl -fsSL https://github.com/tamirelazar/tslime/releases/latest/download/tslime-linux-x86_64 -o ~/.local/bin/tslime
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/tslime
~/.local/bin/tslime --version

If tslime isn't found afterwards, add ~/.local/bin to your PATH:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.profile && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Windows — prebuilt binary

Paste this into PowerShell. It downloads the binary, clears the Mark-of-the-Web so SmartScreen stays quiet, and adds it to your PATH:

$dir = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\tslime"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $dir | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest "https://github.com/tamirelazar/tslime/releases/latest/download/tslime-windows-x86_64.exe" -OutFile "$dir\tslime.exe"
Unblock-File "$dir\tslime.exe"
$userPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
if ($userPath -notlike "*$dir*") { [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$userPath;$dir", "User") }
& "$dir\tslime.exe" --version

Open a new terminal afterwards so the PATH change takes effect (or run $env:Path += ";$dir" in the current one), then just run tslime.

macOS prebuilt binaries are not published — use Homebrew or cargo install (both avoid Gatekeeper). ARM Linux (aarch64): use cargo install.

From source

git clone https://github.com/tamirelazar/tslime.git
cd tslime
cargo build --release
./target/release/tslime

Usage

Run with no arguments for the interactive mode:

tslime

Screensaver mode exits on the first keypress:

tslime -S

Some of the presets I use come pre-loaded and are bound to the 1-4 keys. You can bind any preset or saved-config to the number keys via a config file.

In general, mature (= fun to play with) features will have runtime controls, while experimental features will be reachable through cli flags. I try to keep the really nascent stuff behind a compilation flag as well, but be aware that if something is not in the control console (reachable by pressing h) - it is not guaranteed to work.

tslime --help lists every flag. tslime --explain walks through what each simulation parameter does and how the parameters interact.

Custom Keybinds

Customize quick-keys 1–7 by creating a ~/.config/tslime/keybinds.toml file with the following format:

[[keybind]]
key = "4"
preset = "fire"

[[keybind]]
key = "5"
config = "my-night-config"

• Keys: Bind to any digit 1–7. Keys 1–4 default to Organic, Constellation, Vinescii, and Trademark; user entries override.
• Targets: Bind to either a preset (any of ~31 named presets) or a config (any saved configuration from Ctrl+S).
• Comparison: Press Shift+1 through Shift+7 to compare the bound preset or config against the current settings (A/B mode).
• Live bindings: The ? overlay shows current key bindings and their targets.

Gallery

tslime is a live instrument, not a static screensaver — every visual is reshaped from the keyboard while it runs. A few of the controls:

There are 31 named presets: network, exploratory, tendrils, organic, fire, river, petri, vortex, lightning, chaosedge, blob, slime, vines, vinescii, smoke, vortex36, dynamictendrils, mold, etching, drift, constellation, mosaic, marble, prism, vellum, forge, wane, gossamer, codex, tide, and trademark. Palettes and character sets are independent of the preset and can be cycled at runtime. Preset parameters are defined in src/simulation/config.rs and src/preset_sim_defaults.rs. Please note that a lot of them are WIP that is seeking feedback (from you!). Other than the 4 preset bound to 1-4, which are the ones i actually use, i consider none of them to be "ready".

Experimental Features

Most features aren't ready for the default experience. Each has a tracking issue describing current state (I hope) - which, in some cases, explains what's needed to make it work.

Contributing

Bug reports, terminal compatibility notes, and work on the experimental features are all welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, testing, and the lay of the codebase, or pick up one of the open issues. We're clanker-friendly, up to a point - I probably won't read long slop PRs, and bad/weird code will be rejected (I HOPE).

License

MIT.

Citations

1. Jones, J. (2010). "Characteristics of Pattern Formation and Evolution in Approximations of Physarum Transport Networks." Artificial Life, 16(2), 127-153. doi:10.1162/artl.2010.16.2.16202
2. Miranda, E. R., Adamatzky, A., & Jones, J. (2011). "Sounds Synthesis with Slime Mould of Physarum Polycephalum." Journal of Bionic Engineering, 8(2), 107-113. doi:10.1016/S1672-6529(11)60016-4
3. Ottosson, B. (2020). "A perceptual color space for image processing." https://bottosson.github.io/posts/oklab/

Software Inspirations

• cbonsai
• asciiquarium
• astroterm
• crossterm