chafa ☆
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Description:
Versatile and fast Unicode/ASCII/ANSI graphics renderer
Type: Formula  |  Latest Version: 1.18.0@0  |  Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025
Links: Homepage  |  formulae.brew.sh
Category: Developer tools
Tags: terminal cli graphics unicode images ansi
Install: brew install chafa
About:
Chafa is a high-performance command-line tool that renders images and animations into terminal graphics using Unicode, ASCII, and ANSI colors. It intelligently analyzes input images to produce optimized visual output for display in console environments. This makes it ideal for enhancing CLI workflows with rich visual feedback without leaving the terminal.
Key Features:
  • Supports multiple output formats including Sixel, Kitty, and iTerm2
  • Real-time animation rendering for GIFs and videos
  • Advanced image analysis for optimal character and color selection
  • Zero external dependencies beyond core libraries
Use Cases:
  • Previewing images directly in terminal file managers like ranger or lf
  • Displaying charts, graphs, and visual data in CLI applications
  • Creating ASCII/Unicode art from images or video streams
  • Enhancing terminal-based chat or monitoring tools with visual elements
Alternatives:
  • libcaca – Older library focused on ASCII art, lacks modern terminal graphics support
  • timg – Similar performance but with different feature set and protocol support
License: LGPL-3.0-or-later
Dependencies: cairo, freetype, glib, jpeg-turbo, jpeg-xl, libavif, librsvg, libtiff, webp
Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, sonoma, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux
Version History
Detected Version Rev Change Commit
Oct 10, 2025 7:49pm 0 VERSION_BUMP e9f5da32
Oct 10, 2025 7:31pm 0 VERSION_BUMP cea4ca28
Sep 14, 2025 10:09pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 03400d6d
Nov 17, 2024 8:34pm 0 VERSION_BUMP 523752cb
Nov 3, 2024 4:35am 0 VERSION_BUMP b4f2163a
Nov 3, 2024 3:27am 0 VERSION_BUMP 40d63e48
Sep 26, 2024 6:39am 0 VERSION_BUMP eafeb767
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