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fredysandoval/pi-runcat

★ 21TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A fun plugin that adds a tiny animated running cat to the pi terminal progress bar, using a custom font where each character is a frame of the cat in motion.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((pi-runcat))
    What it does
      Animated running cat
      Loops in loading bar
      Cosmetic only
    How it works
      Custom font file
      Font maps to frames
      Pi plugin system
    Setup
      Download font
      Place in font dir
      Refresh font cache
    Platforms
      Linux steps
      macOS steps
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Add a cheerful animated cat to your terminal's loading bar just for fun.

USE CASE 2

Personalize your terminal environment with a playful cosmetic plugin.

USE CASE 3

Show off a quirky terminal setup to friends or in screenshots.

Tech stack

TypeScriptpi terminal toolCustom TTF font

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Download runcat.ttf, place it in your system font directory, refresh font cache, then install via pi's package system. Separate Linux and macOS steps in the README.

No license information was mentioned, usage terms are unknown.

In plain English

pi-runcat is a small plugin that adds a tiny animated running cat to the loading bar shown by pi, a terminal-based progress display tool. The cat is rendered using a custom font file called runcat.ttf, which maps characters to frames of a cat in motion. When pi shows a loading indicator, the characters in that font play out as a looping animation. Installation involves downloading the font file and placing it in your system's font directory, then installing the plugin through pi's package system. There are separate steps for Linux and macOS, and the README includes commands to refresh font caches if the font does not appear right away. The project describes itself as "yet another useless cat" and is straightforward about being a fun cosmetic addition rather than something with practical purpose. It was inspired by a similar project called runcat-text. The README is short and focused entirely on install and uninstall steps, so there is not much else documented beyond getting the font in place.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I installed pi-runcat but the running cat animation isn't showing up in my terminal. I'm on Linux. Walk me through checking my font cache and verifying the runcat.ttf file is in the right directory.
Prompt 2
How do I uninstall pi-runcat and remove the runcat.ttf font from my system on macOS?
Prompt 3
I want to create my own animated character plugin for the pi terminal tool similar to pi-runcat. How would I design a custom TTF font where each character represents an animation frame?
Prompt 4
Explain how pi-runcat's approach of using a font file to store animation frames works, in simple terms I can explain to a non-technical friend.
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