Terminal Stylist Analysis: Console Output Pattern Review

[github-actions[bot]]

🎨 Terminal Stylist Analysis Report

Analysis Date: 2026-01-25
Repository: githubnext/gh-aw
Focus: Console output patterns, Lipgloss/Huh usage, and terminal UI best practices

---

📊 Executive Summary

The gh-aw codebase demonstrates excellent foundation in modern terminal UI with Charmbracelet ecosystem integration. The pkg/console package (6,280 lines) provides comprehensive styling infrastructure with adaptive colors, TTY detection, and interactive forms. However, 24 files still use raw fmt.Printf calls that bypass the console formatting system, creating inconsistent user experience.

Key Metrics

• ✅ 96 files (20.6%) properly use console.Format* functions
• ⚠️ 24 files (5.2%) use raw fmt.Print* bypassing console formatters
• ✅ 8 files leverage Lipgloss for advanced styling
• ✅ 5 files use Huh for interactive forms
• ✅ 100% TTY detection coverage in layout functions

---

🌟 Strengths

1. Modern Charmbracelet Ecosystem Integration

Libraries in Use:

lipgloss v1.1.0      # Modern styling with adaptive colors
huh v0.8.0           # Interactive forms and prompts
bubbles v0.21.1      # Bubble Tea UI components
bubbletea v1.3.10    # Terminal UI framework

2. Centralized Theme System (pkg/styles/theme.go)

Adaptive Color Palette (11 semantic colors):

// Excellent pattern - Dracula-inspired dark theme + high-contrast light theme
ColorError = lipgloss.AdaptiveColor{
    Light: "#D73737", // Darker red for visibility on light backgrounds
    Dark:  "#FF5555", // Bright red for dark backgrounds (Dracula)
}

ColorInfo = lipgloss.AdaptiveColor{
    Light: "#2980B9", // Darker cyan for light backgrounds
    Dark:  "#8BE9FD", // Bright cyan for dark backgrounds (Dracula)
}
``````

**Pre-configured Styles**:
- `styles.Error`, `styles.Warning`, `styles.Success`, `styles.Info`
- `styles.FilePath`, `styles.Command`, `styles.Progress`
- `styles.TableHeader`, `styles.TableCell`, `styles.TableTotal`
- Border definitions: `RoundedBorder`, `NormalBorder`, `ThickBorder`

### 3. Comprehensive Console Package Architecture

``````
pkg/console/
├── console.go          # Core formatting (FormatSuccess, FormatError, etc.)
├── format.go           # Utility formatters (file size, etc.)
├── render.go           # Struct-to-table rendering with custom tags
├── list.go             # Interactive lists with Bubble Tea
├── confirm.go          # Confirmation dialogs with Huh
├── layout.go           # Layout composition helpers (TitleBox, InfoSection)
├── banner.go           # ASCII art banner rendering
├── spinner.go          # Progress spinners
├── progress.go         # Progress bars (determinate + indeterminate)
├── verbose.go          # Verbose logging utilities
└── accessibility.go    # Accessibility mode detection

4. TTY-Aware Design Pattern

Excellent Pattern - All layout functions check TTY and provide fallbacks:

// pkg/console/layout.go
func LayoutTitleBox(title string, width int) string {
    if tty.IsStderrTerminal() {
        // TTY mode: Styled box with Lipgloss
        box := lipgloss.NewStyle().
            Border(lipgloss.DoubleBorder(), true, false).
            Foreground(styles.ColorInfo).
            Render(title)
        return box
    }
    
    // Non-TTY mode: Plain text with separators
    separator := strings.Repeat("=", width)
    return separator + "\n  " + title + "\n" + separator
}

Benefits:

• ✅ No unwanted ANSI codes in piped output
• ✅ Graceful degradation for CI/CD environments
• ✅ Consistent behavior across terminals

5. Interactive Forms with Huh

Multi-Page Workflow Builder (pkg/cli/interactive.go):

form := huh.NewForm(
    // Group 1: Basic Configuration
    huh.NewGroup(
        huh.NewSelect[string]().
            Title("When should this workflow run?").
            Options(triggerOptions...).
            Value(&b.Trigger),
        huh.NewSelect[string]().
            Title("Which AI engine should process this workflow?").
            Options(engineOptions...).
            Value(&b.Engine),
    ).Title("Basic Configuration"),
    
    // Group 2: Capabilities
    huh.NewGroup(
        huh.NewMultiSelect[string]().
            Title("Which tools should the AI have access to?").
            Options(toolOptions...).
            Value(&selectedTools),
    ).Title("Capabilities"),
    
    // Group 3: Instructions
    huh.NewGroup(
        huh.NewText().
            Title("Describe what this workflow should do:").
            Value(&b.Intent).
            Validate(ValidateWorkflowIntent),
    ).Title("Instructions"),
).WithAccessible(console.IsAccessibleMode())

Features:

• ✅ Multi-page forms with logical grouping
• ✅ Input validation
• ✅ Accessibility mode support
• ✅ Rich field types (Input, Select, MultiSelect, Text, Confirm, FilePicker)

6. Struct Tag-Based Table Rendering

Automatic Table Generation:

type Metrics struct {
    TotalRuns   int `console:"header:Total Runs"`
    SuccessRate int `console:"header:Success Rate,format:number,suffix:%"`
    TotalCost   int `console:"header:Cost,format:cost"`
    FileSize    int `console:"header:Size,format:filesize"`
}

// Automatically renders as styled table with Lipgloss
fmt.Print(console.RenderStruct(metrics))

Supported Tag Options:

• header:(name) - Custom column header
• format:number - Comma-separated thousands (1,234,567)
• format:cost - Currency formatting ($1,234.56)
• format:filesize - Human-readable file sizes (1.2 MB)
• default:(value) - Default value for zero values
• omitempty - Hide zero values
• suffix:(text) - Append suffix to values

---

⚠️ Areas for Improvement

1. Inconsistent Console Formatting (24 files)

Problem: Raw fmt.Printf/fmt.Println bypass console formatting system

Examples of Anti-Patterns:

// ❌ BAD - Raw fmt.Printf without console formatting
// File: pkg/cli/run_workflow_execution.go
fmt.Printf("Running workflow on GitHub Actions: %s\n", workflowIdOrName)
fmt.Printf("Warning: Could not check workflow status: %v\n", err)
fmt.Printf("Note: Engine override ignored for remote repository workflows\n")

// ✅ GOOD - Console formatted with appropriate message types
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatInfoMessage(fmt.Sprintf("Running workflow: %s", workflowIdOrName)))
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatWarningMessage(fmt.Sprintf("Could not check workflow status: %v", err)))
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatInfoMessage("Note: Engine override ignored for remote repository workflows"))

Files with Most Issues:

1. pkg/cli/run_workflow_execution.go - 26 instances
2. pkg/cli/remove_command.go - 23 instances
3. pkg/cli/status_command.go - 15 instances
4. pkg/cli/trial_command.go - 7 instances

Impact:

• Inconsistent visual appearance across commands
• No color/styling on important messages
• Harder to distinguish message types (info vs warning vs error)

2. Manual Border Formatting

Problem: Some files manually create borders with strings.Repeat() instead of using Lipgloss

// ❌ BAD - Manual border creation
// File: pkg/cli/actionlint.go:92
separator := strings.Repeat("━", 60)
fmt.Println(separator)
fmt.Println("Actionlint Issues")
fmt.Println(separator)

// ✅ GOOD - Use Lipgloss border styling
box := lipgloss.NewStyle().
    Border(styles.RoundedBorder).
    BorderForeground(styles.ColorInfo).
    Padding(0, 1).
    Render("Actionlint Issues")
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, box)

Locations:

• pkg/cli/actionlint.go:92 - Manual separator
• pkg/console/layout.go:86,138 - Acceptable (non-TTY fallback)

3. Underutilized Lipgloss Features

Opportunities:

1. Lipgloss Table Package - Only used internally, could enhance CLI table output
2. Canvas Rendering - Not used (could create complex visualizations)
3. Layer Composition - Limited use beyond LayoutJoinVertical
4. Zebra Striping - ColorTableAltRow defined but rarely used

Example Opportunity:

// Current: Manual table creation in some commands
// Could use: lipgloss/table for richer formatting

import "github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss/table"

t := table.New().
    Headers("Workflow", "Status", "Last Run").
    Rows(rows...).
    Border(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).
    BorderStyle(lipgloss.NewStyle().Foreground(styles.ColorBorder))

4. Missing Interactive Prompts

Opportunities:

// ❌ CURRENT - Basic bufio.NewReader for secret input
// File: pkg/cli/secret_set_command.go
reader := bufio.NewReader(os.Stdin)
secretValue, _ := reader.ReadString('\n')

// ✅ IMPROVEMENT - Use Huh Input with masked mode
var secretValue string
form := huh.NewForm(
    huh.NewGroup(
        huh.NewInput().
            Title("Enter secret value:").
            EchoMode(huh.EchoModePassword). // Masked input
            Value(&secretValue),
    ),
).WithAccessible(console.IsAccessibleMode())
form.Run()

Benefits:

• Password masking for security
• Validation support
• Consistent UX with other interactive commands
• Accessibility mode support

---

🎯 Recommendations

High Priority (Quick Wins)

1. Standardize Console Formatting (24 files)

Action: Replace raw fmt.Printf with console formatters

Target Files (in priority order):

1. pkg/cli/run_workflow_execution.go (26 instances)
2. pkg/cli/remove_command.go (23 instances)
3. pkg/cli/status_command.go (15 instances)
4. pkg/cli/trial_command.go (7 instances)

Conversion Pattern:

// Before
fmt.Printf("Running workflow: %s\n", name)
fmt.Printf("Warning: %v\n", err)
fmt.Printf("Success!\n")

// After
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatInfoMessage(fmt.Sprintf("Running workflow: %s", name)))
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatWarningMessage(err.Error()))
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatSuccessMessage("Success!"))

Estimated Impact: Improved consistency across 24 files, better visual hierarchy

2. Convert Manual Borders (2 instances)

Action: Replace strings.Repeat("━", width) with Lipgloss borders

Target: pkg/cli/actionlint.go:92

// Before
separator := strings.Repeat("━", 60)
fmt.Println(separator)

// After
box := lipgloss.NewStyle().
    Border(styles.RoundedBorder).
    BorderForeground(styles.ColorInfo).
    Render(content)
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, box)

3. Audit Accessibility Support

Action: Verify all Huh forms use .WithAccessible(console.IsAccessibleMode())

Files to Check:

1. ✅ pkg/cli/interactive.go - Already correct
2. ✅ pkg/cli/init.go - Already correct
3. ✅ pkg/console/confirm.go - Already correct
4. ✅ pkg/console/list.go - Already correct (for Bubble Tea)
5. ❓ Other files with Huh usage

Medium Priority (Enhancements)

4. Enhanced Interactive Prompts

Action: Convert basic input to Huh forms with validation

Targets:

• pkg/cli/secret_set_command.go - Add masked input field
• pkg/console/list.go:215 - Enhance text-only fallback formatting

5. Improve Table Rendering

Action: Leverage lipgloss/table package for complex tables

Benefits:

• Automatic column width calculation
• Built-in zebra striping
• Better border rendering
• Easier maintenance

6. Layout Pattern Documentation

Action: Create specs/console-layout-patterns.md

Contents:

• Layout composition examples
• Common UI patterns (title + sections + footer)
• TTY vs non-TTY output examples
• Accessibility guidelines

Low Priority (Advanced Features)

7. Advanced Lipgloss Features

Exploration Areas:

• Canvas rendering for complex visualizations
• Layer composition for overlapping elements
• Gradient borders for emphasis
• Custom tree rendering beyond current implementation

8. Enhanced Progress Indicators

Ideas:

• Multi-stage progress bars (setup → execute → cleanup)
• Spinner with real-time status updates
• Parallel operation indicators

9. Theme Customization

Future Enhancements:

• User-configurable themes via config file
• Environment variables for color overrides (GH_AW_THEME)
• Improved light/dark mode auto-detection
• Theme previews in CLI

---

📚 Best Practice Patterns

Pattern 1: Adaptive Colors

// pkg/styles/theme.go
ColorWarning = lipgloss.AdaptiveColor{
    Light: "#E67E22", // Darker orange for light backgrounds
    Dark:  "#FFB86C", // Bright orange for dark backgrounds (Dracula)
}

Why it works:

• Automatically adapts to terminal background
• Ensures readability in both light and dark themes
• Consistent with popular terminal themes (Dracula)

Pattern 2: TTY-Aware Functions

func LayoutInfoSection(label, value string) string {
    content := label + ": " + value
    
    if tty.IsStderrTerminal() {
        // TTY: Styled with left border
        return lipgloss.NewStyle().
            Border(lipgloss.NormalBorder(), false, false, false, true).
            BorderForeground(styles.ColorInfo).
            PaddingLeft(2).
            Render(content)
    }
    
    // Non-TTY: Plain text with indent
    return "  " + content
}

Why it works:

• No ANSI codes in piped output
• Graceful degradation
• Testable in CI environments

Pattern 3: Interactive Forms with Groups

form := huh.NewForm(
    huh.NewGroup(...).Title("Configuration"),
    huh.NewGroup(...).Title("Capabilities"),
    huh.NewGroup(...).Title("Instructions"),
).WithAccessible(console.IsAccessibleMode())

Why it works:

• Logical grouping improves UX
• Multi-page forms reduce cognitive load
• Accessibility support built-in

Pattern 4: Struct Tag Rendering

type Stats struct {
    Count int `console:"header:Total,format:number"`
    Size  int `console:"header:Size,format:filesize"`
}

fmt.Print(console.RenderStruct(stats))

Why it works:

• Declarative table definition
• Type-safe formatting
• Automatic Lipgloss styling

---

🚫 Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. Direct ANSI Escape Codes

// ❌ NEVER
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\033[31mError: %s\033[0m\n", err)

// ✅ ALWAYS
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, styles.Error.Render(fmt.Sprintf("Error: %s", err)))
// OR
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatErrorMessage(err.Error()))

Why it's bad:

• Hardcoded for specific terminals
• No TTY detection
• No light/dark theme support
• Difficult to maintain

2. Hardcoded Colors

// ❌ BAD
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\x1b[31m%s\x1b[0m", message)

// ✅ GOOD
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatErrorMessage(message))

3. Manual Table Formatting

// ❌ BAD
fmt.Printf("| %-20s | %-10s |\n", header1, header2)
fmt.Printf("|%s|%s|\n", strings.Repeat("-", 22), strings.Repeat("-", 12))

// ✅ GOOD
config := console.TableConfig{
    Headers: []string{"Header 1", "Header 2"},
    Rows:    [][]string{{"value1", "value2"}},
}
fmt.Print(console.RenderTable(config))

4. Raw fmt.Print Without Stderr

// ❌ BAD - Goes to stdout, mixes with data output
fmt.Println("Processing...")

// ✅ GOOD - Goes to stderr, separates UI from data
fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatInfoMessage("Processing..."))

Why it matters:

• Stdout should be reserved for data output (JSON, etc.)
• Stderr is for human-readable messages
• Enables proper piping: gh aw list --json | jq

---

📈 Impact Analysis

Current State

• Good: 96 files (20.6%) use console formatters correctly
• Needs Improvement: 24 files (5.2%) bypass console system
• Excellent: 100% TTY detection in layout functions

After Implementing High Priority Recommendations

• Expected: 120 files (25.8%) use console formatters correctly
• Improvement: 100% consistent message formatting across CLI
• Benefit: Better user experience, easier maintenance

Developer Experience

• Current: Mixed patterns require mental context switching
• Future: Consistent patterns reduce cognitive load
• Onboarding: New contributors follow clear patterns

---

🎓 Learning Resources

Charmbracelet Ecosystem

• Lipgloss Documentation
• Huh Documentation
• Bubble Tea Documentation

Internal Documentation

• pkg/console/README.md - Console package overview
• pkg/console/layout.go - Layout composition examples
• pkg/styles/theme.go - Theme system documentation

---

✅ Success Criteria

This analysis will be considered successfully implemented when:

1. ✅ All 24 files with raw fmt.Print converted to console formatters
2. ✅ Manual borders replaced with Lipgloss styling
3. ✅ All Huh forms include accessibility support
4. ✅ Documentation created for layout patterns
5. ✅ Test coverage maintained (no regressions)

---

🤝 Next Steps

1. Create tracking issue for standardizing console formatting
2. Assign priority levels to the 24 files needing updates
3. Update CONTRIBUTING.md with console output guidelines
4. Create examples/ directory with UI pattern examples
5. Schedule review of advanced Lipgloss features

---

Analysis completed by: Terminal Stylist Agent
Report generated: 2026-01-25
Repository: githubnext/gh-aw

AI generated by Terminal Stylist

• expires on Feb 1, 2026, 8:46 AM UTC

[github-actions[bot]]

This discussion was automatically closed because it expired on 2026-02-01T08:46:30.187Z.