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Configuration

ruclouds can be configured through CLI flags at launch and adjusted in real-time using keyboard shortcuts.

CLI Flags

Flag Default Description
--speed <f32> 1.0 Animation speed multiplier (0.1 to 5.0)
--density <f32> 0.5 Cloud density threshold (0.0 to 1.0)
--palette <name\|hex,hex> white-grey Palette name or custom hex pair
--wind-speed <f32> 0.3 Wind speed
--wind-angle <f32> 0.0 Wind direction in degrees (0 = left-to-right)
--fps <u32> 30 Target frames per second
--seed <u64> random RNG seed for reproducible results
--color-mode <mode> auto Color mode: auto, truecolor, 256, or ansi16
--no-sky off Render against black instead of a sky gradient

Built-in Palettes

white-grey

Classic white clouds on a blue sky. This is the default palette.

  • Cloud light: RGB(245, 245, 250)
  • Cloud dark: RGB(160, 165, 180)
  • Sky top: RGB(135, 185, 235)
  • Sky bottom: RGB(60, 110, 195)

sunset

Warm orange/pink clouds on a sunset gradient.

  • Cloud light: RGB(255, 200, 140)
  • Cloud dark: RGB(200, 100, 80)
  • Sky top: RGB(255, 155, 80)
  • Sky bottom: RGB(120, 40, 100)

midnight

Subdued grey-blue clouds on a deep dark sky.

  • Cloud light: RGB(120, 130, 165)
  • Cloud dark: RGB(50, 55, 80)
  • Sky top: RGB(15, 20, 50)
  • Sky bottom: RGB(5, 5, 20)

storm

Heavy grey clouds on a dark overcast sky.

  • Cloud light: RGB(145, 150, 160)
  • Cloud dark: RGB(60, 62, 72)
  • Sky top: RGB(80, 92, 115)
  • Sky bottom: RGB(38, 42, 58)

Custom Palettes

You can specify custom colors using hex color pairs:

ruclouds --palette "FF88CC,442255"

The format is two comma-separated hex colors (without the # prefix): - First color: Light cloud color - Second color: Dark cloud color

The sky gradient uses default blues when using custom palettes.

Live Keybindings

All keys are polled non-blockingly every frame - they never pause the animation.

Speed Control

  • + or =: Increase animation speed (max 5.0)
  • -: Decrease animation speed (min 0.1)

Density Control

  • ]: Increase cloud density (max 1.0)
  • [: Decrease cloud density (min 0.0)

Palette Control

  • c: Cycle to the next color palette

Cycles through built-in palettes in order: white-grey → sunset → midnight → storm → (back to white-grey)

Wind Control

  • w: Cycle wind direction

Cycles through 8 directions: 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, 315°

Domain Warp

  • g: Toggle domain-warp intensity

Toggles between subtle (0.5) and strong (2.0) domain warp intensity. Domain warp bends the coordinate space to create wispy cloud shapes.

Simulation Control

  • r: Reseed RNG and reset simulation time

Generates a new random seed and resets the simulation time to 0, creating a fresh cloud pattern. Wind offset is preserved for spatial continuity.

  • p: Toggle storm mode

Storm mode boosts speed by 3x and increases density by 0.2 (capped at 1.0). Creates dramatic, fast-moving storm clouds.

Quit

  • q or Esc: Quit cleanly
  • Ctrl+C: Quit cleanly (same path as q)

Color Modes

auto

Automatically detects terminal color capability by checking environment variables: - COLORTERM=truecolor or 24bit: truecolor - WT_SESSION (Windows Terminal): truecolor - TERM_PROGRAM (iTerm, Hyper, WezTerm, Alacritty): truecolor - TERM containing kitty or alacritty: truecolor - TERM containing 256color: 256-color - Default fallback: 256-color

truecolor

Uses 24-bit RGB colors (16.7 million colors). Best for modern terminals that support it.

256

Uses xterm 256-color palette. Good fallback for terminals that don't support truecolor.

ansi16

Uses standard 16 ANSI colors (VGA palette). Basic fallback for very old terminals.

Configuration Examples

Fast, Dense Storm

ruclouds --speed 2.0 --density 0.8 --palette storm --wind-speed 0.8

Then press p to enable storm mode for even more intensity.

im aware of an issue which causes this to just render the base 4 terminal shades in 4 separate rectangles, and ill get to fixing that soon.

Gentle Sunset

ruclouds --speed 0.5 --density 0.4 --palette sunset --wind-angle 315

Slow clouds drifting toward the upper-right.

Custom Pink Theme

ruclouds --palette "FF66AA,992244" --no-sky

Pink clouds against your terminal's background.

Reproducible Testing

ruclouds --seed 42 --speed 1.0 --density 0.5 --fps 30

Always produces the same cloud pattern for testing or comparison.