Wallpaper

Rune shows a wallpaper whenever an editor pane has no open buffer. You can replace the built-in Rune logo with ASCII or Unicode text that Rune renders directly, or give Rune a PNG image to convert into colored text cells.

Wallpaper settings live under workspace, so you can set one globally in ~/.rune/config.yaml or ~/.rune/config.star. A project can also provide its own wallpaper in .rune/config.yaml at the workspace root.

Here, Rune converts a transparent Python logo into colored text cells. The source image stays recognizable, while the empty area around the logo blends into the workspace:

Use text directly

Choose workspace.wallpaper when you already have text art and want exact control over every character:

config.yaml

workspace:
  wallpaper: |
    ┌─────────────┐
    │   R U N E   │
    └─────────────┘
  wallpaper_attr:
    fg: "#D34728"
    bg: default
  wallpaper_background_attr:
    bg: default

config.star

config["workspace"]["wallpaper"] = """┌─────────────┐
│   R U N E   │
└─────────────┘"""
config["workspace"]["wallpaper_attr"] = attr(
    fg = "#D34728",
    bg = "default",
)
config["workspace"]["wallpaper_background_attr"] = attr(bg = "default")

Rune preserves the text as written and centers it in the empty pane. Both plain ASCII and Unicode drawing characters work. wallpaper_attr sets the text color, while wallpaper_background_attr controls the cells behind the whole wallpaper.

Convert an image to text

Choose workspace.wallpaper_image to have Rune turn an image into colored characters as it renders:

config.yaml

workspace:
  wallpaper_image: ~/Pictures/my-logo.png
  wallpaper_background_attr:
    bg: default

config.star

config["workspace"]["wallpaper_image"] = "~/Pictures/my-logo.png"
config["workspace"]["wallpaper_background_attr"] = attr(bg = "default")

The image must currently be a PNG. ~ in the path expands to your home directory.

For the best results, start with an image that has:

• a transparent background, rather than a solid rectangle;
• a simple silhouette and clear contrast;
• large features that remain recognizable at terminal-cell resolution; and
• a tight crop, without a large amount of unused canvas around the subject.

Transparent pixels become blank cells with Rune's default character ramp. This lets your theme or transparent GUI background show around the subject and avoids the box-shaped background common with JPEG-like source art. Fully opaque photographs work, but tend to look busier than logos and illustrations.

tip

Export the source as a PNG with alpha transparency. If your editor shows a checkerboard around the subject rather than a white or black rectangle, the background is probably transparent.

Choose the conversion characters

For image wallpapers, wallpaper_density_characters controls the characters Rune uses for different brightness levels. Write them from the least visible to the most dense:

config.yaml

workspace:
  wallpaper_image: ~/Pictures/my-logo.png
  wallpaper_density_characters: " ░▒▓█"

config.star

config["workspace"]["wallpaper_image"] = "~/Pictures/my-logo.png"
config["workspace"]["wallpaper_density_characters"] = " ░▒▓█"

The first character should normally be a space so transparent and darkest parts of the image disappear. A short ramp produces a bold, graphic result; a longer ramp can preserve more detail. Rune's default is " ▓▓▓▓".

Available settings

Setting	What it does
workspace.wallpaper	Text art rendered directly.
workspace.wallpaper_image	Path to a PNG that Rune converts to colored text cells.
workspace.wallpaper_density_characters	Brightness ramp used for image conversion, ordered from least to most dense.
workspace.wallpaper_attr	Foreground and background attributes for direct text art. Image colors come from the image itself.
workspace.wallpaper_background_attr	Background attributes behind either kind of wallpaper.

If both wallpaper_image and wallpaper are set, the image takes precedence. If Rune cannot open or decode the image, it reports a configuration error and falls back to the text wallpaper. If neither is set, Rune uses its built-in logo.

What happens under the hood

A wallpaper is not drawn behind your code. Rune creates it as the content of each empty editor pane. Opening a buffer replaces it, and closing the last buffer in a pane reveals a new wallpaper. This is why every empty pane in a split layout can show one independently.

Text art is centered and drawn without conversion. For a PNG, Rune:

1. resizes the image to the available pane while preserving its proportions;
2. compensates for terminal cells being taller than they are wide;
3. measures each output pixel's brightness and picks a character from the density ramp; and
4. uses the source pixel's color as that character's foreground color.

The result is generated for the current pane size, so the same source image adapts to different layouts and terminal dimensions.

See also

• Config: config file locations and YAML versus Starlark
• Themes: change the colors used by Rune and its terminal