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Getting Started

This guide will help you get up and running with Fast-Rich in minutes.

Installation

Add fast-rich to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
fast-rich = "0.3.1"

[dependencies]
fast-rich = { version = "0.2.0", features = ["full"] }

[dependencies]
fast-rich = { version = "0.2.0", features = ["syntax", "markdown", "logging"] }

Available Features

Feature Description
syntax Syntax highlighting for code (adds syntect dependency)
markdown Markdown rendering (adds pulldown-cmark dependency)
logging Integration with Rust's log crate
full Enables all features above

Your First Program

Hello Fast-Rich

Code

Create a new file src/main.rs:

use fast_rich::prelude::*;

fn main() {
    let console = Console::new();
    console.print("[bold green]Welcome to Fast-Rich![/]");
}

Run it

cargo run

What you'll see

First program output

Understanding the Console

The Console is your main entry point for all output. It handles:

  • Terminal width detection
  • Color capability detection
  • Styled output rendering
use fast_rich::prelude::*;

fn main() {
    let console = Console::new();

    // Simple print (no newline)
    console.print("Hello ");

    // Print with newline
    console.println("World!");

    // Print a decorative rule
    console.rule("[bold]Section Title[/]");

    // Add blank lines
    console.newline();
}

Markup Syntax

Fast-Rich uses a simple markup syntax for inline styling:

// Basic styles
console.print("[bold]Bold text[/]");
console.print("[italic]Italic text[/]");
console.print("[underline]Underlined[/]");

// Colors
console.print("[red]Red text[/]");
console.print("[blue]Blue text[/]");
console.print("[color(255,128,0)]Orange (RGB)[/]");

// Combinations
console.print("[bold red on white]Bold red on white background[/]");

// Nesting
console.print("[bold]Bold [italic]and italic[/italic] back to bold[/]");

Escape Markup

To display literal brackets, escape them:

console.print("Use \\[bold] to show [bold] literally");

Printing Renderables

For complex objects like tables, panels, and trees, use print_renderable:

use fast_rich::prelude::*;

fn main() {
    let console = Console::new();

    // Create a table
    let mut table = Table::new();
    table.add_column("Name");
    table.add_column("Value");
    table.add_row_strs(&["Version", "0.3.1"]);
    table.add_row_strs(&["Author", "Mohammad"]);

    // Print the table
    console.print_renderable(&table);
}

Output:

╭─────────┬──────────╮
│ Name    │ Value    │
├─────────┼──────────┤
│ Version │ 0.2.0    │
│ Author  │ Mohammad │
╰─────────┴──────────╯

Terminal Compatibility

Fast-Rich automatically detects terminal capabilities:

Environment Color Support
Modern terminals (iTerm2, Windows Terminal, etc.) Full RGB/Truecolor
Most Linux/macOS terminals 256 colors
Basic terminals 8/16 colors
CI/CD, pipes, redirects Colors disabled

Force Colors

To force color output (e.g., in CI):

let console = Console::new().force_color(true);

Next Steps

Now that you have the basics, explore the feature guides:

Or run the examples:

cargo run --example showcase --features full