draw-ansi

Goal

Create or fix ANSI box-drawing so every outer box has uniform width across all lines, with aligned right borders and no distortion of the inner content

Scope

Use for:

• Creating ```text codeblocks for README UI/CLI sketches
• Checking and repairing ANSI drawings with uneven lines
• Wrapping content (text or nested boxes) in an outer box of constant size

Execute

1. Install / Run

Goal: Run the draw-ansi script

bunx /path/to/draw-ansi/scripts/draw-ansi.ts [options] < input.txt
bunx /path/to/draw-ansi/scripts/draw-ansi.ts --width 60 --title "My App" < input.txt
bunx /path/to/draw-ansi/scripts/draw-ansi.ts --fix --width 60 existing-box.txt

2. Input Modes

Goal: Support every box input mode

1. Plain lines: normal lines without a border → the script wraps them in an outer box
2. Existing box: lines start with │ or ┌/└ → the script tries to detect the original box, then rewraps it

3. Output Modes

Goal: Support every box output mode

• --format text (default): plain text, put it into a ```text block
• --format markdown: wrapped in a ```text block, ready to use

4. Options

Goal: Specify the supported options

Option	Description	Default
--width	Inner box width (excluding borders)	58 or auto
--title	Add a title on the first line	none
--fix	Fix an existing box to uniform size	false
--format	text or markdown	text

Rules

1. Uniform Width

• Every line in the output must be exactly the same width
• If content exceeds --width, truncate it or warn
• If content is shorter than --width, pad spaces on the right

2. Outer Box

• Top border: ┌ + ─ × width + ┐
• Bottom border: └ + ─ × width + ┘
• Left/right borders: │ + content (padded) + │

3. Nested Box Support

• If a nested box inside is wider than --width, expand the outer box to fit or warn
• Never shrink/distort the nested box, unless truncation is required

4. No Distortion

• No distortion from special characters or emoji
• Do not use a ```ansi block
• Output is ready to drop into a README ```text block immediately
• Use /draw-svg-image if needed
• Use /draw-excalidraw if needed
• Use /draw-tldraw if needed

Expected Outcome

• Every line in the ANSI box has the same width
• Right borders align
• The outer box does not distort the inner content
• Ready to paste into a README immediately