Alacritty Customization | Padding, font and Neofetch

December 29, 2023

Why even care?

Since coding is both my passion and livelihood, I interact with a Terminal on a daily basis. It would be a shame not to try to make it look cool!

Why specifically Alacritty?

Alacritty is fast terminal & highly customizable terminal built on Rust with a strong, growing community. That's all we need! :D

Alacritty

Let's install and configure Alacritty then 😉

Alacritty Installation

Arch:
```
$ yay -S alacritty
```
Fedora:
```
$ sudo dnf install alacritty
```

Creating the Alacritty Config File

Create config folder and file for Alacritty:

$ cd ~
$ cd .config
$ mkdir alacritty
$ cd alacritty
$ touch alacritty.yml

Font Installation

*In this guide I'll be using font family "JetBrains Mono". Feel free to download and install any font you would like to use.

Find and install the font you would like to use:

Arch:
```
$ yay -S ttf-jetbrains-mono
```

Fedora:

$ sudo dnf search jetbrains-mono
$ sudo dnf install jetbrains-mono-nl-fonts.noarch

Font Usage

In order to use font family we have just installed in Alacritty, you will have to add few lines to your config.

First, open the config file:

$ sudo nano ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.yml

Then, add the following (adjust the font and size if needed):

font:
  normal:
    family: JetBrains Mono
    style: Regular
 
  bold:
    family: JetBrains Mono
    style: Bold
 
  italic:
    family: JetBrains Mono
    style: Italic
 
  bold_italic:
    family: JetBrains Mono
    style: Bold Italic
 
  size: 12

Padding

In order to add padding, just add the following to the config file:

window:
  padding:
  x: 20
  y: 20

Neofetch

Here we will configure Neofetch. If you don't know what it is, let me explain in short: Neofetch is a command-line tool that shows a visually appealing summary of your system's key information, like OS, kernel, CPU, GPU, and memory, with a colorful ASCII.

Using custom ASCII Art

It's cool to see your distributions logo in the Neofetch output, but what if we want to use our own image or ASCII Art? Don't you worry, I'll show you how it's done.

Choose ASCII Art of your choice, and save it in a folder of your choice.
For me it will be file art in Pictures/neofetch:
```
$ cd ~
$ cd Pictures
$ mkdir neofetch
$ touch neofetch/art
```

Then, let's put in use the file we just created:
I'll use such content for the art file:

     ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣄⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠛⠻⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣤⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣷⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣶⣶⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠀⠀⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠹⠿⠟⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡏⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡿⠋⡬⢿⣿⣷⣤⣤⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠰⡇⢸⡇⢸⣿⣿⣿⠟⠁⢀⣬⢽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⣧⣈⣛⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⠀⣾⠁⢀⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⠇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⣄⣀⠙⠷⢋⣼⣿⣿⣿⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇
⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇
⣿⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠁
⣿⣿⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠀
⠸⣿⣿⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠀
⠀⢹⣿⣿⣧⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠏⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠹⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠏⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠙⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠛⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠋⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠻⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠛⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠋⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Finally, we can test it! Simply run the neofetch command pointing to our newly created ASCII file like so:
```
$ neofetch  --ascii ~/Pictures/neofetch/art
```
And vouala! Must work just fine 🐇

Adding Neofetch output on Terminal launch

Let's open the config once again and make it run Neofetch with custom ASCII Art location on each start of Alacritty.

$ sudo nano ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.yml

shell:
  program: /bin/bash
  args:
    - -c
    - "neofetch  --ascii ~/Pictures/neofetch/art; exec bash"