Text Scatters

Example run with gruvbox theme

Text Scatters takes your text files (.txt, .md, .epub) and creates randomized word collages inspired by the cut-up technique. Navigate through scattered words with an interactive terminal UI.

Installation

cargo install text-scatters

From Source

# Install the latest version
cargo install --git https://github.com/jo56/text-scatters

# Install a specific release
cargo install --git https://github.com/jo56/text-scatters --tag v0.1.0

# Or clone and build locally
git clone https://github.com/jo56/text-scatters.git
cd text-scatters
cargo install --path .

Usage

# Process a directory of text files
text-scatters /path/to/text/files

# Process a single file
text-scatters /path/to/file.txt
text-scatters document.epub

# Use the last path (after running once)
text-scatters

# With a specific theme
text-scatters /path/to/text/files --theme rosepine
text-scatters mybook.epub -t nord

Text Scatters accepts both individual files (.txt, .md, .markdown, .epub) and directories containing such files. It remembers the last path you used, so after the first run, you can simply type text-scatters without a path argument. The last-used path is saved in your system's config directory (~/.config/text-scatters/ on Linux/macOS, %APPDATA%\text-scatters\ on Windows).

Available Themes

• monochrome - Black and white (default)
• softmono - Black on pink-white (#FCF6F8)
• bluemono - Black text with soft blue (#5B7FA6) highlights on pink-white
• lightmono - Black text designed for lighter terminals
• redmono - Black and red initially designed for lighter terminals (works with dark ones too)
• nord - Cool arctic palette (Nord by Arctic Ice Studio)
• nord-bg - Nord theme with background fill (useful for lighter terminals)
• gruvbox - Retro warm colors (Gruvbox by morhetz)
• rosepine - Soft purple and pink tones (Rosé Pine)
• goldgreen-light - Light gold and green styling
• goldgreen-dark - Dark gold and green styling

Controls

• ↑/↓ - Adjust word density
• ←/→ - Navigate between words (highlights visited words)
• Space - Toggle current word highlight style (only on compatible themes)
• r - Reroll/regenerate the scatter
• v - Toggle full window collage
• q or Ctrl+C - Quit

How It Works

1. Parsing: Text Scatters reads text from a single file or all text files from a directory
2. Filtering: Removes common stop words and keeps words 3+ characters long
3. Generation: Randomly places words across the terminal canvas
4. Interaction: Navigate and explore the scattered text with keyboard controls

The density control affects how many words appear on screen, and each reroll creates a new random arrangement from your word pool.

Dependencies

Built with:

• ratatui - Terminal UI framework
• crossterm - Cross-platform terminal manipulation
• clap - Command line argument parsing
• epub - EPUB file parsing
• pulldown-cmark - Markdown parsing

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.