# tui-ascii-mapper

A terminal-based map editor for creating ASCII maps with Unicode symbols and ANSI 256-color support. It supports both keyboard and mouse. Built with [Bubble Tea](https://github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea).

![demo image](tui-asci-mapper.webp)

## Features

- **8 drawing tools**: Brush, Select, Erase, Fill (flood fill), Line, Rectangle, Circle, Text labels
- **30 built-in terrain types**: Or make your own. Choose multiple colors!
- **Unicode/ASCII toggle**: switch between Unicode symbols and ASCII fallbacks
- **256-color ANSI support**: built-in color picker to assign colors per terrain or text label
- **Submaps**: press enter to drill down into a sub-map (e.g. a town map)
- **Text labels**: place movable text strings on a layer above the map
- **Save/Load**: maps save in a custom YAML format, but have easy copy/paste

## Controls

### Keyboard

| Key                       | Action                                      |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Arrow keys / h/j/k/l      | Move cursor                                 |
| Space / Enter             | Use tool at cursor / move text / make shape |
| 0-9                       | Select symbol                               |
| Shift + 1-8               | Select tool                                 |
| - / =                     | Previous/next palette page                  |
| [ / ]                     | Decrease/increase brush width               |
| f                         | Toggle fill shapes                          |
| u                         | Toggle Unicode/ASCII modes                  |
| c (in Text tool)          | Open color picker for text label            |
| e (in Text tool)          | Edit text label at cursor                   |
| Esc                       | Cancel / go up 1 map level                  |
| Backspace / x             | Erase cell / delete text label              |
| arrow keys (in text drag) | Move dragged text label                     |
| u                         | Undo                                        |
| r                         | Redo                                        |
| s                         | Save map                                    |
| q                         | Quit                                        |


## Configuration

Edit `config.yaml` to customize terrain symbols, colors, keybindings, and default map size. The config is loaded from the directory next to the binary, or from `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tui-ascii-mapper/config.yaml`.

## Building

```bash
go build -o tui-ascii-mapper
./tui-ascii-mapper
```

# AI Disclosure

This is 100% unreviewed, vibe coded slop. I needed a TUI ASCII map-making tool and couldn't find one and threw this together quickly. It has bugs.

# License

0BSD. Do anything you want.