Vulpes Shader System

Vulpes Shader System

Custom GLSL shaders for Ghostty terminal. Added November 2025.

Overview

A stack of composable shaders that add subtle visual effects to the terminal without compromising readability. Named after the fox genus.

Location: ~/.config/ghostty/shaders/

Shader Stack

Order matters. Applied in sequence:

1. cursor-blaze-vulpes.glsl — Hot pink cursor trail (#ff268c)
2. bloom-vulpes.glsl — Red-selective glow effect
3. vignette-subtle.glsl — Subtle edge darkening
4. tft-subtle.glsl — LCD subpixel effect

Effects

Cursor Blaze

Trails the cursor with a hot pink glow. Creates a subtle afterimage effect when moving through code.

Bloom

Red-selective glow that makes error messages and warnings subtly luminous without affecting other text.

Vignette

Darkens edges slightly, focusing attention on center content. Very subtle.

TFT

LCD subpixel simulation. Adds slight texture reminiscent of old CRT/LCD displays.

Reload

Cmd+Shift+, in Ghostty to reload shaders after editing.

Design Philosophy

Effects should enhance focus, not distract. Each shader is:

• Subtle enough to forget it's there
• Functional (cursor trail helps track movement)
• Composable (can disable any layer)

See Also

• Dotfiles — Full configuration overview
• Ghostty — Terminal emulator
• Terminal — Terminal configuration

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