figlet

figlet is a TypeScript/JavaScript implementation of the classic FIGfont specification, turning plain text into ASCII-art banners using any of dozens of bundled fonts. It runs identically in Node (as a library or CLI) and in the browser, and originally powered the well-known patorjk.com Text ASCII Art Generator.

The library exposes both a simple callback/promise-based figlet.text() API for quick banner generation and lower-level utilities for loading custom .flf fonts, making it the de facto standard for adding ASCII-art banners to CLI tool startup output, terminal splash screens, or build logs.

What You Get

• A figlet.text() function returning a Promise (or accepting a callback) that renders ASCII art
• Dozens of bundled FIGfonts selectable by name (Standard, Slant, Banner, etc.)
• A figlet CLI binary for generating ASCII banners directly from the terminal
• Support for loading custom .flf FIGfont files at runtime
• Works unmodified in both Node.js and browser bundles (dist/figlet.mjs)

Common Use Cases

• Printing a branded ASCII-art banner when a CLI tool starts up
• Generating splash-screen text art for terminal applications
• Adding decorative ASCII headers to build/CI logs for readability
• Powering web-based ASCII-art text generators (as it does on patorjk.com)

Under The Hood

Architecture — The core src/figlet.ts implements the FIGfont layout algorithm (parsing .flf font files, applying horizontal/vertical smushing rules between adjacent glyphs, and assembling final banner lines), with src/node-figlet.ts providing the Node-specific font-loading/CLI wrapper and src/font-list.ts enumerating the bundled font catalog; fonts themselves live as data files under fonts/ and importable-fonts/. Tech Stack — Written in TypeScript, compiled via Vite (vite.config.ts) to dual ESM (dist/figlet.mjs) and CJS (dist/node-figlet.cjs) bundles with generated .d.ts/.d.cts type declarations, tested with Vitest, and built/released via a Grunt task runner plus a GitHub Actions action.yml. Code Quality — The repo has a dedicated test/ suite (figlet.test.ts, node-figlet.test.ts) with an expected/ fixtures directory used to snapshot-verify rendered output against known-good ASCII art for each bundled font, giving strong regression protection for a project where correctness is inherently visual. API Design — The API supports both modern promise-based (await figlet.text(...)) and legacy callback-based calling conventions in the same function signature, and treats the font name as a simple string option, so switching between dozens of bundled fonts requires no additional setup beyond passing a different name.