macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install hellwallocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew / rank 8662
Install hellwal with Homebrew, Nix
Fast, extensible color palette generator. Version 1.0.7 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#hellwal.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#hellwalnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/he/hellwal/package.nix · source: api.github.com
overview
Package summary
Fast, extensible color palette generator
Project links
Commands and aliases
- hellwal
history
Project history and usage
hellwal is a small color-palette generator for wallpaper-driven desktop theming. Its repository describes it as a Pywal-like generator that is faster and written in C, with templates, themes, JSON output, light and dark modes, and terminal color helpers.
The available authoritative history is thin but useful: the GitHub repository and release notes show a young project that quickly accumulated practical theming features after its first public release.
Project history
The repository was created in November 2024. The first public release, v1.0.0, described hellwal as a pywal-inspired color palette generator with support for templates, themes, and command-line arguments.
Subsequent releases added cache support, JSON output, neon mode, preview flags, contrast checking, more templates, and fixes to parser and palette behavior. The README credits pywal as the inspiration.
Adoption history
The project crossed from source builds into package-manager use early in its life. The README documents Homebrew and Nix installation, and the supplied package metadata also lists Homebrew and Nix packaging.
Its audience is the Unix desktop theming and 'rice' community: users who want one image or theme file to drive terminal, launcher, compositor, notification, editor, and shell color files.
How it is used
Users run `hellwal -i [image]` to generate a palette from a wallpaper image, or use `--theme` to apply a static palette. Generated templates are written under the user's cache directory, and theme files can live under `~/.config/hellwal/themes`.
The tool can emit JSON for scripts, write terminal color scripts, run a post-generation command, choose light or dark modes, adjust brightness and grayscale, and fill template variables such as `color0.hex`, `background.rgb`, and alpha values.
Why package nerds care
hellwal is notable as a compact C entry in a space often occupied by Python scripts. That makes it attractive to packagers who want a fast, dependency-light theming utility with predictable build behavior.
It is also a good example of desktop theming tools becoming package-manager artifacts: templates, cache paths, shell completions, and example themes matter almost as much as the binary.
Timeline
- 2024: Public GitHub repository created.
- 2024: v1.0.0 release published with templates, themes, and command-line options.
- 2024: v1.0.2 added palette caching under the user cache directory.
- 2025: v1.0.3 added JSON output and neon mode.
- 2025: v1.0.5 noted Homebrew packaging and additional templates, flags, and parser fixes.
Related projects
- pywal is the direct inspiration credited by the README.
- swww, Themecord, terminal color scripts, and theme collections appear in project examples or release notes.
- Homebrew and Nix are the package-manager channels present in the supplied metadata.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
hellwal | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version1.0.7
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:hellwal |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.0.7 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://github.com/danihek/hellwal |
| Repository | https://github.com/danihek/hellwal |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Nix95%
hellwal
nix profile install nixpkgs#hellwal- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Hellwal
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- pkg.so package database
- pkgdb category and tag curation