feat: v3.6.0 — classic/bold redesigned as native 5-row fonts with distinct glyph shapes

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -6,6 +6,29 @@ adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [3.6.0] - 2026-06-12
+
+### Changed
+
+- **`classic` and `bold` redesigned as NATIVE 5-row fonts with distinct glyph
+  shapes — no longer the `block` font re-inked with shade characters.** `classic`
+  now draws cornered, open "rounded-terminal" numerals; `bold` draws heavy-slab
+  numerals with filled corners. Both are inked with solid `█` and distinguished
+  from `block` (and from each other) by GLYPH SHAPE and stroke weight, so cycling
+  the three solid styles with `d` shows a clear, unambiguous change. They keep the
+  exact 5-row × 4-col `block` footprint, so cycling never shifts the layout and
+  both render their own glyphs at every window size — including a minimized window
+  with session metadata — with no fallback to `block` and no towering.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`classic`/`bold` no longer look almost identical to `block` when cycling.** In
+  v3.5.0–v3.5.1 the two styles were `block` re-inked with `░` / `▓` shades, which
+  read too close to the full `█` block (bold especially), so alternating among the
+  three solid styles produced little observable change. Distinct glyph shapes
+  replace the shade approach, which was geometrically incapable of differentiating
+  three solid styles at the locked 5×4 footprint.
+
 ## [3.5.1] - 2026-06-12
 
 ### Changed
@@ -407,7 +430,8 @@ ANSI, zero new runtime dependencies, instant cold start.
   `FLOWCLOCK_CONFIG_DIR` / `FLOWCLOCK_DATA_DIR` overrides.
 - Color themes: `neon` (default), `amber`, `blue`, `mono`.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/aedneth/flowclock-cli/compare/v3.5.1...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/aedneth/flowclock-cli/compare/v3.6.0...HEAD
+[3.6.0]: https://github.com/aedneth/flowclock-cli/compare/v3.5.1...v3.6.0
 [3.5.1]: https://github.com/aedneth/flowclock-cli/compare/v3.5.0...v3.5.1
 [3.5.0]: https://github.com/aedneth/flowclock-cli/compare/v3.4.1...v3.5.0
 [3.4.1]: https://github.com/aedneth/flowclock-cli/compare/v3.4.0...v3.4.1

README.md

@@ -132,9 +132,10 @@ Ratio   1:4.3 focus:rest
     `minimal` at every scale, including scale 1 (minimized windows).
   - **`minimal`** — clean **light** line digits in box-drawing strokes (`┌─┐ │
     └─┘`, airy `○` colon). Scales crisply at every size.
-  - **`classic`** — solid terminal numerals in a **light shade weight** (`░`),
-    sharing the exact 5-row × 4-col footprint of every other style.
-  - **`bold`** — solid terminal numerals in a **heavy shade weight** (`▓`),
+  - **`classic`** — solid **cornered "rounded-terminal" numerals** (a distinct,
+    stylized glyph shape), sharing the exact 5-row × 4-col footprint of every
+    other style.
+  - **`bold`** — solid **heavy-slab numerals** (a distinct, heavier glyph shape),
     sharing the exact 5-row × 4-col footprint of every other style.
 
   The goal sits **centered** above the counter and the focus/break metadata
@@ -147,12 +148,12 @@ Ratio   1:4.3 focus:rest
   █  █  █  █       ┃  ┃ ┃  ┃        ║  ║ ║  ║
   ████  ████       ┗━━┛ ┗━━┛        ╚══╝ ╚══╝
 
-  minimal          classic               bold
-  ┌──┐ ┌──┐         ░░░  ░░░░            ▓▓▓  ▓▓▓▓
-  │  │ │  │        ░   ░ ░   ░           ▓   ▓ ▓   ▓
-  │  │ │  │        ░░░░░ ░░░░░           ▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓
-  └──┘ └──┘        ░   ░ ░   ░           ▓   ▓ ▓   ▓
-                   ░░░░░ ░░░░░           ▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓
+  minimal          classic           bold
+  ┌──┐ ┌──┐         ██   ██          ████ ████
+  │  │ │  │        █  █   █          ██ █  ██
+  │  │ │  │        █  █   █          █  █  ███
+  └──┘ └──┘        █  █   █          █ ██   ██
+                    ██   ███         ████ ████
   ```
 
 - **Themes** — `neon` (default), `amber`, `blue`, `mono`. Set the default with
@@ -256,19 +257,19 @@ so they stay prominent without overshadowing the metadata:
   at every scale (including scale 1 / minimized windows).
 - **`minimal`** — clean **light** line digits in box-drawing strokes (`┌─┐ │`),
   airy `○` colon. Scales crisply at every size; lighter feel than `simple`.
-- **`classic`** — solid terminal numerals in a **light shade weight** (`░`),
-  sharing the exact 5-row × 4-col footprint of every other style.
-- **`bold`** — solid terminal numerals in a **heavy shade weight** (`▓`),
+- **`classic`** — solid **cornered "rounded-terminal" numerals** (a distinct,
+  stylized glyph shape), sharing the exact 5-row × 4-col footprint of every other style.
+- **`bold`** — solid **heavy-slab numerals** (a distinct, heavier glyph shape),
   sharing the exact 5-row × 4-col footprint of every other style.
 
 Press **`d`** (or run `display` from the palette) to cycle
 `block → simple → outline → minimal → classic → bold`, and **`t`** to cycle the
 theme. Both choices are **saved to your config** as your new default — the same
 as running `config set displayStyle classic` / `config set theme neon`. The
 public default stays `block`; the rest are opt-in alternates. All six styles
-share the same 5-row footprint — `classic`/`bold` are shade-weight variants of
-`block` (`░` light / `▓` heavy), so cycling styles never changes the counter's
-size or covers the session goal.
+share the same 5-row footprint — `classic`/`bold` are native distinct-shape
+5-row fonts (cornered "rounded-terminal" classic / heavy-slab bold), so cycling
+styles never changes the counter's size or covers the session goal.
 
 ### Live session controls
 
@@ -402,7 +403,7 @@ Stored at `config.json` in your config dir (`flowclock config path`). Keys:
 | Key | Default | Meaning |
 | --- | --- | --- |
 | `theme` | `neon` | `neon` · `amber` · `blue` · `mono` |
-| `displayStyle` | `block` | Counter look: `block` solid (default), `simple` heavy line digits, `outline` hollow silhouette in double-line chars (`╔═╗`) distinct from `minimal`, `minimal` light line digits, `classic` light-shade `░` solid numerals, `bold` heavy-shade `▓` — all share the exact 5-row footprint; cycle live with `d` |
+| `displayStyle` | `block` | Counter look: `block` solid (default), `simple` heavy line digits, `outline` hollow silhouette in double-line chars (`╔═╗`) distinct from `minimal`, `minimal` light line digits, `classic` cornered/rounded solid numerals (distinct shape), `bold` heavy-slab solid numerals (distinct shape) — all share the exact 5-row footprint; cycle live with `d` |
 | `showControls` | `true` | show the controls footer (`--zen` overrides) |
 | `dailyFocusGoalS` | `14400` | daily focus goal in seconds (drives maximization %) |
 | `keybindings.{pause,break,category,reset,quit}` | `p` `b` `c` `r` `q` | in-session keys |
@@ -437,6 +438,7 @@ on-disk schema is **v3**; migrations are non-destructive.
 | **v3.4.1** ✅ | `outline` double-line box-drawing chars (`╔═╗`) — distinct from `minimal` at every scale; uniform `classic`/`bold` footprint — height capped to 5-row reference, degrades to `block` in short windows |
 | **v3.5.0** ✅ | `classic`/`bold` redesigned as 5-row shade weights (`▒`/`▓`) for exact footprint parity with all styles — no more towering, goal covering, or silent fallback to `block` |
 | **v3.5.1** ✅ | `classic` lightened to `░` shade so block `█` / classic `░` / bold `▓` read as three distinct surfaces while keeping exact 5-row footprint parity |
+| **v3.6.0** ✅ | `classic`/`bold` redesigned as native 5-row fonts with distinct glyph shapes (cornered `classic` / heavy-slab `bold`, both solid) — replaces the v3.5.x shade-fill approach so the three solid styles read as clearly distinct while keeping exact footprint parity |
 | **next** | `flowclock sync` — push `sessions.json` to a self-hosted/cloud endpoint; recurring goals; dashboard filters |
 | **later** | Per-goal analytics deep-dives, calendar heatmap, Homebrew tap |
 

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "flowclock-cli",
-  "version": "3.5.1",
+  "version": "3.6.0",
   "description": "Flowtime count-up terminal timer (HUD, not Pomodoro) with silent session logging — agent-native, like gh and vercel.",
   "type": "module",
   "license": "AGPL-3.0-or-later",

src/lib/bigfont.ts

@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ export function computeSessionScale(
 /**
  * Pick the counter scale for `style`. Every display style now shares the exact
  * 5-row × 4-col `block` footprint (the tall 9-row `classic`/`bold` letterforms
- * were retired in favour of 5-row shade weights — see STYLE_METRICS), so a
+ * were retired in favour of native 5-row letterforms — see STYLE_METRICS), so a
  * single scale gives ALL styles an identical rendered size. Cycling styles with
  * `d` therefore never makes the counter jump in size, and no style-specific
  * "taming" is needed — this is now a thin, style-aware wrapper over
@@ -339,16 +339,17 @@ export function uniformCounterScale(
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// Solid shade-weight "classic" / "bold" fonts — terminal numerals
+// Native distinct-shape "classic" / "bold" fonts — terminal numerals
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 /**
  * Per-style glyph geometry. EVERY style shares the original 5-row, 4-wide-digit,
  * 1-wide-colon footprint, so the reserve-first scaling maths and small-panel
- * fallback thresholds are byte-for-byte identical across all six styles. The
- * styles differ only in how each filled cell is INKED (see `renderCounter`):
- * `block` full `█`, `classic`/`bold` the light `░` / heavy `▓` shade
- * weights, and `simple`/`outline`/`minimal` box-drawing line-art.
+ * fallback thresholds are byte-for-byte identical across all six styles.
+ * `block`, `classic`, and `bold` are three solid fonts with distinct glyph shapes
+ * (all inked with `█`): block uses blunt filled rectangles, classic uses cornered/
+ * open terminal numerals, and bold uses heavy-slab numerals. `simple`, `outline`,
+ * and `minimal` use box-drawing line-art and differ by stroke weight and style.
  */
 interface StyleMetrics {
   rows: number;
@@ -382,30 +383,77 @@ export function styleWidth(style: DisplayStyle, time: string, scale = 1): number
   return w * scale;
 }
 
-/** The shade glyph each solid weight inks its filled cells with. */
-const CLASSIC_FILL = "░"; // light shade — the airy `classic` weight (clearly distinct from solid block)
-const BOLD_FILL = "▓"; // heavy shade — the `bold` weight
+// 4-wide × 5-tall CORNERED/OPEN terminal numerals (the `classic` style). A
+// stylized, rounded-terminal letterform: notched corners and open interiors give
+// it a softer silhouette clearly distinct from block's blunt rectangles, while
+// keeping block's exact 5-row × 4-col footprint. Uses only █ so it cell-repeat
+// scales as cleanly as the block font.
+const CLASSIC_GLYPHS: Record<string, string[]> = {
+  "0": [" ██ ", "█  █", "█  █", "█  █", " ██ "],
+  "1": [" ██ ", "  █ ", "  █ ", "  █ ", " ███"],
+  "2": [" ██ ", "█  █", "  █ ", " █  ", "████"],
+  "3": ["███ ", "   █", " ██ ", "   █", "███ "],
+  "4": ["█  █", "█  █", " ███", "   █", "  ██"],
+  "5": ["████", "█   ", "███ ", "   █", "███ "],
+  "6": [" ██ ", "█   ", "███ ", "█  █", " ██ "],
+  "7": ["███ ", "  █ ", " █  ", " █  ", "█   "],
+  "8": [" ██ ", "█  █", " ██ ", "█  █", " ██ "],
+  "9": [" ██ ", "█  █", " ███", "   █", " ██ "],
+  ":": [" ", "█", " ", "█", " "],
+};
+
+// 4-wide × 5-tall HEAVY-SLAB terminal numerals (the `bold` style). The same
+// terminal-numeral family as `classic` but with filled corners and extra interior
+// ink, so it reads as a visibly heavier weight than both block and classic — yet
+// keeps block's exact 5-row × 4-col footprint and scales cleanly (█ only).
+const BOLD_GLYPHS: Record<string, string[]> = {
+  "0": ["████", "██ █", "█  █", "█ ██", "████"],
+  "1": [" ██ ", "███ ", " ██ ", " ██ ", "████"],
+  "2": ["████", "  ██", "████", "██  ", "████"],
+  "3": ["████", "  ██", " ███", "  ██", "████"],
+  "4": ["█ ██", "█ ██", "████", "  ██", "  ██"],
+  "5": ["████", "██  ", "████", "  ██", "████"],
+  "6": ["████", "██  ", "████", "█ ██", "████"],
+  "7": ["████", "  ██", " ██ ", " ██ ", " ██ "],
+  "8": ["████", "█ ██", "████", "█ ██", "████"],
+  "9": ["████", "█ ██", "████", "  ██", "████"],
+  ":": [" ", "█", " ", "█", " "],
+};
 
 /**
- * Render the solid `block` geometry with a different fill glyph. `classic` and
- * `bold` are weight variants of the default `block` font: they share its EXACT
- * 5-row × 4-col cell grid (so every dimension, scale step and layout reservation
- * is byte-for-byte identical to block), and differ only by inking each filled
- * cell with a light `░` / heavy `▓` shade instead of the full `█`. Reusing
- * `renderBigLines` guarantees the footprint can never drift from block's.
+ * Render a 5-row solid terminal-numeral font (classic/bold) by integer
+ * cell-repeat — crisp at every scale, no half-block artefacts and no footprint
+ * drift. Each digit is 4 cols, the colon 1 col, the gap 1 col (× scale), exactly
+ * matching block's geometry / `styleWidth`, so the reserve-first scaling maths and
+ * small-window thresholds are byte-for-byte identical across all six styles. These
+ * letterforms have DISTINCT shapes from block (cornered `classic`, heavy `bold`),
+ * so cycling styles with `d` shows a clear change without altering the footprint.
  */
-function renderShaded(time: string, scale: number, fill: string): string[] {
-  return renderBigLines(time, scale).map((line) => line.replaceAll("█", fill));
+function renderSolidGlyphs(time: string, scale: number, glyphs: Record<string, string[]>): string[] {
+  const totalRows = BIG_ROWS * scale;
+  const rows = Array.from({ length: totalRows }, () => "");
+  const chars = [...time];
+  chars.forEach((ch, idx) => {
+    const glyph = glyphs[ch] ?? [" ", " ", " ", " ", " "];
+    const sep = idx < chars.length - 1 ? " ".repeat(scale) : "";
+    for (let r = 0; r < BIG_ROWS; r++) {
+      const scaledRow = [...(glyph[r] ?? "")].map((c) => c.repeat(scale)).join("");
+      for (let s = 0; s < scale; s++) {
+        rows[r * scale + s] = (rows[r * scale + s] ?? "") + scaledRow + sep;
+      }
+    }
+  });
+  return rows;
 }
 
-/** Render the `classic` style — solid LIGHT shade (`░`) terminal numerals. */
+/** Render the `classic` style — solid cornered/open terminal numerals (distinct shape from block). */
 export function renderClassicLines(time: string, scale = 1): string[] {
-  return renderShaded(time, scale, CLASSIC_FILL);
+  return renderSolidGlyphs(time, scale, CLASSIC_GLYPHS);
 }
 
-/** Render the `bold` style — solid HEAVY shade (`▓`) terminal numerals. */
+/** Render the `bold` style — solid heavy-slab terminal numerals (distinct shape from block). */
 export function renderBoldLines(time: string, scale = 1): string[] {
-  return renderShaded(time, scale, BOLD_FILL);
+  return renderSolidGlyphs(time, scale, BOLD_GLYPHS);
 }
 
 /** Render `time` in the requested display style at the given scale. */

src/schemas/config.ts

@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ export type ThemeName = z.infer<typeof ThemeNameSchema>;
  *  - "simple"  clean heavy box-drawing seven-segment digits
  *  - "outline" hollow DOUBLE-LINE silhouette glyphs (╔═╗ ║ ╚╝ — distinct at every scale)
  *  - "minimal" clean light box-drawing seven-segment digits (airy line font)
- *  - "classic" solid terminal numerals in a LIGHT shade weight (░)
- *  - "bold"    solid terminal numerals in a HEAVY shade weight (▓)
+ *  - "classic" solid cornered/rounded terminal numerals (distinct shape, native 5-row)
+ *  - "bold"    solid heavy-slab terminal numerals (distinct shape, heavier weight)
  */
 export const DisplayStyleSchema = z.enum([
   "simple",

src/tui/views/session.ts

@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ interface CounterPlan {
  *      centered text line.
  *
  * EVERY style now shares the exact 5-row × 4-col `block` footprint (`classic`/
- * `bold` are shade-weight variants of block, not the old taller letterforms), so
+ * `bold` are native 5-row letterforms with distinct glyph shapes — cornered
+ * `classic` / heavy-slab `bold` — not the old taller 9-row letterforms), so
  * the requested style renders at every window size the others do. There is no
  * tall-font case and no fall-back to a different style: cycling styles never
  * changes the counter's footprint, and classic/bold are never silently swapped
@@ -223,8 +224,8 @@ export function renderSession(
     //   "simple"  clean heavy box-drawing seven-segment line digits
     //   "outline" double-line box-drawing silhouette digits
     //   "minimal" light box-drawing seven-segment line digits
-    //   "classic" solid LIGHT shade ░ terminal numerals
-    //   "bold"    solid HEAVY shade ▓ terminal numerals
+    //   "classic" solid cornered/rounded terminal numerals (distinct shape, █)
+    //   "bold"    solid heavy-slab terminal numerals (distinct shape, █)
     const rawLines = renderCounter(plan.style, time, scale);
     counterLines = rawLines.map((line) => {
       const padded = padTo(line, innerW, "center");

src/version.ts

@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 /** Kept in sync with package.json "version" (asserted by a test). */
-export const VERSION = "3.5.1";
+export const VERSION = "3.6.0";