lscolors

Convert between macOS/BSD LSCOLORS and GNU/Linux LS_COLORS (dircolors) formats.

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What it does

LSCOLORS (BSD/macOS) and LS_COLORS (GNU/Linux) both control how ls colorizes file listings, but use completely different formats:

	LSCOLORS (BSD)	LS_COLORS (GNU)
Format	22-character string	key=value pairs separated by :
Colors	16 colors via chars a-h, A-H, x	Full ANSI SGR codes (16, 256, truecolor)
Slots	11 fixed file types	Arbitrary keys + file extensions

This tool converts between them in both directions with live preview.

Features

• Bidirectional live conversion as you type
• Color preview swatches for all 11 BSD slots
• 256-color and truecolor to 16-color approximation (Euclidean RGB distance)
• Copy to clipboard
• Shareable permalink via URL hash

Supported slots

Char pair	Key	Description
1-2	di	Directory
3-4	ln	Symbolic link
5-6	so	Socket
7-8	pi	Pipe (FIFO)
9-10	ex	Executable
11-12	bd	Block device
13-14	cd	Character device
15-16	su	Setuid (u+s)
17-18	sg	Setgid (g+s)
19-20	tw	Sticky + other-writable
21-22	ow	Other-writable

Limitations

• GNU → BSD is lossy: LS_COLORS supports file extension keys (*.tar), underline, blink, dim, italic, strikethrough, and other SGR attributes that have no BSD equivalent — these are silently dropped.
• 256-color and truecolor approximation: Both 256-color (38;5;N) and truecolor (38;2;r;g;b) are mapped to the nearest of the 16 basic ANSI colors via Euclidean RGB distance. Close enough for a preview, not pixel-perfect.
• Only the 11 overlapping keys are preserved when converting GNU to BSD.
• Bold (01) → uppercase: GNU 01;34 (bold blue) produces uppercase E in the BSD output, matching BSD convention.
• Last-wins: If multiple fg/bg codes appear (e.g. 34;35), the last code wins, consistent with terminal behavior.
• Reverse video (07): ANSI code 7 swaps fg/bg in the BSD output.

Why?

I was checking out monokai.pro/zsh and had some issues with their instructions for setting up my zsh config with the monokai theme, but apparently their config is macOS/BSD-oriented and I don't have a Mac. I got AI automation somewhat working, so I threw together this little tool to convert their provided LSCOLORS value into LS_COLORS format.
Then I figured I might as well host it on GitHub for free.

See also

• lucas-flowers/gnu2bsd -- Python CLI that converts GNU LS_COLORS to BSD LSCOLORS (one direction only). Handles bold-to-uppercase, last-wins overriding, and reverse video (code 7).
• ggreer/lscolors -- interactive LSCOLORS / LS_COLORS generator with color pickers.
• sharkdp/vivid -- themeable LS_COLORS generator with YAML config and truecolor support.

Development

bun install
bun run dev       # dev server
bun test          # run tests
bun run build     # production build -> dist/
bun run format    # format with dprint