Custom GIF Spinner for Claude Code via COLR Font Conversion
A developer has published a method to replace Claude Code's default spinner animation with any custom animated GIF. The technique involves converting the GIF into an OpenType COLR color font where each frame of the animation becomes a glyph, then patching Claude Code's spinner to cycle through these glyphs. The terminal renders the result as pixel art.
Key Details
The project supports any GIF file as input, with the "party parrot" GIF included by default. The current release is Windows-ready, with macOS and Linux versions described as "coming soon." The repository is available at https://github.com/Arystos/claude-parrot.
The developer spent "a couple of days" figuring out the implementation. The default Claude Code spinner uses the characters "· ✢ * ✶" in a cycling animation.
This type of customization is useful for developers who want to personalize their coding environment or add visual flair to terminal-based tools.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
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Claude Ops: Browser Dashboard for Claude Code Live Status and Subagent Tracking
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