Rich

Ask clarification when:

• User asks about "terminal UI" or "TUI" (could be Rich or Textual)
• Uncertain if interactive TUI is needed vs. enhanced output

Console Class

The Console class is the core of Rich. Use one global instance.

from rich.console import Console

console = Console()

# Basic output
console.print("[bold red]Error:[/] Something happened")
console.log("Processing complete")

# Rule/separator
console.rule("[bold blue]Section Title")

Markup Syntax

Rich uses BBCode-style markup:

# Basic styles
console.print("[bold]Bold[/]")
console.print("[italic red]Red italic[/]")
console.print("[bold yellow on blue]Styled background[/]")

# Links
console.print("[link=https://example.com]Click here[/link]")

# Shorthand: b=bold, i=italic, u=underline, d=dim, s=strike
console.print("[b]bold[/], [i]italic[/]")

Style Attributes

• Colors: red, blue, green, yellow, cyan, magenta, white, black
• Bright: bright_red, bright_blue, etc.
• Attributes: bold, italic, underline, dim, strike, blink, reverse
• Background: on red, on blue

Logging Setup

Configure RichHandler in entry points only (__main__.py), never in importable modules.

# __main__.py or entry point
import logging
from rich.logging import RichHandler

logging.basicConfig(
  level="INFO",
  format="%(message)s",
  handlers=[
    RichHandler(
      show_time=True,
      show_level=True,
      show_path=True,
      rich_tracebacks=True,
      tracebacks_show_locals=True,
    )
  ]
)

See patterns/logging.md for detailed patterns.

Tables

from rich.table import Table
from rich.box import ROUNDED, HEAVY_HEAD

table = Table(
  title="Results",
  box=ROUNDED,
  show_header=True,
  header_style="bold cyan",
)

table.add_column("Name", style="green")
table.add_column("Value", justify="right")
table.add_column("Status", style="bold")

table.add_row("Item 1", "100", "[green]OK[/]")
table.add_row("Item 2", "200", "[yellow]WARN[/]")

console.print(table)

See patterns/tables.md for detailed patterns.

Progress Bars

Simple (track)

from rich.progress import track

for item in track(items, description="Processing..."):
  process(item)

Advanced (Progress)

from rich.progress import Progress, SpinnerColumn, BarColumn, TextColumn

with Progress(
  SpinnerColumn(),
  TextColumn("[progress.description]{task.description}"),
  BarColumn(),
  TextColumn("[progress.percentage]{task.percentage:>3.0f}%"),
) as progress:
  task = progress.add_task("[red]Downloading...", total=1000)
  
  while not progress.finished:
    progress.update(task, advance=10)

See patterns/progress.md for detailed patterns.

Panels and Layouts

Panels

from rich.panel import Panel

panel = Panel(
  "Content here",
  title="Title",
  subtitle="Subtitle",
  border_style="blue",
)
console.print(panel)

Layouts

from rich.layout import Layout

layout = Layout()
layout.split_column(
  Layout(name="header", size=3),
  Layout(name="body"),
  Layout(name="footer", size=3),
)

layout["header"].update(Panel("Header"))
layout["body"].update(Panel("Content"))
layout["footer"].update(Panel("Footer"))

console.print(layout)

Live Displays

from rich.live import Live
from rich.table import Table

def generate_table():
  table = Table(title="Live Data")
  table.add_column("Time")
  table.add_column("Value")
  # ... add rows
  return table

with Live(generate_table(), refresh_per_second=4) as live:
  for _ in range(100):
    time.sleep(0.1)
    live.update(generate_table())

Syntax Highlighting

from rich.syntax import Syntax

syntax = Syntax(
  code_string,
  "python",
  theme="monokai",
  line_numbers=True,
)
console.print(syntax)

# From file
syntax = Syntax.from_path("script.py", theme="github-dark")

Popular themes: monokai, github-dark, dracula, vim

Markdown Rendering

from rich.markdown import Markdown

md = Markdown("""
# Heading
- Item 1
- Item 2
""")
console.print(md)

Trees

from rich.tree import Tree

tree = Tree("[bold blue]Root")
tree.add("[green]Child 1").add("[yellow]Grandchild")
tree.add("[green]Child 2")
console.print(tree)

Common Issues

Performance Tips

• Rich tables are ~18x slower than plain output
• Batch output instead of tight loops
• Use transient=True for progress bars
• Disable features: console = Console(highlight=False)

When to Use Rich vs Textual

Pattern Files

• patterns/logging.md - Logging setup patterns
• patterns/tables.md - Table creation patterns
• patterns/progress.md - Progress bar patterns

Template Files

• templates/console-setup.md - Global console setup
• templates/rich-handler.md - RichHandler configuration

Reference Files

• references/api-console.md - Console class API
• references/api-components.md - Component APIs

Related Skills

• python - Base skill for Python development
• textual - TUI applications (when Rich is insufficient)33:["$","$L3b",null,{"content":"$3c","frontMatter":{"name":"rich","description":"Guide Python Rich library usage for terminal output with styled text, tables, progress bars, and logging. Use when user mentions rich, console output, terminal formatting, progress bars, or code imports rich. Default choice for Python console applications."}}]