Use Conservative Terminal Defaults
BOUNDARY-USE-CONSERVATIVE-TERMINAL-DEFAULTS
Summary
Choose first-run terminal behavior that works with limited color, small viewports, ordinary keyboard input, and varied fonts or accessibility settings. Advanced styling can remain opt-in or capability-detected after the baseline is readable and usable.
Rule
Use conservative terminal defaults.
Why
Terminals vary in color support, width, input behavior, fonts, and accessibility settings. Conservative defaults reduce the chance that a UI is unreadable, clipped, or unusable on common terminals before users configure anything.
Helps
- Improves first-run usability and cross-terminal compatibility.
Limits
Advanced styling and interaction can be opt-in or capability-detected. Defaults should remain safe for small viewports, limited color, and ordinary keyboard input.
Agent Instruction
Use conservative terminal defaults because terminals vary in color support, width, input behavior,
fonts, and accessibility settings.Mechanisms
Supported by capability detection, fallback styles, minimum viewport tests, no-color modes, saturating layout arithmetic, and manual checks in common terminals.