How to color text in the terminal

• April 15, 2026
• 8 min. read

• Node.js,
• Chalk,
• util.styleText

An interesting trend in the JavaScript ecosystem is the native implementation of features previously available only through third-party libraries. While some developers view this as unnecessary bloat in the Node.js runtime, these additions standardize and optimize features widely used across the ecosystem.

This post explores this trend by looking at util.styleText, a feature that allows developers to style terminal text natively without relying on external libraries like chalk.

The chalk library #

The chalk library allows developers to style terminal output with colors and text modifiers. These styles provide visual cues, making terminal output significantly more readable.

The following example demonstrates common chalk usage:

TypeScript / JavaScript

import chalk from 'chalk';

const log = console.log;

// Combine styled and normal strings
log(chalk.blue('Hello') + ' World' + chalk.red('!'));

// Chain styles using Chalk modifiers
log(chalk.blue.bgRed.bold('Hello world!'));

// Pass multiple arguments as a comma-separated list
log(chalk.blue('Hello', 'World!', 'Foo', 'bar', 'biz', 'baz'));

// Nest styles: "Hello" is red, "world" has a blue background
log(chalk.red('Hello', chalk.underline.bgBlue('world') + '!'));

// Nest styles of the same type
log(chalk.green(
  'I am a green line ' +
  chalk.blue.underline.bold('with a blue substring') +
  ' that becomes green again!'
));

The chalk library also supports template literals for multi-line strings:

TypeScript / JavaScript

log(`
CPU: ${chalk.red('90%')}
RAM: ${chalk.green('40%')}
DISK: ${chalk.yellow('70%')}
`);

In compatible terminal emulators, applications can use custom RGB and hex colors:

TypeScript / JavaScript

// Use RGB and Hex colors
console.log(chalk.rgb(123, 45, 67).underline('Underlined reddish color'));
console.log(chalk.hex('#DEADED').bold('Bold gray!'));

util.styleText #

While chalk is powerful, it adds a dependency for a purely decorative feature. Node.js introduced util.styleText in version 20.12.0 and declared it stable in version 22.x. It provides a native subset of chalk's functionality with zero dependencies.

The following table compares chalk and util.styleText.

Detailed limitations #

When migrating from chalk to the native implementation, consider these functional differences.

• No chaining API: Developers cannot chain properties to combine styles. Instead, pass an array of strings as the first argument.
  • Chalk: chalk.red.bold.underline('Text')
  • Native: styleText(['red', 'bold', 'underline'], 'Text')
• No custom colors (Hex/RGB): util.styleText is strictly limited to the standard ANSI color palette (approximately 8 basic colors, 8 bright variants, and background counterparts).
• Chalk: chalk.hex('#DEADED')('Zombie') executes successfully.
• Native: Throws an error for hex/RGB values. Developers must use named colors like 'green' or 'red'.

The nesting "bleed" issue #

This is the most significant functional difference. chalk handles "un-nesting" automatically. In native Node.js, the closing tag of an inner style resets the stream to the terminal default, not the parent state.

TypeScript / JavaScript

import { styleText } from 'node:util';

console.log(
  styleText('red', `Error: ${styleText('blue', 'File not found')} - check logs.`)
);

Output behavior

• "Error: " prints in red.
• "File not found": prints in blue.
• " - check logs.": prints in the default terminal color because the blue style reset the terminal state entirely.

Solution: Implementing smart nesting #

To achieve chalk-like nesting with util.styleText, developers can create a helper function that re-applies the parent style after a child style closes.

TypeScript

import { styleText } from 'node:util';

type Format = Parameters<typeof styleText>[0];

/**
 * Wraps util.styleText to support smart nesting.
 * It ensures that if a nested style resets formatting,
 * the parent style is immediately re-applied.
 */
export function smartStyle(format: Format, text: string): string {
  const placeholder = '_________';
  const wrapped = styleText(format, placeholder);
  const [open, close] = wrapped.split(placeholder);

  // Replace the reset code with "Reset + Re-Open" to maintain parent style
  const smartText = text.replaceAll(close, close + open);

  return `${open}${smartText}${close}`;
}

// Native: The trailing text loses the red color
console.log(styleText('red', `Parent ${styleText('blue', 'Child')} Parent`));

// smartStyle: The trailing text remains red
console.log(smartStyle('red', `Parent ${smartStyle('blue', 'Child')} Parent`));

JavaScript

import { styleText } from 'node:util';

/**
 * Wraps util.styleText to support smart nesting.
 * It ensures that if a nested style resets formatting,
 * the parent style is immediately re-applied.
 */
export function smartStyle(format, text) {
  const placeholder = '_________';
  const wrapped = styleText(format, placeholder);
  const [open, close] = wrapped.split(placeholder);

  // Replace the reset code with "Reset + Re-Open" to maintain parent style
  const smartText = text.replaceAll(close, close + open);

  return `${open}${smartText}${close}`;
}

// Native: The trailing text loses the red color
console.log(styleText('red', `Parent ${styleText('blue', 'Child')} Parent`));

// smartStyle: The trailing text remains red
console.log(smartStyle('red', `Parent ${smartStyle('blue', 'Child')} Parent`));

Reference: Supported formats #

util.styleText supports specific string values. Passing unsupported values (including capitalized variants or hex codes) throws an error.

Validation logic #

util.styleText follows a strict logic path:

• Input Check: Is the format string in the supported list? If not, throw a RangeError (ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE).
• Environment Check: Are colors enabled? If the NO_COLOR environment variable is set, or if stdout is not a TTY (teletypewriter), return plain text.
• Result: Return the styled string with ANSI codes applied.

flowchart TD
    Start([styleText call]) --> CheckFormat{Is format in<br>Allowlist?}

    CheckFormat -- No --> Error[Throw RangeError<br>ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE]

    CheckFormat -- Yes --> CheckEnv{Colors Enabled<br>in Env?}

    CheckEnv -- No --> Plain[Return Plain Text]
    CheckEnv -- Yes --> ANSI[Return ANSI Styled Text]

    Error --> Crash([Crash / Exception])
    Plain --> Return([Return String])
    ANSI --> Return

    style Error fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#dc3545,color:#721c24
    style Plain fill:#e2e3e5,stroke:#383d41,color:#383d41
    style ANSI fill:#d4edda,stroke:#28a745,color:#155724

Supported text colors #

Supported background colors #

Supported modifiers #

Developers can combine these with colors in the format array (e.g., ['bold', 'red']).

Migration tool #

The Node.js team provides a Codemod migration tool to help transition codebases from chalk to util.styleText.

It is highly recommended to back up code before running the codemod. After the automated migration completes, developers must manually adjust edge cases, such as hex colors or complex chaining logic that the tool cannot reliably translate.

Edit on Github