Highlight Patterns

Highlights let you colorize text based on patterns. This guide covers advanced pattern creation.

Pattern Basics

Highlights use regex (regular expressions):

[[highlights]]
name = "creatures"
pattern = "(?i)\\b(goblin|orc|troll)\\b"
fg = "#FF6600"
bold = true

Regex Syntax

Literal Text

# Exact match
pattern = "goblin"

# Multiple words
pattern = "goblin|orc|troll"

Character Classes

# Any digit
pattern = "\\d+"          # Matches: 123, 45, 6789

# Any word character
pattern = "\\w+"          # Matches: word, Word123

# Any whitespace
pattern = "\\s+"          # Matches spaces, tabs

# Custom class
pattern = "[A-Z][a-z]+"   # Matches: Hello, World

Quantifiers

# Zero or more
pattern = "a*"            # Matches: "", a, aa, aaa

# One or more
pattern = "a+"            # Matches: a, aa, aaa

# Zero or one
pattern = "colou?r"       # Matches: color, colour

# Exactly n
pattern = "\\d{3}"        # Matches: 123, 456

# n to m
pattern = "\\d{2,4}"      # Matches: 12, 123, 1234

Anchors

# Start of line
pattern = "^You attack"

# End of line
pattern = "falls dead!$"

# Word boundary
pattern = "\\bgoblin\\b"  # Won't match "goblins" or "hobgoblin"

Groups

# Non-capturing group
pattern = "(?:goblin|orc)"

# Capturing group (for future use)
pattern = "(\\w+) says,"

Modifiers

# Case insensitive
pattern = "(?i)goblin"    # Matches: goblin, Goblin, GOBLIN

Common Patterns

Creature Names

[[highlights]]
name = "creatures"
pattern = "(?i)\\b(goblin|orc|troll|kobold|giant|wolf|bear)s?\\b"
fg = "#FF6600"
bold = true

Player Speech

[[highlights]]
name = "speech"
pattern = "^(\\w+) (says|asks|exclaims|whispers),"
fg = "#00FF00"

Your Character Name

[[highlights]]
name = "my_name"
pattern = "\\bYourCharacterName\\b"
fg = "#FFFF00"
bold = true

Damage Numbers

[[highlights]]
name = "damage"
pattern = "\\b\\d+\\s+points?\\s+of\\s+damage"
fg = "#FF0000"
bold = true

Currency

[[highlights]]
name = "silver"
pattern = "\\d+\\s+silvers?"
fg = "#C0C0C0"

[[highlights]]
name = "gold"
pattern = "\\d+\\s+gold"
fg = "#FFD700"

Room Exits

[[highlights]]
name = "exits"
pattern = "Obvious (paths|exits):"
fg = "#00FFFF"

ESP/Thoughts

[[highlights]]
name = "esp"
pattern = "^\\[.*?\\]"
fg = "#FF00FF"
stream = "thoughts"

Critical Hits

[[highlights]]
name = "critical"
pattern = "(?i)critical|devastating|massive"
fg = "#FF0000"
bg = "#400000"
bold = true

Healing

[[highlights]]
name = "healing"
pattern = "heal|restore|recover"
fg = "#00FF00"

Stream Filtering

Limit patterns to specific streams:

[[highlights]]
name = "combat"
pattern = "You (hit|miss)"
fg = "#FF0000"
stream = "main"

[[highlights]]
name = "esp_highlight"
pattern = "\\[ESP\\]"
fg = "#00FFFF"
stream = "thoughts"

Priority System

Higher priority wins when multiple patterns match:

[[highlights]]
name = "important"
pattern = "critical"
fg = "#FF0000"
priority = 100          # Checked first

[[highlights]]
name = "general"
pattern = ".*"
fg = "#808080"
priority = 0            # Checked last

Fast Parse Mode

For simple literal patterns, use fast_parse:

[[highlights]]
name = "names"
pattern = "Bob|Alice|Charlie"
fg = "#FFFF00"
fast_parse = true       # Uses Aho-Corasick algorithm

When to use fast_parse:

Pattern is literal strings only
Pattern has many alternatives
High-frequency matching needed

When NOT to use:

Pattern uses regex features
Pattern needs word boundaries
Pattern uses anchors

Special Characters

Escape these with \\:

. * + ? ^ $ { } [ ] ( ) | \

# Match literal period
pattern = "Mr\\. Smith"

# Match literal asterisk
pattern = "\\*\\*emphasis\\*\\*"

# Match literal parentheses
pattern = "\\(optional\\)"

Sounds

Add sounds to highlights:

[[highlights]]
name = "whisper_alert"
pattern = "whispers to you"
fg = "#00FFFF"
sound = "~/.two-face/sounds/whisper.wav"

Squelch (Hide)

Hide matching text entirely:

[[highlights]]
name = "spam_filter"
pattern = "A gentle breeze|The sun|Birds chirp"
squelch = true

Redirect

Send matching text to different window:

[[highlights]]
name = "combat_redirect"
pattern = "You (attack|hit|miss|dodge)"
redirect = "combat"
redirect_mode = "copy"  # or "move"

Testing Patterns

Test in Browser

.highlights

Navigate to your highlight and check the preview.

Test with Game Output

Add highlight
Run .reload highlights
Trigger the pattern in-game
Verify appearance

Online Regex Testers

Use regex101.com or similar to test patterns before adding.

Performance Tips

Use fast_parse for simple patterns
Use word boundaries \b to limit matching
Be specific - avoid .* when possible
Limit stream - use stream = "main" when appropriate
Keep count low - fewer than 100 patterns recommended

Debugging

Pattern Not Matching

Test pattern in regex101.com
Check escaping (use \\ not \)
Check case sensitivity
Verify stream setting

Pattern Too Broad

Add boundaries:

# Too broad
pattern = "hit"        # Matches "white", "smith"

# Better
pattern = "\\bhit\\b"  # Only matches "hit" as word

Escaping Issues

TOML strings need double backslashes:

# Wrong
pattern = "\d+"

# Correct
pattern = "\\d+"

Complete Example

# Combat Highlights
[[highlights]]
name = "damage_taken"
pattern = "(?i)(strikes|hits|bites|claws|slashes)\\s+you"
fg = "#FF4444"
bold = true
priority = 80

[[highlights]]
name = "damage_dealt"
pattern = "You\\s+(strike|hit|slash|stab)"
fg = "#44FF44"
priority = 80

[[highlights]]
name = "critical"
pattern = "(?i)critical|devastating"
fg = "#FF0000"
bg = "#400000"
bold = true
priority = 100

# Creatures
[[highlights]]
name = "creatures"
pattern = "(?i)\\b(goblin|orc|troll|kobold|wolf|bear|rat)s?\\b"
fg = "#FF8800"
bold = true
priority = 50

# Social
[[highlights]]
name = "my_name"
pattern = "\\bYourCharacter\\b"
fg = "#FFFF00"
bold = true
priority = 90

[[highlights]]
name = "friends"
pattern = "\\b(Alice|Bob|Charlie)\\b"
fg = "#00FF00"
fast_parse = true
priority = 60

# Currency
[[highlights]]
name = "silver"
pattern = "\\d+\\s+silvers?"
fg = "#C0C0C0"
bold = true

[[highlights]]
name = "treasure"
pattern = "(?i)(gold|gems?|jewel|treasure)"
fg = "#FFD700"

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