---
id: colour-runner
version: "0.1.1"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# colour-runner — Colour formatting for unittest tests

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 207.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

colour-runner wraps Python's unittest framework to inject colored formatting into test output, making pass/fail/error states visually distinct in the terminal. It provides drop-in replacements for unittest.TextTestRunner and unittest.TextTestResult, and includes a Django-specific mixin for projects using Django's test runner.

The package depends on blessings and pygments for terminal capability detection and syntax highlighting. It was last maintained in 2018 and targets Python 2.7 and 3.3–3.5, making it unsuitable for modern Python projects without significant updates. No known security vulnerabilities exist, but the abandonment status means compatibility with current Python versions and dependencies is uncertain.

Use it for:

- Colorize unittest output in CI/CD pipelines to make test failures more visually obvious in logs
- Add color formatting to Django test runs via the ColourRunnerMixin for better local development feedback
- Highlight test result categories in terminal output for manual test runs
- Use in projects still running Python 2.7 or early Python 3 versions

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Adds colored output to Python's unittest test runner, highlighting test results and errors for easier readability in terminal output.

No, unless you are maintaining a legacy project locked to Python 2.7 or 3.3–3.5. The package is abandoned (last commit 2018-10-05) and targets end-of-life Python versions. Modern alternatives are better choices for current projects. If you need colored test output, consider other actively maintained tools.

## Install

pip install colour-runner
uv add colour-runner
poetry add colour-runner

## Installing colour-runner

Before you install: Low install friction with only two lightweight dependencies (blessings and pygments). However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2018-10-05 with no commits since then. It targets Python 2.7 and 3.3–3.5, which are now end-of-life.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive and imposes no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in proprietary or open-source projects.

Quickstart:

pip install colour-runner

from colour_runner.runner import ColourTextTestRunner
import unittest

runner = ColourTextTestRunner()
runner.run(unittest.TestLoader().discover('.'))

Package targets Python 2.7 and 3.3–3.5; compatibility with modern Python versions is unverified.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works with Python versions beyond 3.5
- Whether blessings and pygments remain compatible with modern Python ecosystems
- Whether color output respects terminal capabilities or TERM environment variables correctly

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 207.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

unittest colored output, test runner color formatting, colored test results, unittest terminal colors, colorized test output, legacy, abandoned

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