Force truecolor support to avoid automatic color detection. (#1634)

Explicitly set the color system to "truecolor" in Cmd2BaseConsole and
rich_text_to_string() when styling is allowed. This avoids Rich's
automatic color detection, which can strip colors in test environments
where TERM=dumb is set.

Author: kmvanbrunt

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -108,6 +108,11 @@ prompt is displayed.
         - For more details and examples, see the [Help](docs/features/help.md) documentation and the
           `examples/default_categories.py` file.
 
+## 3.5.0 (April 13, 2026)
+
+- Bug Fixes
+    - Fixed issue where Rich stripped colors from text in test environments where TERM=dumb.
+
 ## 3.4.0 (March 3, 2026)
 
 - Enhancements

cmd2/rich_utils.py

@@ -141,8 +141,9 @@ def __init__(
         :param kwargs: keyword arguments passed to the parent Console class.
         :raises TypeError: if disallowed keyword argument is passed in.
         """
-        # Don't allow force_terminal or force_interactive to be passed in, as their
-        # behavior is controlled by the ALLOW_STYLE setting.
+        # These settings are controlled by the ALLOW_STYLE setting and cannot be overridden.
+        if "color_system" in kwargs:
+            raise TypeError("Passing 'color_system' is not allowed. Its behavior is controlled by the 'ALLOW_STYLE' setting.")
         if "force_terminal" in kwargs:
             raise TypeError(
                 "Passing 'force_terminal' is not allowed. Its behavior is controlled by the 'ALLOW_STYLE' setting."
@@ -165,18 +166,24 @@ def __init__(
 
         force_terminal: bool | None = None
         force_interactive: bool | None = None
+        allow_style = False
 
         if ALLOW_STYLE == AllowStyle.ALWAYS:
             force_terminal = True
+            allow_style = True
 
             # Turn off interactive mode if dest is not a terminal which supports it.
             tmp_console = Console(file=file)
             force_interactive = tmp_console.is_interactive
+        elif ALLOW_STYLE == AllowStyle.TERMINAL:
+            tmp_console = Console(file=file)
+            allow_style = tmp_console.is_terminal
         elif ALLOW_STYLE == AllowStyle.NEVER:
             force_terminal = False
 
         super().__init__(
             file=file,
+            color_system="truecolor" if allow_style else None,
             force_terminal=force_terminal,
             force_interactive=force_interactive,
             theme=APP_THEME,
@@ -414,6 +421,7 @@ def rich_text_to_string(text: Text) -> str:
 
     console = Console(
         force_terminal=True,
+        color_system="truecolor",
         soft_wrap=True,
         no_color=False,
         theme=APP_THEME,

tests/test_cmd2.py

@@ -3701,7 +3701,6 @@ def do_echo(self, args) -> None:
 
     def do_echo_error(self, args) -> None:
         self.poutput(args, style=Cmd2Style.ERROR)
-        # perror uses colors by default
         self.perror(args)
 
 
@@ -3711,21 +3710,18 @@ def test_ansi_pouterr_always_tty(mocker, capsys) -> None:
     mocker.patch.object(app.stdout, 'isatty', return_value=True)
     mocker.patch.object(sys.stderr, 'isatty', return_value=True)
 
+    expected_plain = 'oopsie\n'
+    expected_styled = su.stylize('oopsie\n', Cmd2Style.ERROR)
+
     app.onecmd_plus_hooks('echo_error oopsie')
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    # if colors are on, the output should have some ANSI style sequences in it
-    assert len(out) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in out
-    assert len(err) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in err
+    assert out == expected_styled
+    assert err == expected_styled
 
-    # but this one shouldn't
     app.onecmd_plus_hooks('echo oopsie')
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    assert out == 'oopsie\n'
-    # errors always have colors
-    assert len(err) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in err
+    assert out == expected_plain
+    assert err == expected_styled
 
 
 @with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.ALWAYS)
@@ -3734,21 +3730,18 @@ def test_ansi_pouterr_always_notty(mocker, capsys) -> None:
     mocker.patch.object(app.stdout, 'isatty', return_value=False)
     mocker.patch.object(sys.stderr, 'isatty', return_value=False)
 
+    expected_plain = 'oopsie\n'
+    expected_styled = su.stylize('oopsie\n', Cmd2Style.ERROR)
+
     app.onecmd_plus_hooks('echo_error oopsie')
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    # if colors are on, the output should have some ANSI style sequences in it
-    assert len(out) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in out
-    assert len(err) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in err
+    assert out == expected_styled
+    assert err == expected_styled
 
-    # but this one shouldn't
     app.onecmd_plus_hooks('echo oopsie')
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    assert out == 'oopsie\n'
-    # errors always have colors
-    assert len(err) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in err
+    assert out == expected_plain
+    assert err == expected_styled
 
 
 @with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.TERMINAL)
@@ -3757,20 +3750,18 @@ def test_ansi_terminal_tty(mocker, capsys) -> None:
     mocker.patch.object(app.stdout, 'isatty', return_value=True)
     mocker.patch.object(sys.stderr, 'isatty', return_value=True)
 
+    expected_plain = 'oopsie\n'
+    expected_styled = su.stylize('oopsie\n', Cmd2Style.ERROR)
+
     app.onecmd_plus_hooks('echo_error oopsie')
-    # if colors are on, the output should have some ANSI style sequences in it
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    assert len(out) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in out
-    assert len(err) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in err
+    assert out == expected_styled
+    assert err == expected_styled
 
-    # but this one shouldn't
     app.onecmd_plus_hooks('echo oopsie')
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    assert out == 'oopsie\n'
-    assert len(err) > len('oopsie\n')
-    assert 'oopsie' in err
+    assert out == expected_plain
+    assert err == expected_styled
 
 
 @with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.TERMINAL)

tests/test_rich_utils.py

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 """Unit testing for cmd2/rich_utils.py module"""
 
+from unittest import mock
+
 import pytest
 import rich.box
 from pytest_mock import MockerFixture
@@ -14,9 +16,15 @@
 )
 from cmd2 import rich_utils as ru
 
+from .conftest import with_ansi_style
+
 
 def test_cmd2_base_console() -> None:
     # Test the keyword arguments which are not allowed.
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError) as excinfo:
+        ru.Cmd2BaseConsole(color_system="auto")
+    assert 'color_system' in str(excinfo.value)
+
     with pytest.raises(TypeError) as excinfo:
         ru.Cmd2BaseConsole(force_terminal=True)
     assert 'force_terminal' in str(excinfo.value)
@@ -73,7 +81,12 @@ def test_indented_table() -> None:
     [
         (Text("Hello"), "Hello"),
         (Text("Hello\n"), "Hello\n"),
-        (Text("Hello", style="blue"), "\x1b[34mHello\x1b[0m"),
+        # Test standard color support
+        (Text("Standard", style="blue"), "\x1b[34mStandard\x1b[0m"),
+        # Test 256-color support
+        (Text("256-color", style=Color.NAVY_BLUE), "\x1b[38;5;17m256-color\x1b[0m"),
+        # Test 24-bit color (TrueColor) support
+        (Text("TrueColor", style="#123456"), "\x1b[38;2;18;52;86mTrueColor\x1b[0m"),
     ],
 )
 def test_rich_text_to_string(rich_text: Text, string: str) -> None:
@@ -155,3 +168,88 @@ def test_cmd2_base_console_log(mocker: MockerFixture) -> None:
     args, kwargs = mock_super_log.call_args
     assert args == prepared_val
     assert kwargs["_stack_offset"] == 3
+
+
+@with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.ALWAYS)
+def test_cmd2_base_console_init_always_interactive_true() -> None:
+    """Test Cmd2BaseConsole initialization when ALLOW_STYLE is ALWAYS and is_interactive is True."""
+    with (
+        mock.patch('rich.console.Console.__init__', return_value=None) as mock_base_init,
+        mock.patch('cmd2.rich_utils.Console', autospec=True) as mock_detect_console_class,
+    ):
+        mock_detect_console = mock_detect_console_class.return_value
+        mock_detect_console.is_interactive = True
+
+        ru.Cmd2BaseConsole()
+
+        # Verify arguments passed to super().__init__
+        _, kwargs = mock_base_init.call_args
+        assert kwargs['color_system'] == "truecolor"
+        assert kwargs['force_terminal'] is True
+        assert kwargs['force_interactive'] is True
+
+
+@with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.ALWAYS)
+def test_cmd2_base_console_init_always_interactive_false() -> None:
+    """Test Cmd2BaseConsole initialization when ALLOW_STYLE is ALWAYS and is_interactive is False."""
+    with (
+        mock.patch('rich.console.Console.__init__', return_value=None) as mock_base_init,
+        mock.patch('cmd2.rich_utils.Console', autospec=True) as mock_detect_console_class,
+    ):
+        mock_detect_console = mock_detect_console_class.return_value
+        mock_detect_console.is_interactive = False
+
+        ru.Cmd2BaseConsole()
+
+        _, kwargs = mock_base_init.call_args
+        assert kwargs['color_system'] == "truecolor"
+        assert kwargs['force_terminal'] is True
+        assert kwargs['force_interactive'] is False
+
+
+@with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.TERMINAL)
+def test_cmd2_base_console_init_terminal_true() -> None:
+    """Test Cmd2BaseConsole initialization when ALLOW_STYLE is TERMINAL and it is a terminal."""
+    with (
+        mock.patch('rich.console.Console.__init__', return_value=None) as mock_base_init,
+        mock.patch('cmd2.rich_utils.Console', autospec=True) as mock_detect_console_class,
+    ):
+        mock_detect_console = mock_detect_console_class.return_value
+        mock_detect_console.is_terminal = True
+
+        ru.Cmd2BaseConsole()
+
+        _, kwargs = mock_base_init.call_args
+        assert kwargs['color_system'] == "truecolor"
+        assert kwargs['force_terminal'] is None
+        assert kwargs['force_interactive'] is None
+
+
+@with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.TERMINAL)
+def test_cmd2_base_console_init_terminal_false() -> None:
+    """Test Cmd2BaseConsole initialization when ALLOW_STYLE is TERMINAL and it is not a terminal."""
+    with (
+        mock.patch('rich.console.Console.__init__', return_value=None) as mock_base_init,
+        mock.patch('cmd2.rich_utils.Console', autospec=True) as mock_detect_console_class,
+    ):
+        mock_detect_console = mock_detect_console_class.return_value
+        mock_detect_console.is_terminal = False
+
+        ru.Cmd2BaseConsole()
+
+        _, kwargs = mock_base_init.call_args
+        assert kwargs['color_system'] is None
+        assert kwargs['force_terminal'] is None
+        assert kwargs['force_interactive'] is None
+
+
+@with_ansi_style(ru.AllowStyle.NEVER)
+def test_cmd2_base_console_init_never() -> None:
+    """Test Cmd2BaseConsole initialization when ALLOW_STYLE is NEVER."""
+    with mock.patch('rich.console.Console.__init__', return_value=None) as mock_base_init:
+        ru.Cmd2BaseConsole()
+
+        _, kwargs = mock_base_init.call_args
+        assert kwargs['color_system'] is None
+        assert kwargs['force_terminal'] is False
+        assert kwargs['force_interactive'] is None