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Peaclock is a customizable terminal utility with three modes—clock, countdown timer, and stopwatch—and five display views: date, ASCII, digital, binary, and icon. It can adapt to terminal-window size, adjust its aspect ratio, and run a shell command when a timer finishes. It is open-source software under the MIT License.

What Peaclock does

Peaclock separates its operating mode from its display view. Choose clock, timer, or stopwatch mode, then select a date, ASCII, digital, binary, or icon view. That means a binary display is one presentation option, not a separate timing mode.

For terminal layouts, Peaclock offers automatic sizing and aspect-ratio handling. Its settings also cover block dimensions, padding, margins, colors, date formatting, 12- or 24-hour time, seconds and date visibility, locale, and timezone.

Install Peaclock

The project README documents Linux, BSD, and macOS environments. Building from source requires CMake 3.8 or later, pthread, and ICU 62.1 or later. The compiler guidance is GCC 8 or later, Clang 7 or later, or Apple Clang 11 or later; on macOS, a newer compiler may be needed for C++17 filesystem support. See the official Peaclock README for current project instructions.

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  1. Install the documented dependencies for your operating system.
  2. From the Peaclock source directory, run ./RUNME.sh build.
  3. To install the built program, run ./RUNME.sh install.

Peaclock uses raw terminal control sequences. The README says these should work in modern terminal emulators, but warns that they may not behave as intended in every terminal.

Switch modes and views

When Peaclock is running, use these documented keys:

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The help also documents keyboard toggles for 24-hour time, seconds, date, automatic sizing, and automatic aspect ratio. The project README and help provide the available controls and configuration details.

Make Peaclock fit your terminal

Enable automatic sizing to let the display respond to terminal-window dimensions. Automatic aspect-ratio handling is a separate option; use it when you want the clock’s proportions to adapt as well. For more deliberate layouts, configure block dimensions, padding, and margins. Peaclock also supports 4-bit, 8-bit, and 24-bit color styling.

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Configure Peaclock

By default, Peaclock keeps its configuration under ${HOME}/.peaclock: the configuration file is ${HOME}/.peaclock/config, and command history is stored below ${HOME}/.peaclock/history. You can override the config file with --config=<file> or the configuration directory with --config-dir=<dir>.

Configuration examples include refresh, input, and status rates; timezone and date commands; selected mode and view; and color styles. Peaclock also provides an in-program command prompt and command history, so configuration is not limited to editing the file. Consult the official project documentation for the accepted settings and commands.

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Run a command when a timer finishes

The timer-exec setting runs a shell command when the timer completes. The project configuration example uses it to request a desktop notification:

timer-exec 'notify-send -a peaclock "timer complete"'

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This example depends on notify-send being available in the user’s environment. You can instead configure another command or script; the hook makes the timer useful for scripted actions as well as visual countdowns.

Availability and license

Peaclock is released under the MIT License. Package availability depends on the operating system and its repositories. For example, FreeBSD FreshPorts lists version 0.4.3_8 and records a port update on 2025-02-14; that listing does not establish the current version available on other platforms. Check the relevant distribution or the project repository for the version and installation route applicable to your system.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.