Animated Windows Borders

A utility built with Python + PySide6 that colors the Windows window borders using DWM. You define rules by Global or by Process, choose active/inactive colors, and optionally enable animations.

The app runs in the background with a system tray icon and stores settings in a JSON file.

---

✨ Features

• Rule system: Global applies to every window; Process targets a specific executable. Process rules take precedence.
• Editable colors: pick active/inactive border colors per rule (#RRGGBB, default, none).
• Animations: built-in rainbow, pulse, fade, plus optional breath, tri, sparkle, steps.
• Color-aware animations: pulse, fade, breath, tri, sparkle, steps interpolate using each rule’s active ↔ inactive colors.
• Global sync: when an animation is enabled on the Global rule, all affected windows animate in perfect sync (same phase and color), including windows opened later.
• Differential DWM updates: avoids redundant DwmSetWindowAttribute calls for performance.
• Tray and background mode: the window close button sends the app to the tray; exit from the tray menu.
• Single instance: prevents launching a second instance (uses a file lock).
• Config persistence: JSON config with atomic saves and reload.
• Assistant tab: quickly create rules from running processes or open windows.

---

📦 Installation

Option 1: Using the executable (.exe)

1. Download the executable from the Releases section.
2. Place it anywhere.
3. Double-click to start.
4. To auto-start with Windows, use the Startup folder or Task Scheduler.

Option 2: Running from source (Python)

1. Install Python 3.9+ on Windows.
2. Install dependencies:

   pip install PySide6 psutil pywin32

3. Run:

   python main.py

---

🚀 Structure and Usage

1. Service tab

• Enable service turns on the periodic application of colors.
• Reload config.json / Save config.json manage the JSON on disk.
• Rules panel lists every rule and exposes Add / Edit / Remove / Duplicate and a filter box.

2. Rule fields

Field	Description
Match type	Global or Process. Global matches all windows; Process matches by executable name (case-insensitive).
Parameter (contains)	For Process rules: a substring of the process name, e.g., Spotify.exe. Leave empty for Global.
Active color	#RRGGBB, default, or none. Applied to the foreground window when not animating.
Inactive color	#RRGGBB, default, or none. Applied to background windows when not animating.
Animation	Type: none, rainbow, pulse, fade, breath, tri, sparkle, steps. Speed: 0.1 to 10.0. When enabled, animation overrides static colors.

Practical JSON examples

• Global (static colors):

  {
    "match": "Global",
    "active_border_color": "#C6A0F6",
    "inactive_border_color": "#FFFFFF",
    "animation": { "type": "none", "speed": 1.0 }
  }

• Process (animated):

  {
    "match": "Process",
    "contains": "Spotify.exe",
    "active_border_color": "#FF0000",
    "inactive_border_color": "#0000FF",
    "animation": { "type": "pulse", "speed": 1.0 }
  }

Notes:

• Animations that use two colors (pulse, fade, tri, steps) blend active ↔ inactive.
• Single-color effects (breath, sparkle) vary around the active color.
• The Global sync mechanism advances time only once per update cycle and uses a shared animation key for Global rules, keeping all affected windows synchronized.

---

3. Main buttons and actions

• Enable service → start periodic updates.
• Reload / Save config.json → load or persist settings atomically.
• Add / Edit / Remove / Duplicate → manage rules; the Global rule is always present and pinned at the top.
• Assistant tab: refresh lists, and create a rule from a selected process or window.

---

🖼️ Interface and Demonstrations

Main screen

Real-time operation

About animations

• rainbow cycles colors by itself.
• pulse and fade produce smooth two-color transitions.
• breath softly brightens and returns to the active color.
• tri ping-pongs linearly; steps changes in discrete levels; sparkle adds subtle shimmer.
• Updates are timer-driven and only touch visible, non-tool windows.

---

🔍 How rule matching works

1. The Global rule always exists and sits at index 0 to provide defaults.
2. Process rules match when contains is found in the window’s executable name (case-insensitive).
3. When multiple rules match, Process wins over Global.

---

🛠️ Tips and Troubleshooting

• No border change → ensure the service is enabled and the window is visible and not a tool window (hidden/tool windows are skipped).
• Edits aren’t reflected → click Save config.json, then Reload if you edited the file outside the app.
• Heavy CPU → animations use coarse timers and differential updates to reduce load. Lower animation speed if needed.
• Quick rule creation → use the Assistant tab to pull from current processes/windows.

---

⚠️ Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11.
• Python 3.9+ (when running from source).
• Dependencies: PySide6, psutil, pywin32.

---

👨‍💻 Author

Rafael Neves
🌐 rafaelneves.dev.br

---

📜 License

Distributed under the MIT license. Free to use, modify, and share.