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What is quick-avatar?

easychen/quick-avatar — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

46TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

In one sentence

A TypeScript library that generates the same deterministic profile picture image for a given seed, with no network calls.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((quick-avatar))
    What it does
      Generates avatar from seed
      Deterministic output
      No network needed
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      npm
    Use cases
      Default user avatars
      Consistent profile pictures
      Offline avatar generation
    Audience
      Developers
    Details
      64 built in illustrations
      Browser and Node support
      CDN mode available

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Generate a default profile picture for a new user from their email or username

USE CASE 2

Keep the same avatar consistent across sessions without storing an image

USE CASE 3

Add avatars to a web app without relying on a third-party avatar API

USE CASE 4

Add custom illustration sets for a project's own visual style

What is it built with?

TypeScriptnpm

How does it compare?

easychen/quick-avatarzhiyingzzhou/renewletafumu/openteam
Stars464647
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/52/5
Audiencedevelopergeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Install via npm, illustrations are bundled with the package so no external service is required.

So what is it?

Quick-avatar is a small TypeScript library that generates profile picture images for software projects without requiring any network request, external API, or server. You give it a seed, any text string such as a user's email address or username, and it always returns the same hand-crafted PNG illustration for that seed. This makes it "deterministic": the same input always produces the same avatar, so user profiles stay visually consistent across sessions. The library works by mapping the seed string to one of 64 pre-drawn PNG illustrations from a built-in collection called Doteye. Three visual variants are available: solid white background, transparent background, and a black-and-white transparent version. Because the images are already bundled with the package, no external service is needed. You would use this when building a web application, mobile backend, or any tool where users need a default profile picture but you do not want to rely on third-party avatar APIs or generate images on the fly. The library is installable via npm and works in browsers, in React applications, and in server-side Node.js environments. In browser mode it loads only the single image it needs, keeping download size small. In CDN mode it produces a direct URL pointing to the image file so nothing is bundled at all. Developers can also add custom illustration sets by placing PNG files in a folder and running a provided script that converts them into the required format.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I install quick-avatar and generate an avatar from a user's email?
Prompt 2
Explain the difference between quick-avatar's browser mode and CDN mode.
Prompt 3
How would I add my own custom illustration set to quick-avatar?
Prompt 4
Does quick-avatar make any network requests when generating an avatar?

Frequently asked questions

What is quick-avatar?

A TypeScript library that generates the same deterministic profile picture image for a given seed, with no network calls.

What language is quick-avatar written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript, npm.

How hard is quick-avatar to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is quick-avatar for?

Mainly developer.

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