Berka Mono Closer

Berka Mono Closer is a family of custom Iosevka builds tuned for calm, rectangular, readable coding text.

Install

Recommended everyday setup:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vinitkumar/berka-mono-closer/main/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- instrument

Interactive setup:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vinitkumar/berka-mono-closer/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

The installer downloads and installs only the family you select, then prints editor and terminal setup snippets for that family. It does not rewrite editor, IDE, or terminal config files.

Per-user install locations:

macOS:   ~/Library/Fonts
Linux:   ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/fonts
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts plus HKCU font registration

Printed setup guidance covers:

VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, JetBrains IDEs, Zed, Ghostty, Kitty, Alacritty,
WezTerm, Windows Terminal, Neovim GUI, Neovide, Vim GUI, and CSS.

Pick A Family

Choice	Family name	Best for
`instrument`	`Berka Mono Instrument`	Recommended default. Instrument-panel coding feel, expanded audited ligatures, compact scan density, explicit ambiguity handling.
`focus`	`Berka Mono Focus`	Debugging-first, clearer ambiguity cases, compact rhythm.
`retina`	`Berka Mono Retina`	High-DPI screens where you want heavier optical strokes and full ligatures.
`control`	`Berka Mono Control`	Terminal-first compact feel with full Iosevka `default-calt`.
`closer`	`Berka Mono Closer`	Wider, calm original cut.
`compact`	`Berka Mono Closer Compact`	Slightly denser original cut.
`semi-condensed`	`Berka Mono Closer SemiCondensed`	More columns without going narrow.
`narrow`	`Berka Mono Closer Narrow`	Maximum terminal/editor density.
`text`	`Berka Text`	Blog prose and long-form reading, with quasi-proportional spacing.

Install a different family by changing the final argument:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vinitkumar/berka-mono-closer/main/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- retina

Try the fonts in the browser: https://vinitkumar.github.io/berka-mono-closer/

Manual Setup

Download the latest release: https://github.com/vinitkumar/berka-mono-closer/releases/latest

Install the TTF files from:

fonts/ttf/
fonts/ttf-compact/
fonts/ttf-semi-condensed/
fonts/ttf-narrow/
fonts/ttf-control/
fonts/ttf-retina/
fonts/ttf-focus/
fonts/ttf-instrument/
fonts/ttf-text/

Use the WOFF2 files for websites:

fonts/woff2/
fonts/woff2-compact/
fonts/woff2-semi-condensed/
fonts/woff2-narrow/
fonts/woff2-control/
fonts/woff2-retina/
fonts/woff2-focus/
fonts/woff2-instrument/
fonts/woff2-text/

From a repo checkout, install one family without downloading:

./scripts/install.sh --source-dir . focus

Use one of these family names in editors and terminals:

Berka Mono Closer
Berka Mono Closer Compact
Berka Mono Closer SemiCondensed
Berka Mono Closer Narrow
Berka Mono Control
Berka Mono Retina
Berka Mono Focus
Berka Mono Instrument
Berka Text

Editor Setup

VS Code, Cursor, and Windsurf:

{
  "editor.fontFamily": "'Berka Mono Instrument', 'Berka Mono Focus', Menlo, Monaco, monospace",
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,
  "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "Berka Mono Instrument"
}

Zed:

{
  "buffer_font_family": "Berka Mono Instrument",
  "buffer_font_features": {
    "calt": true,
    "liga": true
  },
  "terminal": {
    "font_family": "Berka Mono Instrument"
  }
}

Ghostty:

font-family = "Berka Mono Instrument"
font-family-bold = "Berka Mono Instrument"
font-family-italic = "Berka Mono Instrument"
font-family-bold-italic = "Berka Mono Instrument"
font-size = 15
font-feature = liga
font-feature = calt
font-feature = clig
font-thicken = true

Kitty:

font_family      family="Berka Mono Instrument"
bold_font        family="Berka Mono Instrument" style="Bold"
italic_font      family="Berka Mono Instrument" style="Italic"
bold_italic_font family="Berka Mono Instrument" style="Bold Italic"
font_size        15.0
disable_ligatures never

For another family, replace Berka Mono Focus with the matching family name from the table above. Full terminal examples are in:

examples/ghostty.conf
examples/kitty.conf

macOS Terminal.app does not use a dotfile-style font config. Use the profile settings UI instead:

Terminal -> Settings -> Profiles -> Text -> Font

See Mac Terminal setup for screenshots and steps.

Website Fonts

Use WOFF2 files for websites. Example:

@font-face {
  font-family: "Berka Text";
  src: url("fonts/woff2-text/BerkaText-Regular.woff2") format("woff2");
  font-weight: 400;
  font-style: normal;
  font-display: swap;
}

Berka Text is the recommended website body family. Pair it with Berka Mono Instrument, Berka Mono Focus, or Berka Mono Closer for inline code and code blocks:

body {
  font-family: "Berka Text", system-ui, sans-serif;
  font-size: 18px;
  line-height: 1.6;
}

code,
pre {
  font-family: "Berka Mono Instrument", ui-monospace, monospace;
}

Families

The families share the same core upright glyph design. The real differences are width, weight, leading, italic construction, and ligature policy:

Family	Cell width	Weights	Leading	Italic	Ligature policy
`Berka Mono Closer`	620	400, 500, 600, 700	1200	italic	disables `arrow-wave`, `counter-arrow-wave`, `html-comment`, `trig`
`Berka Mono Closer Compact`	605	400, 500, 600, 700	1200	italic	same disables as Closer
`Berka Mono Closer SemiCondensed`	585	400, 500, 600, 700	1200	italic	same disables as Closer
`Berka Mono Closer Narrow`	520	400, 500, 600, 700	1180	italic	same disables as Closer
`Berka Mono Control`	595	400, 450, 500, 600, 700	1180	oblique	full Iosevka `default-calt`
`Berka Mono Retina`	605	430, 470, 530, 630, 730	1180	oblique	full Iosevka `default-calt`
`Berka Mono Focus`	592	425, 465, 525, 620, 710	1170	oblique	debugging-first `default-calt` subset
`Berka Mono Instrument`	590	420, 460, 520, 615, 705	1165	oblique	expanded audited `calt`
`Berka Text`	600	410, 455, 520, 610, 690	1260	italic	no programming ligatures

All families include Regular, Italic, Medium, Medium Italic, SemiBold, SemiBold Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. Control, Retina, Focus, Instrument, and Text also include Book and Book Italic.

Instrument is the recommended everyday coding cut. It is a legally distinct Iosevka build tuned after studying the TX-02 datasheet as design research: instrument-panel density, expanded audited programming ligatures, high-DPI stroke weight, a dotted zero, a flat-top 1, a high underscore for snake_case, compact punctuation, and explicit ambiguous glyphs. It does not copy TX-02 outlines, metrics, font data, or protected names.

Focus is the debugging-first cut. It keeps useful operator ligatures but disables decorative wave arrows, HTML comment ligatures, trig ligatures, and tilde chaining so raw source stays easy to inspect. It also uses a dotted zero, a flat-top 1, a high underscore for snake_case, larger parentheses, and curly-flat braces for nested code.

Text is the prose cut. It keeps the Berka rectangular voice, but switches to quasi-proportional spacing, taller leading, true italic emphasis, an unslashed zero, smoother punctuation, and no programming ligatures so paragraphs feel like essays instead of source code.

Ligatures

Programming ligatures are enabled through Iosevka's default-calt set.

Closer, Compact, SemiCondensed, and Narrow intentionally disable a few more decorative groups:

arrow-wave
counter-arrow-wave
html-comment
trig

Control and Retina keep the full default-calt set for broader language and markup coverage. Instrument starts from default-calt and adds existing Iosevka groups for counter arrows, fast operator chains, slash equality, logic, bracket bars, and operator centering.

Instrument was audited against a TX-02-datasheet-inspired programming sequence catalog without copying TX-02 shapes, metrics, names, or binaries. The current Instrument build transforms 124 of 157 audited sequences through normal OpenType shaping. See Instrument ligature audit for the exact residual list.

VS Code Screenshots

Each family below is shown as a close-up editor crop, using the actual checked-in WOFF2 files.

Berka Mono Instrument

Recommended default for expanded ligatures and compact engineered texture.

Berka Mono Focus

Debugging-first cut with restrained ligatures.

Berka Mono Retina

Heavier optical strokes for high-DPI screens.

Berka Mono Control

Compact terminal-first rhythm with full Iosevka default-calt.

Berka Mono Closer

The wider original cut.

Berka Mono Closer Compact

Slightly denser than the original cut.

Berka Mono Closer SemiCondensed

More columns without going fully narrow.

Berka Mono Closer Narrow

Maximum density for terminals and narrow editor panes.

Berka Text

The prose cut, shown in a Markdown editing context.

Build From Source

Requirements:

Node.js 16 or newer
npm
ttfautohint
Python 3 with fonttools for WOFF2 generation
git

On macOS:

brew install ttfautohint

Build:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/be5invis/Iosevka.git
cd Iosevka
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm install
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoCloser --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/compact/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoCloserCompact --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/semi-condensed/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoCloserSemiCondensed --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/narrow/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoCloserNarrow --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/control/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoControl --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/retina/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoRetina --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/focus/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoFocus --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/instrument/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaMonoInstrument --jCmd=2
cp /path/to/berka-mono-closer/sources/text/private-build-plans.toml ./private-build-plans.toml
npm run build -- ttf::BerkaText --jCmd=2

The generated files will be in:

dist/BerkaMonoCloser/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoCloserCompact/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoCloserSemiCondensed/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoCloserNarrow/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoControl/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoRetina/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoFocus/TTF/
dist/BerkaMonoInstrument/TTF/
dist/BerkaText/TTF/

You can also run:

./scripts/build.sh /path/to/Iosevka

The script copies each family-specific build plan before building that family, including sources/narrow/private-build-plans.toml for Berka Mono Closer Narrow, sources/retina/private-build-plans.toml for Berka Mono Retina, sources/focus/private-build-plans.toml for Berka Mono Focus, sources/instrument/private-build-plans.toml for Berka Mono Instrument, and sources/text/private-build-plans.toml for Berka Text.

Generate WOFF2 files from the checked-in TTF files:

./scripts/build-woff2.sh

Legal Notes

Berka Mono Closer is a modified build of Iosevka and is distributed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, matching Iosevka's license.

What makes this legal:

The source is Iosevka, an OFL-licensed font project.
The font is generated from Iosevka's documented custom build configuration.
The name is changed to Berka Mono Closer, so it does not use Iosevka's reserved font name as the primary family name.
No commercial font software, outlines, metrics files, or binaries are included.
The design goal is a general visual direction: calm, wide, rectangular, readable coding text. It is not a clone of any proprietary font.
The Control variant is guided by public high-level design language from a datasheet, but it is generated only from Iosevka source and documented custom-build parameters.
The Focus variant is an original coding-readability tuning built from Iosevka parameters for ambiguity reduction, compact scan density, and restrained ligatures.
The Instrument variant is an original coding tuning informed by public TX-02 datasheet themes such as engineering texture, broad programming ligature coverage, and terminal density, but it is generated only from Iosevka source and documented custom-build parameters.
The Text variant is an original prose-readability tuning built from Iosevka parameters for quasi-proportional spacing, taller reading rhythm, and website body text.

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Berkeley Mono or US Graphics Company. Berkeley Mono is a separate commercial font.

License

Licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. See LICENSE.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 25 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docs		docs
examples		examples
fonts		fonts
images		images
scripts		scripts
sources		sources
specimen		specimen
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.nojekyll		.nojekyll
LICENSE		LICENSE
NOTICE.md		NOTICE.md
README.md		README.md
VERSION		VERSION
index.html		index.html

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Berka Mono Closer

Install

Pick A Family

Manual Setup

Editor Setup

Website Fonts

Families

Ligatures

VS Code Screenshots

Berka Mono Instrument

Berka Mono Focus

Berka Mono Retina

Berka Mono Control

Berka Mono Closer

Berka Mono Closer Compact

Berka Mono Closer SemiCondensed

Berka Mono Closer Narrow

Berka Text

Build From Source

Legal Notes

License

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Berka Mono Closer

Install

Pick A Family

Manual Setup

Editor Setup

Website Fonts

Families

Ligatures

VS Code Screenshots

Berka Mono Instrument

Berka Mono Focus

Berka Mono Retina

Berka Mono Control

Berka Mono Closer

Berka Mono Closer Compact

Berka Mono Closer SemiCondensed

Berka Mono Closer Narrow

Berka Text

Build From Source

Legal Notes

License

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