avatar-background-color

avatar-background-color

Every avatar surface in this repo paints a deterministic background derived from the user's display name, mirroring decentraland/unity-explorer's NameColorHelper.GetNameColor (referenced from ADR-292's avatar rendering pipeline). Same algorithm in browser and in-world = visually consistent identity.

The algorithm (do not re-implement, import the helpers)

src/utils/avatarColor.ts:

• getDisplayName({ name, hasClaimedName, ethAddress }) — strips non-alphanumeric Unicode, appends #<last4 of address> for unclaimed names, mirroring Profile.CompactInfo.GenerateAndValidateName.
• getAvatarBackgroundColor(displayName) — FNV-1a 32-bit hash → hue → HSV(hue, 0.75, 1) → #rrggbb.

The hooks that already wire this up:

• useProfileAvatar(address) returns backgroundColor: string.
• useCreatorAvatar(address, name) and useCreatorProfile(address, userName) propagate it; the latter overrides it with the Foundation brand violet (#9d76e3) when isDclFoundationCreator(userName) matches.

Never re-derive the color in a component — always pull from the hook (when one of the avatar hooks already runs) or call getAvatarBackgroundColor(getDisplayName(...)) once at the parent level.

Application patterns

1. Direct <AvatarFace /> from decentraland-ui2

AvatarFace's prop type does not expose sx or a background prop, so passing sx={{ backgroundColor }} is a TypeScript error. Wrap it in a styled container that targets & .MuiAvatar-root (see src/components/Home/CatchTheVibe/CatchTheVibe.styled.ts:UserInfo):

const UserInfo = styled(Box, { shouldForwardProp: prop => prop !== '$avatarBackgroundColor' })<{ $avatarBackgroundColor?: string }>(
  ({ $avatarBackgroundColor }) => ({
    ...($avatarBackgroundColor && {
      '&& .MuiAvatar-root': { backgroundColor: $avatarBackgroundColor }
    })
  })
)

&& doubles class specificity so it overrides ui2's themed secondary.light default.

2. <EventCard avatar={...} /> (avatar inherited from ui2)

EventCard renders AvatarFace internally — same & .MuiAvatar-root override at the wrapper level. See src/components/Home/WhatsOn/WhatsOn.styled.ts:CardWrapper. If the wrapper already hides the avatar (e.g. LiveCardWrapper sets display: none on the avatar slot) skip the override entirely.

3. Custom styled <img> / <div> avatars (Navbar, AdminPermissionsModal, jump Card, LiveNowCard)

Forward the color via styled-component prop or inline style={{ backgroundColor }}. Pattern: filter the prop with shouldForwardProp so it doesn't leak to the DOM:

const CreatorAvatar = styled('img', { shouldForwardProp: prop => prop !== 'avatarBackgroundColor' })<{ avatarBackgroundColor?: string }>(
  ({ avatarBackgroundColor }) => ({
    backgroundColor: avatarBackgroundColor ?? '#f0f0f0' /* sensible fallback for the placeholder */
  })
)

For sites that already pass other style props through (e.g. LandingNavbar's AvatarButton), inline style={{ backgroundColor: avatarBackgroundColor }} is fine and avoids touching the styled-component signature.

Inputs by call site

Site	How to source the color
Has useProfileAvatar	Destructure { backgroundColor }.
Has useCreatorAvatar	Destructure { backgroundColor }. Override to #9d76e3 when card.isGenesisPlaza is true.
Has useCreatorProfile	Destructure { backgroundColor } — Foundation override is already applied inside the hook.
Static profile data only	Compute inline with getAvatarBackgroundColor(getDisplayName({ name, hasClaimedName, ethAddress })). Wrap in useMemo keyed on those three fields.
No profile fetched yet	Call useProfileAvatar(address, { skip: !address }) at the parent. Cheap — query is cached.

Tests to add when introducing a new avatar surface

• A spec that mocks the hook to return a known backgroundColor and asserts the styled DOM applies it.
• For Foundation-overridden surfaces, assert #9d76e3 paints when isGenesisPlaza / isDclFoundationCreator matches.

Don't

• Don't re-introduce getCreatorColor(address). The legacy djb2-based helper was removed because its hue was derived from the address only — Unity uses the display name (Validated#xxxx or claimed-name) so the colors didn't match between surfaces.
• Don't hardcode the Foundation override hex; import DCL_FOUNDATION_BACKGROUND_COLOR from src/utils/avatarColor.ts. The navbar's loading shimmer (#FF4BED) is the only pre-existing palette literal allowed for an avatar surface, and only on the loading-state class.
• Don't call getAvatarBackgroundColor on a raw username without first running getDisplayName(...) — Unity validates and suffixes before hashing, so skipping that step diverges on every name with whitespace, punctuation, or no claimed name.

References

• ADR-292: https://adr.decentraland.org/adr/ADR-292 — describes the explorer rendering pipeline; the algorithm itself is in unity-explorer/Explorer/Assets/DCL/Infrastructure/Utility/NameColorHelper.cs and the display-name validation in Profile.CompactInfo.GenerateAndValidateName (same repo).
• Helper + spec: src/utils/avatarColor.ts, src/utils/avatarColor.spec.ts.