*nix, *bsd, etc basic `tput` color setup
Self-review
Since no one replied thus far, I decided to re-think and re-write the code myself this morning.

terminfo (*nix) vs termcap (*bsd)
I never really thought about how important to make note of this actually is. For searching info online, one needs to know these keywords. So, I added them as comments.
Structure into functions
I believe this code should be structured into suitable functions where available.
Find a way for an exit code from those functions
It's needed to simply chain (&amp;&amp;) the commands like tput_bold=$(tput bold 2&gt; /dev/null) &amp;&amp; tput_reset=$(tput sgr0 2&gt; /dev/null) in order for the imagined functions to return a reliable exit code.
The most basic test missing
command -v tput was missing in my code, which is remedied now.
No unset variables
Since I use set -u in my scripts, it's necessary to set variables empty in case of failure. This feature has been enhanced.

Modified code
#!/bin/sh

set -u

tput_setup_nix ()
{
    # terminfo
    tput_cmd_set_fg_color='tput setaf'
    tput_number_of_colors=$(tput colors 2&gt; /dev/null) &amp;&amp;
    tput_bold=$(tput bold 2&gt; /dev/null) &amp;&amp;
    tput_reset=$(tput sgr0 2&gt; /dev/null)
}

tput_setup_bsd ()
{
    # termcap
    tput_cmd_set_fg_color='tput AF'
    tput_number_of_colors=$(tput Co 2&gt; /dev/null) &amp;&amp;
    tput_bold=$(tput md 2&gt; /dev/null) &amp;&amp;
    tput_reset=$(tput me 2&gt; /dev/null)
}

tput_setup_none ()
{
    # no unset variables
    tput_cmd_set_fg_color=
    tput_number_of_colors=
    tput_bold=
    tput_reset=
}

if command -v tput &gt; /dev/null 2&gt;&amp;1; then

    if tput setaf &gt; /dev/null 2&gt;&amp;1; then

        if ! tput_setup_nix; then tput_setup_none; fi

    elif tput AF &gt; /dev/null 2&gt;&amp;1; then

        if ! tput_setup_bsd; then tput_setup_none; fi

    else
        tput_setup_none
    fi

else
    tput_setup_none
fi

tput_capability_test ()
{
    [ -n &quot;$tput_cmd_set_fg_color&quot; ] &amp;&amp; [ -n &quot;$tput_number_of_colors&quot; ] &amp;&amp; [ -n &quot;$tput_bold&quot; ] &amp;&amp; [ -n &quot;$tput_reset&quot; ] &amp;&amp;
    [ &quot;$tput_number_of_colors&quot; -ge 8 ] &amp;&amp; { $tput_cmd_set_fg_color 1 &amp;&amp; printf '%s' &quot;$tput_bold$tput_reset&quot;; } &gt; /dev/null 2&gt;&amp;1

}

if tput_capability_test; then
    color_red=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 1)
    color_green=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 2)
    color_yellow=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 3)
    color_blue=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 4)
    color_magenta=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 5)
    color_cyan=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 6)
    color_white=$tput_bold$($tput_cmd_set_fg_color 7)
else
    color_red=
    color_green=
    color_yellow=
    color_blue=
    color_magenta=
    color_cyan=
    color_white=
fi