@jawcode-dev/tui

@jawcode-dev/tui

Minimal terminal UI framework with differential rendering and synchronized output for flicker-free interactive CLI applications.

Features

• Differential Rendering: Three-strategy rendering system that only updates what changed
• Synchronized Output: Uses CSI 2026 for atomic screen updates (no flicker)
• Bracketed Paste Mode: Handles large pastes correctly with markers for >10 line pastes
• Component-based: Simple Component interface with render() method
• Theme Support: Components accept theme interfaces for customizable styling (the coding-agent bundles a red-claw crustacean theme built on these interfaces)
• Built-in Components: Text, TruncatedText, Input, Editor, Markdown, Loader, SelectList, SettingsList, Spacer, Image, Box, Container
• Inline Images: Renders images in terminals that support Kitty or iTerm2 graphics protocols
• Autocomplete Support: File paths and slash commands

Quick Start

import { TUI, Text, Editor, ProcessTerminal } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";

// Create terminal
const terminal = new ProcessTerminal();

// Create TUI
const tui = new TUI(terminal);

// Add components
tui.addChild(new Text("Welcome to my app!"));

const editor = new Editor(editorTheme);
editor.onSubmit = (text) => {
	console.log("Submitted:", text);
	tui.addChild(new Text(`You said: ${text}`));
};
tui.addChild(editor);

// Start
tui.start();

Core API

TUI

Main container that manages components and rendering.

const tui = new TUI(terminal);
tui.addChild(component);
tui.removeChild(component);
tui.start();
tui.stop();
tui.requestRender(); // Request a re-render

// Global debug key handler (Shift+Ctrl+D)
tui.onDebug = () => console.log("Debug triggered");

Component Interface

All components implement:

interface Component {
	render(width: number): string[];
	handleInput?(data: string): void;
	invalidate?(): void;
}

Method	Description
render(width)	Returns an array of strings, one per line. Each line must not exceed width or the TUI will error. Use truncateToWidth() or manual wrapping to ensure this.
handleInput?(data)	Called when the component has focus and receives keyboard input. The data string contains raw terminal input (may include ANSI escape sequences).
invalidate?()	Called to clear any cached render state. Components should re-render from scratch on the next render() call.

Built-in Components

Container

Groups child components.

const container = new Container();
container.addChild(component);
container.removeChild(component);

Box

Container that applies padding and background color to all children.

const box = new Box(
	1, // paddingX (default: 1)
	1, // paddingY (default: 1)
	(text) => chalk.bgGray(text), // optional background function
);
box.addChild(new Text("Content"));
box.setBgFn((text) => chalk.bgBlue(text)); // Change background dynamically

Text

Displays multi-line text with word wrapping and padding.

const text = new Text(
	"Hello World", // text content
	1, // paddingX (default: 1)
	1, // paddingY (default: 1)
	(text) => chalk.bgGray(text), // optional background function
);
text.setText("Updated text");
text.setCustomBgFn((text) => chalk.bgBlue(text));

TruncatedText

Single-line text that truncates to fit viewport width. Useful for status lines and headers.

const truncated = new TruncatedText(
	"This is a very long line that will be truncated...",
	0, // paddingX (default: 0)
	0, // paddingY (default: 0)
);

Input

Single-line text input with horizontal scrolling.

const input = new Input();
input.onSubmit = (value) => console.log(value);
input.setValue("initial");
input.getValue();

Key Bindings:

• Enter - Submit
• Ctrl+A / Ctrl+E - Line start/end
• Ctrl+W or Alt+Backspace - Delete word backwards
• Ctrl+U - Delete to start of line
• Ctrl+K - Delete to end of line
• Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right - Word navigation
• Alt+Left / Alt+Right - Word navigation
• Arrow keys, Backspace, Delete work as expected

Editor

Multi-line text editor with autocomplete, file completion, and paste handling.

interface SymbolTheme {
	cursor: string;
	ellipsis: string;
	boxRound: {
		topLeft: string;
		topRight: string;
		bottomLeft: string;
		bottomRight: string;
		horizontal: string;
		vertical: string;
	};
	boxSharp: {
		topLeft: string;
		topRight: string;
		bottomLeft: string;
		bottomRight: string;
		horizontal: string;
		vertical: string;
		teeDown: string;
		teeUp: string;
		teeLeft: string;
		teeRight: string;
		cross: string;
	};
	table: {
		topLeft: string;
		topRight: string;
		bottomLeft: string;
		bottomRight: string;
		horizontal: string;
		vertical: string;
		teeDown: string;
		teeUp: string;
		teeLeft: string;
		teeRight: string;
		cross: string;
	};
	quoteBorder: string;
	hrChar: string;
	spinnerFrames: string[];
}

interface EditorTheme {
	borderColor: (str: string) => string;
	selectList: SelectListTheme;
	symbols: SymbolTheme;
}

const editor = new Editor(theme);
editor.onSubmit = (text) => console.log(text);
editor.onChange = (text) => console.log("Changed:", text);
editor.disableSubmit = true; // Disable submit temporarily
editor.setAutocompleteProvider(provider);
editor.borderColor = (s) => chalk.blue(s); // Change border dynamically

Features:

• Multi-line editing with word wrap
• Slash command autocomplete (type /)
• File path autocomplete (press Tab)
• Large paste handling (>10 lines creates [paste #1 +50 lines] marker)
• Horizontal lines above/below editor
• Fake cursor rendering (hidden real cursor)

Key Bindings:

• Enter - Submit
• Shift+Enter, Ctrl+Enter, or Alt+Enter - New line (terminal-dependent, Alt+Enter most reliable)
• Tab - Autocomplete
• Ctrl+K - Delete line
• Alt+D / Alt+Delete - Delete word forward
• Ctrl+A / Ctrl+E - Line start/end
• Ctrl+- - Undo last edit
• Arrow keys, Backspace, Delete work as expected

Markdown

Renders markdown with syntax highlighting and theming support.

interface MarkdownTheme {
	heading: (text: string) => string;
	link: (text: string) => string;
	linkUrl: (text: string) => string;
	code: (text: string) => string;
	codeBlock: (text: string) => string;
	codeBlockBorder: (text: string) => string;
	quote: (text: string) => string;
	quoteBorder: (text: string) => string;
	hr: (text: string) => string;
	listBullet: (text: string) => string;
	bold: (text: string) => string;
	italic: (text: string) => string;
	strikethrough: (text: string) => string;
	underline: (text: string) => string;
	highlightCode?: (code: string, lang?: string) => string[];
	symbols: SymbolTheme;
}

interface DefaultTextStyle {
	color?: (text: string) => string;
	bgColor?: (text: string) => string;
	bold?: boolean;
	italic?: boolean;
	strikethrough?: boolean;
	underline?: boolean;
}

const md = new Markdown(
	"# Hello\n\nSome **bold** text",
	1, // paddingX
	1, // paddingY
	theme, // MarkdownTheme
	defaultStyle, // optional DefaultTextStyle
	2, // optional code block indent (spaces)
);
md.setText("Updated markdown");

Features:

• Headings, bold, italic, code blocks, lists, links, blockquotes
• HTML tags rendered as plain text
• Optional syntax highlighting via highlightCode
• Padding support
• Render caching for performance

Loader

Animated loading spinner.

const loader = new Loader(
	tui, // TUI instance for render updates
	(s) => chalk.cyan(s), // spinner color function
	(s) => chalk.gray(s), // message color function
	"Loading...", // message (default: "Loading...")
);
loader.start();
loader.setMessage("Still loading...");
loader.stop();

CancellableLoader

Extends Loader with Escape key handling and an AbortSignal for cancelling async operations.

const loader = new CancellableLoader(
	tui, // TUI instance for render updates
	(s) => chalk.cyan(s), // spinner color function
	(s) => chalk.gray(s), // message color function
	"Working...", // message
);
loader.onAbort = () => done(null); // Called when user presses Escape
doAsyncWork(loader.signal).then(done);

Properties:

• signal: AbortSignal - Aborted when user presses Escape
• aborted: boolean - Whether the loader was aborted
• onAbort?: () => void - Callback when user presses Escape

SelectList

Interactive selection list with keyboard navigation.

interface SelectItem {
	value: string;
	label: string;
	description?: string;
}

interface SelectListTheme {
	selectedPrefix: (text: string) => string;
	selectedText: (text: string) => string;
	description: (text: string) => string;
	scrollInfo: (text: string) => string;
	noMatch: (text: string) => string;
	symbols: SymbolTheme;
}

const list = new SelectList(
	[
		{ value: "opt1", label: "Option 1", description: "First option" },
		{ value: "opt2", label: "Option 2", description: "Second option" },
	],
	5, // maxVisible
	theme, // SelectListTheme
);

list.onSelect = (item) => console.log("Selected:", item);
list.onCancel = () => console.log("Cancelled");
list.onSelectionChange = (item) => console.log("Highlighted:", item);
list.setFilter("opt"); // Filter items

Controls:

• Arrow keys: Navigate
• Enter: Select
• Escape: Cancel

SettingsList

Settings panel with value cycling and submenus.

interface SettingItem {
	id: string;
	label: string;
	description?: string;
	currentValue: string;
	values?: string[]; // If provided, Enter/Space cycles through these
	submenu?: (currentValue: string, done: (selectedValue?: string) => void) => Component;
}

interface SettingsListTheme {
	label: (text: string, selected: boolean) => string;
	value: (text: string, selected: boolean) => string;
	description: (text: string) => string;
	cursor: string;
	hint: (text: string) => string;
}

const settings = new SettingsList(
	[
		{ id: "theme", label: "Theme", currentValue: "dark", values: ["dark", "light"] },
		{ id: "model", label: "Model", currentValue: "gpt-4", submenu: (val, done) => modelSelector },
	],
	10, // maxVisible
	theme, // SettingsListTheme
	(id, newValue) => console.log(`${id} changed to ${newValue}`),
	() => console.log("Cancelled"),
);
settings.updateValue("theme", "light");

Controls:

• Arrow keys: Navigate
• Enter/Space: Activate (cycle value or open submenu)
• Escape: Cancel

Spacer

Empty lines for vertical spacing.

const spacer = new Spacer(2); // 2 empty lines (default: 1)

Image

Renders images inline for terminals that support the Kitty graphics protocol (Kitty, Ghostty, WezTerm) or iTerm2 inline images. Falls back to a text placeholder on unsupported terminals.

interface ImageTheme {
	fallbackColor: (str: string) => string;
}

interface ImageOptions {
	maxWidthCells?: number;
	maxHeightCells?: number;
	filename?: string;
}

const image = new Image(
	base64Data, // base64-encoded image data
	"image/png", // MIME type
	theme, // ImageTheme
	options, // optional ImageOptions
);
tui.addChild(image);

Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP. Dimensions are parsed from the image headers automatically.

Autocomplete

CombinedAutocompleteProvider

Supports both slash commands and file paths.

import { CombinedAutocompleteProvider } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";
import { getProjectDir } from "@jawcode-dev/utils";

const provider = new CombinedAutocompleteProvider(
	[
		{ name: "help", description: "Show help" },
		{ name: "clear", description: "Clear screen" },
		{ name: "delete", description: "Delete last message" },
	],
	getProjectDir(), // base path for file completion
);

editor.setAutocompleteProvider(provider);

Features:

• Type / to see slash commands
• Press Tab for file path completion
• Works with ~/, ./, ../, and @ prefix
• Filters to attachable files for @ prefix

Key Detection

Helper functions for detecting keyboard input (supports Kitty keyboard protocol):

import {
	isEnter,
	isEscape,
	isTab,
	isShiftTab,
	isArrowUp,
	isArrowDown,
	isArrowLeft,
	isArrowRight,
	isCtrlA,
	isCtrlC,
	isCtrlE,
	isCtrlK,
	isCtrlO,
	isCtrlP,
	isCtrlLeft,
	isCtrlRight,
	isAltLeft,
	isAltRight,
	isShiftEnter,
	isAltEnter,
	isShiftCtrlO,
	isShiftCtrlD,
	isShiftCtrlP,
	isBackspace,
	isDelete,
	isHome,
	isEnd,
	// ... and more
} from "@jawcode-dev/tui";

if (isCtrlC(data)) {
	process.exit(0);
}

Differential Rendering

The TUI uses three rendering strategies:

• First Render: Output all lines without clearing scrollback
• Width Changed or Change Above Viewport: Clear screen and full re-render
• Normal Update: Move cursor to first changed line, clear to end, render changed lines

All updates are wrapped in synchronized output (\x1b[?2026h ... \x1b[?2026l) for atomic, flicker-free rendering.

Terminal Interface

The TUI works with any object implementing the Terminal interface:

interface Terminal {
	start(onInput: (data: string) => void, onResize: () => void): void;
	stop(): void;
	write(data: string): void;
	get columns(): number;
	get rows(): number;
	moveBy(lines: number): void;
	hideCursor(): void;
	showCursor(): void;
	clearLine(): void;
	clearFromCursor(): void;
	clearScreen(): void;
}

Built-in implementations:

• ProcessTerminal - Uses process.stdin/stdout
• VirtualTerminal - For testing (uses @xterm/headless)

Utilities

import { Ellipsis, visibleWidth, truncateToWidth, wrapTextWithAnsi } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";

// Get visible width of string (ignoring ANSI codes, uses Bun.stringWidth)
const width = visibleWidth("\x1b[31mHello\x1b[0m"); // 5

// Truncate string to width (preserving ANSI codes, adds ellipsis)
const truncated = truncateToWidth("Hello World", 8); // "Hello…" (default: Ellipsis.Unicode)

// Truncate without ellipsis
const truncatedNoEllipsis = truncateToWidth("Hello World", 8, Ellipsis.Omit); // "Hello Wo"

// Wrap text to width (Bun.wrapAnsi word wrap, trims line ends, preserves ANSI)
const lines = wrapTextWithAnsi("This is a long line that needs wrapping", 20);
// ["This is a long line", "that needs wrapping"]

Creating Custom Components

When creating custom components, each line returned by render() must not exceed the width parameter. The TUI will error if any line is wider than the terminal.

Handling Input

Use the key detection utilities to handle keyboard input:

import { isEnter, isEscape, isArrowUp, isArrowDown, isCtrlC, isTab, isBackspace } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";
import type { Component } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";

class MyInteractiveComponent implements Component {
	private selectedIndex = 0;
	private items = ["Option 1", "Option 2", "Option 3"];

	onSelect?: (index: number) => void;
	onCancel?: () => void;

	handleInput(data: string): void {
		if (isArrowUp(data)) {
			this.selectedIndex = Math.max(0, this.selectedIndex - 1);
		} else if (isArrowDown(data)) {
			this.selectedIndex = Math.min(this.items.length - 1, this.selectedIndex + 1);
		} else if (isEnter(data)) {
			this.onSelect?.(this.selectedIndex);
		} else if (isEscape(data) || isCtrlC(data)) {
			this.onCancel?.();
		}
	}

	render(width: number): string[] {
		return this.items.map((item, i) => {
			const prefix = i === this.selectedIndex ? "> " : "  ";
			return truncateToWidth(prefix + item, width);
		});
	}
}

Handling Line Width

Use the provided utilities to ensure lines fit:

import { visibleWidth, truncateToWidth } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";
import type { Component } from "@jawcode-dev/tui";

class MyComponent implements Component {
	private text: string;

	constructor(text: string) {
		this.text = text;
	}

	render(width: number): string[] {
		// Option 1: Truncate long lines
		return [truncateToWidth(this.text, width)];

		// Option 2: Check and pad to exact width
		const line = this.text;
		const visible = visibleWidth(line);
		if (visible > width) {
			return [truncateToWidth(line, width)];
		}
		// Pad to exact width (optional, for backgrounds)
		return [line + " ".repeat(width - visible)];
	}
}

ANSI Code Considerations

visibleWidth(), truncateToWidth(), and wrapTextWithAnsi() correctly handle ANSI escape codes:

• visibleWidth() ignores ANSI codes when calculating width (via Bun.stringWidth)
• truncateToWidth() preserves ANSI codes and properly closes them when truncating
• wrapTextWithAnsi() preserves ANSI codes while word-wrapping and trimming line ends

import chalk from "chalk";

const styled = chalk.red("Hello") + " " + chalk.blue("World");
const width = visibleWidth(styled); // 11 (not counting ANSI codes)
const truncated = truncateToWidth(styled, 8); // Red "Hello" + " W..." with proper reset

Caching

For performance, components should cache their rendered output and only re-render when necessary:

class CachedComponent implements Component {
	private text: string;
	private cachedWidth?: number;
	private cachedLines?: string[];

	render(width: number): string[] {
		if (this.cachedLines && this.cachedWidth === width) {
			return this.cachedLines;
		}

		const lines = [truncateToWidth(this.text, width)];

		this.cachedWidth = width;
		this.cachedLines = lines;
		return lines;
	}

	invalidate(): void {
		this.cachedWidth = undefined;
		this.cachedLines = undefined;
	}
}

Example

See test/chat-simple.ts for a complete chat interface example with:

• Markdown messages with custom background colors
• Loading spinner during responses
• Editor with autocomplete and slash commands
• Spacers between messages

Run it:

npx tsx test/chat-simple.ts

Development

# Install dependencies (from monorepo root)
npm install

# Run type checking
npm run check

# Run the demo
npx tsx test/chat-simple.ts