opentui

OpenTUI Skill

Canonical reference docs are in the sibling docs/**/*.mdx files.

Inside the OpenTUI repository, this skill root is packages/web/src/content/. The same files are available under packages/web/src/content/docs/**/*.mdx from the repository root.

Terminal layout defaults

Design for a terminal app, not a browser. Use the available columns and rows efficiently.

• Do not use gaps between adjacent UI panels.
• Do not add unnecessary margins or padding.
• Prefer compact, information-dense layouts over website-style card spacing.

Path invariant

• /docs maps to docs/getting-started.mdx.
• /docs/components maps to docs/components/overview.mdx.
• Every other /docs/<slug> URL maps to docs/<slug>.mdx relative to this skill root.
• From the repository root, prepend packages/web/src/content/ to each source path.
• /docs/releases/<version> maps to docs/releases/<version>.md, the release notes of that version.

Versions

The docs describe the release or branch that this skill came from. Each release notes file lists what changed in that release and links the pages it affects. When a project uses an older @opentui/core than the docs describe, read the notes of the newer releases before you use an API, and prefer what the project's version provides.

Choose packages

Use Core directly or choose a React or Solid binding for the UI. Recommend companion packages when their features fit the task. Do not install every package by default.

• @opentui/core: use imperative renderables and events with createCliRenderer().
• @opentui/react: use React components, JSX, and hooks with createRoot().
• @opentui/solid: use Solid components, JSX, and signals with render().
• @opentui/keymap: centralize keyboard bindings and named commands across views. The package supports focus-scoped layers, configurable shortcuts, and multi-key sequences. Start with createDefaultOpenTuiKeymap() from @opentui/keymap/opentui. Use @opentui/keymap/react or @opentui/keymap/solid for providers and hooks. Direct keyboard events or component-local bindings are enough for simple local input.
• @opentui/ssh: serve a terminal UI to standard SSH clients without a local app installation. Import createServer() from the package root. Pass each session's renderer to Core, React, or Solid. The package has no framework subpaths. Read the SSH guide for authentication, middleware, and session cleanup.
• @opentui/qrcode: encode QR matrices, terminal text, or SVG, or display a QRCodeRenderable. For JSX, use registerQRCode() from @opentui/qrcode/react or @opentui/qrcode/solid. See the QR code component.
• @opentui/three: render Three.js WebGPU scenes in the terminal with ThreeRenderable. This integration supports only Bun. Before you choose it, check its runtime and dependency requirements.

See Package entry points for the full list of public imports. The list includes testing, addons, host adapters, and runtime-module maps. Use the API and symbol index to find exports. Use public package entry points instead of source-file deep imports.

Reading order by area

• Start: /docs, /docs/getting-started/quickstart, /docs/getting-started/runtime-support
• Frameworks: /docs/bindings/react, /docs/bindings/solid
• Core: /docs/core-concepts/renderer, /docs/core-concepts/layout, /docs/core-concepts/keyboard
• Components: /docs/components, /docs/components/text, /docs/components/input, /docs/components/image, /docs/components/embedded-terminal
• Application APIs: /docs/core-concepts/clipboard, /docs/core-concepts/audio, /docs/application-apis/audio-streaming, /docs/application-apis/audio-capture, /docs/application-apis/animation
• Test and debug: /docs/core-concepts/testing, /docs/test-and-debug/troubleshooting
• Extensions: /docs/plugins/slots, /docs/extend/runtime-plugins
• Keymap: /docs/keymap/overview
• Integrations: /docs/reference/ssh, /docs/reference/three, /docs/reference/qr-encoder
• Native: /docs/native/overview
• Ship: /docs/ship/deploy, /docs/reference/standalone-executables
• Reference: /docs/reference/api-index, /docs/reference/package-entrypoints, /docs/reference/env-vars, /docs/reference/native-image

Quick routing by intent

Intent(s)	Start here
getting-started, intro, examples, agent-skill	docs/getting-started.mdx
installation, quickstart	docs/getting-started/quickstart.mdx
runtime-support, bun, nodejs, native-artifacts, ffi, permissions, libc, runtime-assets	docs/getting-started/runtime-support.mdx
react, jsx, hooks, keyboard, paste, focus, blur, selection, animation, testing	docs/bindings/react.mdx
solid, jsx, signals, hooks, keyboard, animation, testing	docs/bindings/solid.mdx
core, renderer, terminal, scrollback, lifecycle	docs/core-concepts/renderer.mdx
layout, flexbox, yoga, positioning	docs/core-concepts/layout.mdx
keyboard, input, keybindings, paste, focus	docs/core-concepts/keyboard.mdx
components, component, component-support, support-matrix, react-components, solid-components	docs/components/overview.mdx
text, styling, content, selection	docs/components/text.mdx
input, form, editing, focus	docs/components/input.mdx
image, image-renderable, image-display, kitty, sixel	docs/components/image.mdx
embedded-terminal, terminal-renderable, ghostty, vt, pty	docs/components/embedded-terminal.mdx
clipboard, copy, osc52, host-clipboard	docs/core-concepts/clipboard.mdx
audio, native-audio, sound, playback, mixer, devices, tap	docs/core-concepts/audio.mdx
audio-streaming, audio-stream, pcm, f32le, radio, mp3, flac, icy, backpressure, reconnect	docs/application-apis/audio-streaming.mdx
audio-capture, microphone, pcm, recording, wav, audio-recorder	docs/application-apis/audio-capture.mdx
animation, timeline, easing, use-timeline	docs/application-apis/animation.mdx
testing, test-renderer, snapshots, frames	docs/core-concepts/testing.mdx
troubleshooting, terminal-reset, ffi-errors, native-loading, runtime-plugins, protocols, test-timeouts	docs/test-and-debug/troubleshooting.mdx
plugins, plugin, slots, registry, extensions	docs/plugins/slots.mdx
runtime-plugins, dynamic-import, external-modules, bun-plugin, module-maps, plugin-loading	docs/extend/runtime-plugins.mdx
keymap, keybindings, shortcuts, commands, leader, ex-commands	docs/keymap/overview.mdx
ssh, remote-tui, ssh-server, authentication, middleware	docs/reference/ssh.mdx
three, threejs, webgpu, 3d, sprites, physics	docs/reference/three.mdx
qr, qrcode, qr-encoder, svg-qr, gs1, eci, structured-append	docs/reference/qr-encoder.mdx
deploy, bundle, bun-executable, nodejs-esm, node-sea, ssh-deployment	docs/ship/deploy.mdx
standalone, executable, bun-compile, node-sea, node-assets	docs/reference/standalone-executables.mdx
api, symbols, exports, public-api, api-index, lookup	docs/reference/api-index.mdx
native, native-rendering, native-scene, native-api	docs/native/overview.mdx
package-exports, entrypoints, subpath-exports, imports	docs/reference/package-entrypoints.mdx
env, environment, configuration, flags	docs/reference/env-vars.mdx
native-image, image-decode, png, jpeg, webp, gif, rgba, pixels, resize	docs/reference/native-image.mdx

For a component request, read docs/components/overview.mdx, then open docs/components/<name>.mdx. For plugin slot details, start at docs/plugins/slots.mdx, then open the Core, React, or Solid page.

For native applications, read docs/native/overview.mdx, docs/native/resources.mdx, and docs/native/frames.mdx in order. docs/native/core.mdx explains Core's TypeScript integration, not a native-language API. Read docs/native/host-io-time.mdx for Session clocks, terminal delivery, and native file operations. Then choose docs/native/c.mdx or docs/native/zig.mdx for a native program.

Current skill entry pages

• docs/getting-started.mdx
• docs/getting-started/quickstart.mdx
• docs/getting-started/runtime-support.mdx
• docs/bindings/react.mdx
• docs/bindings/solid.mdx
• docs/core-concepts/renderer.mdx
• docs/core-concepts/layout.mdx
• docs/core-concepts/keyboard.mdx
• docs/components/overview.mdx
• docs/components/text.mdx
• docs/components/input.mdx
• docs/components/image.mdx
• docs/components/embedded-terminal.mdx
• docs/core-concepts/clipboard.mdx
• docs/core-concepts/audio.mdx
• docs/application-apis/audio-streaming.mdx
• docs/application-apis/audio-capture.mdx
• docs/application-apis/animation.mdx
• docs/core-concepts/testing.mdx
• docs/test-and-debug/troubleshooting.mdx
• docs/plugins/slots.mdx
• docs/extend/runtime-plugins.mdx
• docs/keymap/overview.mdx
• docs/reference/ssh.mdx
• docs/reference/three.mdx
• docs/reference/qr-encoder.mdx
• docs/native/overview.mdx
• docs/ship/deploy.mdx
• docs/reference/standalone-executables.mdx
• docs/reference/api-index.mdx
• docs/reference/package-entrypoints.mdx
• docs/reference/env-vars.mdx
• docs/reference/native-image.mdx

Working rules

• Read an entry page first, then read the narrower canonical page for the task.
• Read the sibling docs/**/*.mdx files directly. Do not copy their prose into this file.
• Use canonical /docs URLs for references between documentation pages. For links in this file, use the corresponding relative docs/**/*.mdx paths.