React API Reference

Rendering

createRoot(renderer)

Creates a React root for rendering.

tsx

import { createCliRenderer } from "@opentui/core"
import { createRoot } from "@opentui/react"

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  exitOnCtrlC: false,  // Handle Ctrl+C yourself
})

const root = createRoot(renderer)
root.render(<App />)

Hooks

useRenderer()

Access the OpenTUI renderer instance.

tsx

import { useRenderer } from "@opentui/react"
import { useEffect } from "react"

function App() {
  const renderer = useRenderer()

  useEffect(() => {
    // Access renderer properties
    console.log(`Terminal: ${renderer.width}x${renderer.height}`)

    // Show debug console
    renderer.console.show()

    // Access theme mode (dark/light based on terminal settings)
    console.log(`Theme: ${renderer.themeMode}`)  // "dark" | "light" | null
  }, [renderer])

  return <text>Hello</text>
}

// Listen for theme mode changes
function ThemedApp() {
  const renderer = useRenderer()
  const [theme, setTheme] = useState(renderer.themeMode ?? "dark")

  useEffect(() => {
    const handler = (mode: "dark" | "light") => setTheme(mode)
    renderer.on("theme_mode", handler)
    return () => renderer.off("theme_mode", handler)
  }, [renderer])

  return (
    <box backgroundColor={theme === "dark" ? "#1a1a2e" : "#ffffff"}>
      <text fg={theme === "dark" ? "#fff" : "#000"}>
        Current theme: {theme}
      </text>
    </box>
  )
}

useKeyboard(handler, options?)

Handle keyboard events.

tsx

import { useKeyboard, useRenderer } from "@opentui/react"

function App() {
  const renderer = useRenderer()

  useKeyboard((key) => {
    if (key.name === "escape") {
      renderer.destroy()  // Never use process.exit() directly!
    }
    if (key.ctrl && key.name === "s") {
      saveDocument()
    }
  })

  return <text>Press ESC to exit</text>
}

// With release events
function GameControls() {
  const [pressed, setPressed] = useState(new Set<string>())

  useKeyboard(
    (event) => {
      setPressed(keys => {
        const newKeys = new Set(keys)
        if (event.eventType === "release") {
          newKeys.delete(event.name)
        } else {
          newKeys.add(event.name)
        }
        return newKeys
      })
    },
    { release: true }  // Include release events
  )

  return <text>Pressed: {Array.from(pressed).join(", ")}</text>
}

Options:

release?: boolean - Include key release events (default: false)

KeyEvent properties:

name: string - Key name ("a", "escape", "f1", etc.)
sequence: string - Raw escape sequence
ctrl: boolean - Ctrl modifier
shift: boolean - Shift modifier
meta: boolean - Alt modifier
option: boolean - Option modifier (macOS)
eventType: "press" | "release" | "repeat"
repeated: boolean - Key is being held

useOnResize(callback)

Handle terminal resize events.

tsx

import { useOnResize } from "@opentui/react"

function App() {
  useOnResize((width, height) => {
    console.log(`Resized to ${width}x${height}`)
  })

  return <text>Resize the terminal</text>
}

useTerminalDimensions()

Get reactive terminal dimensions.

tsx

import { useTerminalDimensions } from "@opentui/react"

function ResponsiveLayout() {
  const { width, height } = useTerminalDimensions()

  return (
    <box flexDirection={width > 80 ? "row" : "column"}>
      <box flexGrow={1}>
        <text>Width: {width}</text>
      </box>
      <box flexGrow={1}>
        <text>Height: {height}</text>
      </box>
    </box>
  )
}

useTimeline(options?)

Create animations with the timeline system.

tsx

import { useTimeline } from "@opentui/react"
import { useEffect, useState } from "react"

function AnimatedBox() {
  const [width, setWidth] = useState(0)

  const timeline = useTimeline({
    duration: 2000,
    loop: false,
  })

  useEffect(() => {
    timeline.add(
      { width: 0 },
      {
        width: 50,
        duration: 2000,
        ease: "easeOutQuad",
        onUpdate: (anim) => {
          setWidth(Math.round(anim.targets[0].width))
        },
      }
    )
  }, [timeline])

  return <box style={{ width, height: 3, backgroundColor: "#6a5acd" }} />
}

Options:

duration?: number - Default duration (ms)
loop?: boolean - Loop the timeline
autoplay?: boolean - Auto-start (default: true)
onComplete?: () => void - Completion callback
onPause?: () => void - Pause callback

Timeline methods:

add(target, properties, startTime?) - Add animation
play() - Start playback
pause() - Pause playback
restart() - Restart from beginning

Components

Text Component

tsx

<text
  content="Hello"           // Or use children
  fg="#FFFFFF"              // Foreground color
  bg="#000000"              // Background color
  selectable={true}         // Allow text selection
>
  <span fg="red">Red</span>
  <strong>Bold</strong>
  <em>Italic</em>
  <u>Underline</u>
  

  <a href="https://...">Link</a>
</text>

Note: Do NOT use bold, italic, underline as props on <text>. Use nested modifier tags like <strong>, <em>, <u> instead.

Box Component

tsx

<box
  // Borders
  border                    // Enable border
  borderStyle="single"      // single | double | rounded | bold
  borderColor="#FFFFFF"
  title="Title"
  titleAlignment="center"   // left | center | right

  // Colors
  backgroundColor="#1a1a2e"

  // Layout (see layout/REFERENCE.md)
  flexDirection="row"
  justifyContent="center"
  alignItems="center"
  gap={2}

  // Spacing
  padding={2}
  paddingTop={1}
  paddingX={2}              // Horizontal (left + right)
  paddingY={1}              // Vertical (top + bottom)
  margin={1}
  marginX={2}               // Horizontal (left + right)
  marginY={1}               // Vertical (top + bottom)

  // Dimensions
  width={40}
  height={10}
  flexGrow={1}

  // Focus
  focusable                 // Allow box to receive focus
  focused={isFocused}       // Controlled focus state

  // Events
  onMouseDown={(e) => {}}
  onMouseUp={(e) => {}}
  onMouseMove={(e) => {}}
>
  {children}
</box>

Scrollbox Component

tsx

<scrollbox
  focused                   // Enable keyboard scrolling
  style={{
    rootOptions: { backgroundColor: "#24283b" },
    wrapperOptions: { backgroundColor: "#1f2335" },
    viewportOptions: { backgroundColor: "#1a1b26" },
    contentOptions: { backgroundColor: "#16161e" },
    scrollbarOptions: {
      showArrows: true,
      trackOptions: {
        foregroundColor: "#7aa2f7",
        backgroundColor: "#414868",
      },
    },
  }}
>
  {items.map((item, i) => (
    <box key={i}>
      <text>{item}</text>
    </box>
  ))}
</scrollbox>

Input Component

tsx

<input
  value={value}
  onChange={(newValue) => setValue(newValue)}
  placeholder="Enter text..."
  focused                   // Start focused
  width={30}
  backgroundColor="#1a1a1a"
  textColor="#FFFFFF"
  cursorColor="#00FF00"
  focusedBackgroundColor="#2a2a2a"
/>

Textarea Component

tsx

<textarea
  value={text}
  onChange={(newValue) => setText(newValue)}
  placeholder="Enter multiple lines..."
  focused
  width={40}
  height={10}
  showLineNumbers
  wrapText
/>

Select Component

tsx

<select
  options={[
    { name: "Option 1", description: "First option", value: "1" },
    { name: "Option 2", description: "Second option", value: "2" },
  ]}
  onChange={(index, option) => setSelected(option)}
  selectedIndex={0}
  focused
  showScrollIndicator
  height={8}
/>

Tab Select Component

tsx

<tab-select
  options={[
    { name: "Home", description: "Dashboard" },
    { name: "Settings", description: "Configuration" },
  ]}
  onChange={(index, option) => setTab(option)}
  tabWidth={20}
  focused
/>

ASCII Font Component

tsx

<ascii-font
  text="TITLE"
  font="tiny"               // tiny | block | slick | shade
  color="#FFFFFF"
/>

Code Component

tsx

<code
  code={sourceCode}
  language="typescript"
  showLineNumbers
  highlightLines={[1, 5, 10]}
/>

Line Number Component

tsx

<line-number
  code={sourceCode}
  language="typescript"
  startLine={1}
  highlightedLines={[5]}
  diagnostics={[
    { line: 3, severity: "error", message: "Syntax error" }
  ]}
/>

Diff Component

tsx

<diff
  oldCode={originalCode}
  newCode={modifiedCode}
  language="typescript"
  mode="unified"            // unified | split
  syncScroll                // Sync scroll between split view panes
  showLineNumbers
/>

Type Exports

tsx

import type {
  // Component props
  TextProps,
  BoxProps,
  InputProps,
  SelectProps,

  // Hook types
  KeyEvent,

  // From core
  CliRenderer,
} from "@opentui/react"