# OpenTUI — TypeScript Library for Building Terminal User Interfaces

> A modern TUI framework for building rich terminal applications with a component-based architecture and reactive state management.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# OpenTUI — TypeScript Library for Building Terminal User Interfaces

## Quick Use
```bash
npm install opentui
```
```typescript
import { render, Text, Box } from "opentui";

render(
  <Box border="single" padding={1}>
    <Text bold>Hello from OpenTUI!</Text>
  </Box>
);
```

## Introduction
OpenTUI is a TypeScript-first terminal UI library that brings component-based patterns to CLI applications. It provides a declarative API for building interactive terminal interfaces with layout primitives, input handling, and styling.

## What OpenTUI Does
- Renders rich terminal UIs with box layouts, borders, and color theming
- Supports reactive state updates that efficiently redraw only changed regions
- Provides built-in input components like text fields, selects, and checkboxes
- Handles terminal resize events and responsive layouts automatically
- Works across major terminal emulators on Linux, macOS, and Windows

## Architecture Overview
OpenTUI uses a virtual terminal buffer that diffs between render cycles, emitting only the ANSI escape sequences needed to update changed cells. Components declare their layout requirements, and a flexbox-inspired engine computes positions before the renderer flushes to stdout.

## Setup & Configuration
- Install via npm or your preferred Node.js package manager
- Import components and call render() with your root element
- Configure terminal mode (raw vs alternate screen) via options
- Use themes to define consistent color palettes across components
- Integrate with existing CLI tools by mounting OpenTUI on specific commands

## Key Features
- JSX-like syntax for composing terminal UI components
- Built-in focus management and keyboard navigation system
- Scrollable containers for content that exceeds terminal height
- Animation primitives for spinners, progress bars, and transitions
- TypeScript types for all props with IDE autocompletion

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Ink** — React-based TUI for Node.js; OpenTUI offers a lighter runtime without React dependency
- **Bubble Tea** — Go TUI framework with Elm architecture; OpenTUI targets the TypeScript ecosystem
- **Blessed** — older Node.js TUI library; OpenTUI provides modern TypeScript APIs and better performance
- **Textual** — Python rich TUI framework; OpenTUI serves JavaScript/TypeScript developers
- **Ratatui** — Rust TUI library; OpenTUI trades raw performance for developer ergonomics in TS

## FAQ
**Q: Does OpenTUI work with Bun and Deno?**
A: It primarily targets Node.js but works with Bun; Deno support depends on terminal API compatibility.

**Q: Can I use OpenTUI alongside other CLI frameworks like Commander or Yargs?**
A: Yes. OpenTUI handles rendering while CLI argument parsing remains with your framework of choice.

**Q: How does it handle terminal capabilities detection?**
A: OpenTUI detects color support and unicode capabilities at startup, falling back gracefully for limited terminals.

**Q: Is there a way to test OpenTUI components?**
A: The library provides a headless render mode that returns string output for snapshot testing.

## Sources
- https://github.com/anomalyco/opentui
- https://opentui.dev

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-f956745c
Author: Script Depot