OpenTUI is a library to build terminal user interfaces.
- It is written in Zig.
- You write TypeScript directly or through React and Solid.
- You arrange boxes and text with flexbox.
- You add selects, inputs, and scroll boxes with keyboard and mouse controls.
- You can play sounds, show images, and render 3D graphics.
OpenCode uses OpenTUI in production for millions of users.
Website | Documentation | Packages
OpenTUI Core
@opentui/core supplies the renderer and TypeScript API. You use imperative renderables and events directly. The
TypeScript packages call native Zig through an internal foreign function interface (FFI) boundary.
import { TextRenderable, createCliRenderer } from "@opentui/core"
const renderer = await createCliRenderer({ exitOnCtrlC: true })
renderer.root.add(new TextRenderable(renderer, { content: "Hello, OpenTUI!" }))
exitOnCtrlC: true calls renderer.destroy() when the user presses Ctrl+C. The code that creates the renderer must
call renderer.destroy() on every other shutdown path.
Install the package:
bun add @opentui/core
Then build your first app with the quickstart.
Runtime and platform support
@opentui/core runs on Bun 1.3.14 or later, or on Node.js 26.4.0 or later with ECMAScript modules (ESM) and
--experimental-ffi.
Use Bun 1.4.0 or later on native Windows arm64.
The native ABI and the generated platform packages, such as @opentui/core-linux-x64, are internal distribution
surfaces, not application APIs.
AI agent skill
Install the OpenTUI documentation as a skill for your AI coding assistant with npx skills:
npx skills add https://opentui.com --skill opentui
Add -g to install the skill globally. The skill matches the latest release, and npx skills update moves it to each
new release. Install from https://opentui.com/docs/next to follow the main branch. A skill installed with
npx skills add anomalyco/opentui follows the main branch; run the command above to switch it to releases.
License
OpenTUI is licensed under the MIT License.