Add tui.md and improve TUI documentation

- New tui.md covers component system for hooks and custom tools
- Update hooks.md intro with 'Key capabilities' highlighting UI
- Update custom-tools.md intro with 'Key capabilities' highlighting UI
- Reference tui.md from both docs
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Mario Zechner 2025-12-31 13:05:59 +01:00
parent 29e0ed9cd1
commit 20fbf40fac
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Custom tools are additional tools that the LLM can call directly, just like the built-in `read`, `write`, `edit`, and `bash` tools. They are TypeScript modules that define callable functions with parameters, return values, and optional TUI rendering.
**Key capabilities:**
- **User interaction** - Prompt users via `pi.ui` (select, confirm, input dialogs)
- **Custom rendering** - Control how tool calls and results appear via `renderCall`/`renderResult`
- **TUI components** - Render custom components with `pi.ui.custom()` (see [tui.md](tui.md))
- **State management** - Persist state in tool result `details` for proper branching support
- **Streaming results** - Send partial updates via `onUpdate` callback
**Example use cases:**
- Ask the user questions with selectable options
- Maintain state across calls (todo lists, connection pools)
- Custom TUI rendering (progress indicators, structured output)
- Integrate external services with proper error handling
- Tools that need user confirmation before proceeding
- Interactive dialogs (questions with selectable options)
- Stateful tools (todo lists, connection pools)
- Rich output rendering (progress indicators, structured views)
- External service integrations with confirmation flows
**When to use custom tools vs. alternatives:**
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## Custom Rendering
Custom tools can provide `renderCall` and `renderResult` methods to control how they appear in the TUI. Both are optional.
Custom tools can provide `renderCall` and `renderResult` methods to control how they appear in the TUI. Both are optional. See [tui.md](tui.md) for the full component API.
### How It Works

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- Call `handle.requestRender()` to trigger re-render
- Call `handle.close()` when done to restore normal UI
See [examples/hooks/snake.ts](../examples/hooks/snake.ts) for a complete example with game loop, keyboard handling, and state persistence.
See [examples/hooks/snake.ts](../examples/hooks/snake.ts) for a complete example with game loop, keyboard handling, and state persistence. See [tui.md](tui.md) for the full component API.
### ctx.hasUI

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# TUI Components
Hooks and custom tools can render custom TUI components for interactive user interfaces. This page covers the component system and available building blocks.
**Source:** [`@mariozechner/pi-tui`](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono/tree/main/packages/tui)
## Component Interface
All components implement:
```typescript
interface Component {
render(width: number): string[];
handleInput?(data: string): void;
invalidate?(): void;
}
```
| Method | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `render(width)` | Return array of strings (one per line). Each line **must not exceed `width`**. |
| `handleInput?(data)` | Receive keyboard input when component has focus. |
| `invalidate?()` | Clear cached render state. |
## Using Components
**In hooks** via `ctx.ui.custom()`:
```typescript
pi.on("session_start", async (_event, ctx) => {
const handle = ctx.ui.custom(myComponent);
// handle.requestRender() - trigger re-render
// handle.close() - restore normal UI
});
```
**In custom tools** via `pi.ui.custom()`:
```typescript
async execute(toolCallId, params, onUpdate, ctx, signal) {
const handle = pi.ui.custom(myComponent);
// ...
handle.close();
}
```
## Built-in Components
Import from `@mariozechner/pi-tui`:
```typescript
import { Text, Box, Container, Spacer, Markdown } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
```
### Text
Multi-line text with word wrapping.
```typescript
const text = new Text(
"Hello World", // content
1, // paddingX (default: 1)
1, // paddingY (default: 1)
(s) => bgGray(s) // optional background function
);
text.setText("Updated");
```
### Box
Container with padding and background color.
```typescript
const box = new Box(
1, // paddingX
1, // paddingY
(s) => bgGray(s) // background function
);
box.addChild(new Text("Content", 0, 0));
box.setBgFn((s) => bgBlue(s));
```
### Container
Groups child components vertically.
```typescript
const container = new Container();
container.addChild(component1);
container.addChild(component2);
container.removeChild(component1);
```
### Spacer
Empty vertical space.
```typescript
const spacer = new Spacer(2); // 2 empty lines
```
### Markdown
Renders markdown with syntax highlighting.
```typescript
const md = new Markdown(
"# Title\n\nSome **bold** text",
1, // paddingX
1, // paddingY
theme // MarkdownTheme (see below)
);
md.setText("Updated markdown");
```
### Image
Renders images in supported terminals (Kitty, iTerm2, Ghostty, WezTerm).
```typescript
const image = new Image(
base64Data, // base64-encoded image
"image/png", // MIME type
theme, // ImageTheme
{ maxWidthCells: 80, maxHeightCells: 24 }
);
```
## Keyboard Input
Use key detection helpers:
```typescript
import {
isEnter, isEscape, isTab,
isArrowUp, isArrowDown, isArrowLeft, isArrowRight,
isCtrlC, isCtrlO, isBackspace, isDelete,
// ... and more
} from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
handleInput(data: string) {
if (isArrowUp(data)) {
this.selectedIndex--;
} else if (isEnter(data)) {
this.onSelect?.(this.selectedIndex);
} else if (isEscape(data)) {
this.onCancel?.();
}
}
```
## Line Width
**Critical:** Each line from `render()` must not exceed the `width` parameter.
```typescript
import { visibleWidth, truncateToWidth } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
render(width: number): string[] {
// Truncate long lines
return [truncateToWidth(this.text, width)];
}
```
Utilities:
- `visibleWidth(str)` - Get display width (ignores ANSI codes)
- `truncateToWidth(str, width, ellipsis?)` - Truncate with optional ellipsis
- `wrapTextWithAnsi(str, width)` - Word wrap preserving ANSI codes
## Creating Custom Components
Example: Interactive selector
```typescript
import {
isEnter, isEscape, isArrowUp, isArrowDown,
truncateToWidth, visibleWidth
} from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
class MySelector {
private items: string[];
private selected = 0;
private cachedWidth?: number;
private cachedLines?: string[];
public onSelect?: (item: string) => void;
public onCancel?: () => void;
constructor(items: string[]) {
this.items = items;
}
handleInput(data: string): void {
if (isArrowUp(data) && this.selected > 0) {
this.selected--;
this.invalidate();
} else if (isArrowDown(data) && this.selected < this.items.length - 1) {
this.selected++;
this.invalidate();
} else if (isEnter(data)) {
this.onSelect?.(this.items[this.selected]);
} else if (isEscape(data)) {
this.onCancel?.();
}
}
render(width: number): string[] {
if (this.cachedLines && this.cachedWidth === width) {
return this.cachedLines;
}
this.cachedLines = this.items.map((item, i) => {
const prefix = i === this.selected ? "> " : " ";
return truncateToWidth(prefix + item, width);
});
this.cachedWidth = width;
return this.cachedLines;
}
invalidate(): void {
this.cachedWidth = undefined;
this.cachedLines = undefined;
}
}
```
Usage in a hook:
```typescript
pi.registerCommand("pick", {
description: "Pick an item",
handler: async (args, ctx) => {
const items = ["Option A", "Option B", "Option C"];
const selector = new MySelector(items);
let handle: { close: () => void; requestRender: () => void };
await new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
selector.onSelect = (item) => {
ctx.ui.notify(`Selected: ${item}`, "info");
handle.close();
resolve();
};
selector.onCancel = () => {
handle.close();
resolve();
};
handle = ctx.ui.custom(selector);
});
}
});
```
## Theming
Components accept theme objects for styling. Use ANSI color functions (e.g., from `chalk` or pi's theme):
```typescript
// In hooks, use the theme from renderResult/renderCall
renderResult(result, options, theme) {
return new Text(theme.fg("success", "Done!"), 0, 0);
}
// For custom components, define your own theme interface
interface MyTheme {
selected: (s: string) => string;
normal: (s: string) => string;
}
```
### MarkdownTheme
```typescript
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[];
}
```
## Performance
Cache rendered output when possible:
```typescript
class CachedComponent {
private cachedWidth?: number;
private cachedLines?: string[];
render(width: number): string[] {
if (this.cachedLines && this.cachedWidth === width) {
return this.cachedLines;
}
// ... compute lines ...
this.cachedWidth = width;
this.cachedLines = lines;
return lines;
}
invalidate(): void {
this.cachedWidth = undefined;
this.cachedLines = undefined;
}
}
```
Call `invalidate()` when state changes, then `handle.requestRender()` to trigger re-render.
## Examples
- **Snake game**: [examples/hooks/snake.ts](../examples/hooks/snake.ts) - Full game with keyboard input, game loop, state persistence
- **Custom tool rendering**: [examples/custom-tools/todo/](../examples/custom-tools/todo/) - Custom `renderCall` and `renderResult`