OpenTUI Terminal Interfaces

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Starting a new terminal UI project with create-tui
• Building TUI components and layouts in React or Solid
• Handling keyboard input and animations in a terminal app
• Debugging OpenTUI build or runtime pitfalls

Example prompts

• “Scaffold a new OpenTUI app with the React template.”
• “Build a two-column layout with a scrollable list and a detail pane in OpenTUI.”
• “Add keyboard shortcuts to quit and switch focus in this terminal UI.”
• “My OpenTUI app leaves the terminal in a broken state on exit, so find out why.”

Requirements

• Bun, which OpenTUI runs on
• Zig, for native builds (see the gotchas reference)

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1Use create-tui for new projects. See framework REFERENCE.md quick starts.
2. 2create-tui options must come before arguments. bunx create-tui -t react my-app works, bunx create-tui my-app -t react does NOT.
3. 3Never call process.exit() directly. Use renderer.destroy() (see core/gotchas.md).
4. 4Text styling requires nested tags in React/Solid. Use modifier elements, not props (see components/text-display.md).

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 81e9561. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • bunx

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

  • github.com

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

OpenTUI Terminal Interfaces loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs, and up to ~55k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 63 tokens; SKILL.md has 394 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~63

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.9k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~55k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from cline/cline at commit 81e9561, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© cline). 394 words, ~1,901 tokens.

name

opentui

description

Comprehensive OpenTUI skill for building terminal user interfaces. Covers the core imperative API, React reconciler, and Solid reconciler. Use for any TUI development task including components, layout, keyboard handling, animations, and testing.

metadata.references

core, react, solid

./references/react/REFERENCE.md           # Start here for React
./references/react/api.md              # React components and hooks
./references/solid/configuration.md    # Solid project setup
./references/components/inputs.md      # Input, Textarea, Select docs
./references/core/gotchas.md           # Core debugging tips

Which framework?
├─ I want full control, maximum performance, no framework overhead
│  └─ core/ (imperative API)
├─ I know React, want familiar component patterns
│  └─ react/ (React reconciler)
├─ I want fine-grained reactivity, optimal re-renders
│  └─ solid/ (Solid reconciler)
└─ I'm building a library/framework on top of OpenTUI
   └─ core/ (imperative API)

Display content?
├─ Plain or styled text -> components/text-display.md
├─ Container with borders/background -> components/containers.md
├─ Scrollable content area -> components/containers.md (scrollbox)
├─ ASCII art banner/title -> components/text-display.md (ascii-font)
├─ Data table with borders/wrapping -> components/code-diff.md (TextTable)
├─ Code with syntax highlighting -> components/code-diff.md
├─ Diff viewer (unified/split) -> components/code-diff.md
├─ Line numbers with diagnostics -> components/code-diff.md
└─ Markdown content (streaming) -> components/code-diff.md (markdown)

User input?
├─ Single-line text field -> components/inputs.md (input)
├─ Multi-line text editor -> components/inputs.md (textarea)
├─ Select from a list (vertical) -> components/inputs.md (select)
├─ Tab-based selection (horizontal) -> components/inputs.md (tab-select)
└─ Custom keyboard shortcuts -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md

Layout?
├─ Flexbox-style layouts (row, column, wrap) -> layout/REFERENCE.md
├─ Absolute positioning -> layout/patterns.md
├─ Responsive to terminal size -> layout/patterns.md
├─ Centering content -> layout/patterns.md
└─ Complex nested layouts -> layout/patterns.md

Animations?
├─ Timeline-based animations -> animation/REFERENCE.md
├─ Easing functions -> animation/REFERENCE.md
├─ Property transitions -> animation/REFERENCE.md
└─ Looping animations -> animation/REFERENCE.md

Input handling?
├─ Keyboard events (keypress, release) -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md
├─ Focus management -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md
├─ Paste events -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md
├─ Mouse events -> components/containers.md
├─ Text selection & copy-on-select -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md (selection)
└─ Clipboard (OSC 52) -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md (clipboard)

Testing?
├─ Snapshot testing -> testing/REFERENCE.md
├─ Interaction testing -> testing/REFERENCE.md
├─ Test renderer setup -> testing/REFERENCE.md
└─ Debugging tests -> testing/REFERENCE.md

Troubleshooting?
├─ Runtime errors, crashes -> <framework>/gotchas.md
├─ Layout issues -> layout/REFERENCE.md + layout/patterns.md
├─ Input/focus issues -> keyboard/REFERENCE.md
└─ Repro + regression tests -> testing/REFERENCE.md

© cline, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 28 other files (references) in .agents/skills/opentui of cline/cline.

• SKILL.md
• references/animation/REFERENCE.md
• references/components/REFERENCE.md
• references/components/code-diff.md
• references/components/containers.md
• references/components/inputs.md
• references/components/text-display.md
• references/core/REFERENCE.md
• references/core/api.md
• references/core/configuration.md
• references/core/gotchas.md
• references/core/patterns.md
• references/keyboard/REFERENCE.md
• references/layout/REFERENCE.md
• references/layout/patterns.md
• … and 14 more

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 81e9561