ui-documentation.md

Ink UI Documentation

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Getting Started
3. Components
4. Layout and Structure
5. Styling Guidelines
6. Interactive Elements
7. Accessibility
8. Best Practices
9. Website UI Components

Introduction

Ink is a powerful library for building command-line interfaces (CLIs) with a focus on creating beautiful and interactive terminal applications. This documentation provides comprehensive guidance on using Ink's UI components and features effectively.

Getting Started

Installation

npm install ink

Basic Setup

import React from 'react';
import {render, Text} from 'ink';

const App = () => <Text>Hello World</Text>;

render(<App />);

Components

Text Component

The fundamental building block for displaying text in Ink applications.

import {Text} from 'ink';

// Basic usage
<Text>Regular text</Text>

// Styled text
<Text color="green">Colored text</Text>
<Text bold>Bold text</Text>

Box Component

Used for layout and positioning of elements.

import {Box} from 'ink';

<Box margin={1} padding={2}>
  <Text>Content inside a box</Text>
</Box>

Input Component

Handles user input in interactive applications.

import {useInput} from 'ink';

useInput((input, key) => {
  // Handle input here
});

Layout and Structure

Flexbox Layout

Ink uses a flexbox-based layout system:

<Box flexDirection="column">
  <Box>Row 1</Box>
  <Box>Row 2</Box>
</Box>

Spacing and Alignment

• Margin and padding support
• Flexible alignment options
• Responsive layouts

Styling Guidelines

Colors

// Text colors
<Text color="red">Error message</Text>
<Text color="green">Success message</Text>
<Text color="#ff0000">Custom color</Text>

// Background colors
<Text backgroundColor="blue">Highlighted text</Text>

Text Formatting

<Text bold>Bold text</Text>
<Text italic>Italic text</Text>
<Text underline>Underlined text</Text>
<Text inverse>Inverse colors</Text>

Interactive Elements

Spinner

import {Spinner} from 'ink';

<Spinner type="dots" />

Progress Bar

import {Progress} from 'ink';

<Progress value={0.5} />

Select Input

import {Select} from 'ink-select-input';

const items = [
  {label: 'Option 1', value: '1'},
  {label: 'Option 2', value: '2'}
];

<Select items={items} onSelect={handleSelect} />

Accessibility

Best Practices

1. Use semantic components
2. Provide clear feedback
3. Support keyboard navigation
4. Use appropriate color contrast

Keyboard Navigation

useInput((input, key) => {
  if (key.return) {
    // Handle Enter key
  }
  if (key.escape) {
    // Handle Escape key
  }
});

Best Practices

Performance

• Minimize re-renders
• Use memoization when appropriate
• Optimize large lists

Error Handling

try {
  // Your code
} catch (error) {
  <Text color="red">{error.message}</Text>
}

Testing

import {render} from 'ink-testing-library';

test('renders correctly', () => {
  const {lastFrame} = render(<App />);
  expect(lastFrame()).toContain('Expected output');
});

Website UI Components

Navigation Bar

import {Box, Text} from 'ink';

const Navbar = () => (
  <Box borderStyle="single" padding={1}>
    <Text bold>Home</Text>
    <Text> | </Text>
    <Text>Documentation</Text>
    <Text> | </Text>
    <Text>Examples</Text>
  </Box>
);

Cards and Containers

const Card = ({title, content}) => (
  <Box 
    flexDirection="column" 
    borderStyle="round" 
    padding={1}
    marginBottom={1}
  >
    <Text bold>{title}</Text>
    <Text>{content}</Text>
  </Box>
);

Responsive Design

Ink components automatically adjust to terminal width:

<Box flexDirection="row" flexWrap="wrap">
  <Box width={process.stdout.columns >= 80 ? '50%' : '100%'}>
    <Text>Content adjusts based on terminal size</Text>
  </Box>
</Box>

Forms and Input Fields

import {TextInput} from 'ink-text-input';

const Form = () => {
  const [value, setValue] = useState('');
  
  return (
    <Box flexDirection="column">
      <TextInput
        value={value}
        onChange={setValue}
        placeholder="Enter your text"
      />
    </Box>
  );
};

Modals and Dialogs

const Modal = ({isVisible, onClose, children}) => {
  if (!isVisible) return null;
  
  return (
    <Box 
      flexDirection="column"
      borderStyle="double"
      padding={1}
    >
      {children}
      <Text>Press ESC to close</Text>
    </Box>
  );
};

Themes and Customization

const theme = {
  primary: 'blue',
  secondary: 'green',
  error: 'red',
  success: 'green',
  warning: 'yellow'
};

const StyledButton = ({variant, children}) => (
  <Text color={theme[variant]}>{children}</Text>
);

Loading States

const LoadingState = () => (
  <Box>
    <Spinner />
    <Text> Loading content...</Text>
  </Box>
);

Error Boundaries

class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
  state = { hasError: false };

  static getDerivedStateFromError(error) {
    return { hasError: true };
  }

  render() {
    if (this.state.hasError) {
      return <Text color="red">Something went wrong!</Text>;
    }
    return this.props.children;
  }
}

Animations and Transitions

import {useEffect, useState} from 'react';
import {Text, Box} from 'ink';

const FadeIn = ({children}) => {
  const [visible, setVisible] = useState(false);

  useEffect(() => {
    setVisible(true);
  }, []);

  if (!visible) return null;
  return children;
};

SEO and Metadata

While traditional SEO isn't applicable to CLI applications, you can implement metadata for your CLI help menus:

const AppMetadata = {
  name: 'Your CLI App',
  version: '1.0.0',
  description: 'A beautiful CLI application',
  commands: {
    help: 'Display help menu',
    version: 'Display version information'
  }
};