SuperLightTUI (SLT) Authoring Skill — v0.23

Mental model

SLT is immediate-mode. Your app is one closure: slt::run(|ui: &mut Context| { ... }). The closure runs every frame. State lives in plain Rust variables outside the closure — no App trait, no Model/View/Update, no retained tree. SLT handles flexbox layout, ANSI diff, and stdout flush.

Response.rect reflects the previous frame because layout runs after the closure returns. Frame 1 returns a zero Rect. Guard measurement-dependent logic with if ui.tick() > 0 { ... }. See docs/PREVIOUS_FRAME_GUIDE.md.

For larger apps write components as functions: fn render_card(ui: &mut Context, data: &Card). Share read-mostly state with ui.provide(value, |ui| ...) + ui.use_context::<T>() instead of threading &theme through every helper.

The 5 API rules (predictability anchors)

These are non-negotiable in v0.20+. When generating new code, every public widget must match all 5.

1. Builder for optional config. Methods on Context return a builder when ≥1 option exists. Builders chain &mut self -> &mut Self, render on Drop, expose .show() to capture a *Response.

   ui.gauge(0.6).label("60%").width(24).color(Color::Cyan);                     // good
   let r = ui.breadcrumb(&segs).separator(" › ").show();                        // capture response
   

   Removed in v0.20: gauge_w, gauge_colored, line_gauge_with, breadcrumb_sep, LineGaugeOpts, HighlightRange::single, label_owned. Do not write these — AI training data may suggest them.

2. Floats are f64. Public surface never takes/returns f32. 0.5 is f64 natively, so ui.gauge(0.5) just works.

3. ≤3 positional args. When 4+ args appear, use an opts struct (<Widget>Opts) or a builder.

   GutterOpts::line_numbers(total, viewport)                                    // Opts struct
   ui.scrollable_with_gutter(&mut scroll, opts, |ui, abs| { ... });
   

4. Stateful widgets take &mut <Widget>State. Never &mut String, &mut Vec<T>, &mut usize. Trivial-value exceptions: slider(&mut f64), checkbox(&mut bool), toggle(&mut bool).

   ui.text_input(&mut TextInputState);   // not &mut String
   ui.tabs(&mut TabsState);              // not &mut usize
   

5. Responses. Single-rect widgets return Response. Compound widgets return <Widget>Response: Deref<Target = Response> with #[must_use]. Never tuples.

   if ui.button("Save").clicked { ... }                                          // Response
   if let Some(i) = ui.breadcrumb(&segs).show().clicked_segment { ... }          // BreadcrumbResponse
   

6. Return-type pattern. Methods on Context return one of two types — picking the wrong one is the most common AI-generated compile error.

   • &mut Self — chainable mutators of the last rendered element. Use for: text, link, styled, separator, timer_display, and the style chain (bold, dim, italic, fg, bg, wrap, truncate, align, text_center, m, mx, w, h, grow, spacer, with_if, with).
   • Response — interaction result of an independently-rendered widget. Use for every stateful interactive widget (button, checkbox, toggle, table, tabs, select, radio, multi_select, text_input, list, tree, file_picker, slider, calendar, command_palette, rich_log).
   • Container helpers split: col / row / modal → Response. line / line_wrap / screen → &mut Self (these continue an inline-text chain).

   ui.button("Save").bold();           // ❌ Response has no .bold() — compile error
   if ui.button("Save").clicked { … }  // ✅ Response field
   ui.text("Saved").bold().fg(green);  // ✅ &mut Self chain on display element
   

Naming categories (NAMING.md micro tier)

Method names encode their category. When picking a name, match the category shape of nearby methods.

Category	Shape	Examples
Verbs (actions, side effects)	<verb> or <verb>_<object>	quit, notify, register_focusable, focus_by_name, consume_event, set_ratio
Nouns (getters, no side effects)	<noun> or <noun>_<modifier>	theme, width, events, focused_name, state.cursor. Never get_X.
Adjectives (Layer 2 builder modifiers)	short, ≤2 syllables	bordered, bg, fg, p, m, w, h, gap, grow, fill, bold, dim
Constructors	Type::default() / Type::new(args) / Type::with_X(arg)	TextInputState::default(), SplitPaneState::new(0.5), TextInputState::with_placeholder("…")

Allowed universal abbreviations: bg fg id idx len min max pos pct w h x y r g b a. Forbidden: ctx btn lbl dbg cfg req res srv db in public API. Closure params over &mut Context are always ui, never ctx.

Layer model (5 layers, predictability anchor)

Layer	Object	Examples
1 — Context	&mut Context (the ui parameter)	ui.text(...), ui.button(...), ui.row(...), ui.theme(), ui.use_state(...)
2 — ContainerBuilder	returned by ui.container(), ui.bordered(...)	chained adjectives: `.p(2).bg(c).gap(1).col(
3 — Widget	impl Widget for MyType { type Response; fn ui(...) }	custom widget extension point
4 — State	pub struct <Widget>State in src/widgets/*.rs	TextInputState, TableState, ScrollState
5 — Response	Response or <Widget>Response: Deref<Response>	Response { clicked, hovered, changed, focused, rect, right_clicked, gained_focus, lost_focus }

When a method belongs to two layers (ui.bordered(B) shortcut vs ui.container().border(B) explicit), prefer the explicit form in skill output.

Sibling widget shapes (memorize)

When unsure about a widget signature, find its family and match.

// Stateful interactive widgets — &mut <Widget>State, returns Response
ui.list(&mut ListState);              ui.tabs(&mut TabsState);
ui.table(&mut TableState);            ui.tree(&mut TreeState);
ui.select(&mut SelectState);          ui.radio(&mut RadioState);
ui.multi_select(&mut MultiSelectState);
ui.file_picker(&mut FilePickerState); ui.calendar(&mut CalendarState);
ui.text_input(&mut TextInputState);   ui.textarea(&mut TextareaState, rows);  // textarea takes rows
ui.rich_log(&mut RichLogState);       ui.command_palette(&mut CommandPaletteState);
ui.toast(&mut ToastState);            ui.spinner(&SpinnerState);              // spinner is &, not &mut

// Trivial-value siblings — exception to Rule 4
ui.button("Save");                    // Response
ui.checkbox("Done", &mut done);       // Response
ui.toggle("Enabled", &mut on);        // Response
ui.slider("Vol", &mut value, 0.0..=100.0);  // Response

// Builder widgets — chain optional config, render on Drop
ui.gauge(0.6).label("60%").width(24).color(Color::Cyan);
ui.line_gauge(0.6).filled('━').empty('─').width(24).label("60%");
let r = ui.breadcrumb(&segs).separator(" › ").color(Color::Cyan).show();

// Compound responses — Deref<Response> + extra fields
let r = ui.gauge(cpu).label("CPU").show();          // GaugeResponse { ratio: f64 }
let r = ui.breadcrumb(&segs).show();                // BreadcrumbResponse { clicked_segment: Option<usize> }
let r = ui.split_pane(&mut split, l, r);            // SplitPaneResponse { ratio: f64 }
let r = ui.scrollable_with_gutter(&mut scroll, opts, body);  // GutterResponse { current_highlight: Option<usize> }

Hook ordering — three variants

Hooks must be called in the same order every frame unless they are id-keyed.

Hook	Key	Safe in if/match?	Use when
ui.use_state(|| init)	call order	No	Top-level state, no conditional placement
ui.use_state_named("id", || init)	&'static str	Yes	Conditional/branching state with compile-time id and initializer
ui.use_state_named_default::<T>("id")	&'static str	Yes	Same, using T::default()
ui.use_state_keyed("id-{i}", || init)	runtime String	Yes	Per-row state in a list (key from data)
ui.use_state_keyed_default("id-{i}")	runtime String	Yes	Same, T: Default shortcut
ui.use_memo(&deps, |d| compute(d))	call order + deps	No	Cached compute, deps change → recompute
ui.use_effect(|d| { ... }, &deps)	call order + deps	No	Side effect on deps change

// WRONG — order-based hook in conditional drifts call order between frames
if expanded { let count = ui.use_state(|| 0); }

// RIGHT — id-keyed variant is safe inside conditionals
if expanded { let count = ui.use_state_named_default::<i32>("sidebar.count"); }

// Per-list-item runtime keys
for i in 0..items.len() {
    let count = ui.use_state_keyed_default::<i32>(format!("counter-{i}"));
}

Context injection (provide / use_context)

Stop threading &theme, &tick, &mut toasts through every render fn. provide injects a typed value scoped to a closure; nested code reads it back with use_context.

struct AppCtx { theme: slt::Theme, tick: u64, user: &'static str }

slt::run(|ui| {
    let ctx = AppCtx { theme: *ui.theme(), tick: ui.tick(), user: "subin" };
    ui.provide(ctx, |ui| {
        render_header(ui);
        render_card(ui);
    });
});

fn render_card(ui: &mut slt::Context) {
    let ctx = ui.use_context::<AppCtx>();           // panics if missing
    // let maybe = ui.try_use_context::<AppCtx>(); // returns Option<&T>
    ui.text(format!("hi {} (tick {})", ctx.user, ctx.tick));
}

Reserve explicit parameters for writes (&mut MyDocState). Bound is T: 'static — use &'static str for literals, String for runtime values.

Conditional styling (with_if / with)

with_if(cond, modifier) and with(modifier) collapse conditional branches into a single chain. Available on text and ContainerBuilder. Beware: text uses &mut self -> &mut Self, ContainerBuilder uses consuming Self -> Self.

// text — closure receives &mut Self
ui.text("Status").with_if(is_error, |t| { t.bold().fg(Color::Red); });

// ContainerBuilder — closure receives Self by value
ui.container().with_if(is_focused, |c| c.bg(theme.surface_hover)).col(|ui| ...);

Custom widget pattern (Layer 3)

When to use which pattern:

• Function (fn render_card(ui: &mut Context, data: &CardData)): 90% of cases. Use for screens, sections, reusable layouts. Cheaper to write, no trait bounds, easier to test. Built-in widgets follow this shape internally (impl Context direct methods).
• impl Widget: when the component (a) has its own state struct that the caller owns, and (b) you want ui.widget(&mut w) ergonomics matching built-ins. Required for third-party crates that export widgets through trait-bound APIs.

struct Label<'a> { text: &'a str }

impl<'a> slt::Widget for Label<'a> {
    type Response = slt::Response;
    fn ui(&mut self, ui: &mut slt::Context) -> Self::Response {
        ui.register_focusable();
        ui.text(self.text).bold();
        slt::Response::default()
    }
}

let mut label = Label { text: "hello" };
ui.widget(&mut label);              // or call `label.ui(ui)` with `Widget` in scope

For mouse hit-testing use ui.interaction(rect). For keyboard use register_focusable() + available_key_presses().

Authoring workflow

1. Confirm the goal — what app? Data table? Dashboard? Form? Game?
2. Check examples/ for the closest pattern (see Reference Examples below). Start from that file if it fits.
3. Grep src/context/widgets_* and src/widgets/* for the actual signature before writing ui.foo(...). Do NOT invent APIs.
4. Keep Cargo.toml features minimal — see REFERENCES.md.
5. Run the quality gate before saying "done".

Quality gate (mandatory before saying "done")

Core — every commit:

cargo fmt -- --check
cargo check --all-features
cargo clippy --all-features -- -D warnings
cargo test --all-features
cargo check --examples --all-features

Extended — before PR or release:

typos
bash scripts/api_audit.sh --strict
cargo check -p superlighttui --no-default-features
cargo check -p slt-wasm --target wasm32-unknown-unknown
cargo hack check -p superlighttui --each-feature --no-dev-deps
cargo audit
cargo deny check

Release workflow (mandatory — do not skip any step)

AGENTS.md has the full 8-step checklist. Short version:

1. Local PRE-CI (Core + Extended both green)
2. Bump Cargo.toml, update CHANGELOG.md
3. Branch release/vX.Y.Z, single atomic commit, push
4. gh pr create, wait for CI green
5. Merge (squash), pull main
6. Tag, push tag, wait for release.yml green
7. Verify gh release view, crates.io, docs.rs
8. Only now announce

Red flags that mean STOP: "Probably fine", "Just a docs change", "CI will catch it", "I'll tag now and fix later". Run the gate locally first.

Common pitfalls (AI-generated SLT code)

• Inventing method names. Always grep src/context/ and src/widgets/ first.
• Stale removed APIs. gauge_w, gauge_colored, line_gauge_with, breadcrumb_sep, LineGaugeOpts, HighlightRange::single, label_owned are GONE in v0.20. Use the builder forms.
• Response.rect on frame 1. Zero Rect. Guard with ui.tick() > 0.
• use_state() inside if/match/for. Use use_state_named (&'static str id) or use_state_keyed (runtime String).
• Forgetting .show() on builders that return a response. Drop renders and discards the response. Capture with let r = ui.gauge(...).show();.
• 'static on deferred raw draw. Use draw_with for owned data, or draw_precomputed when the closure must borrow local data and fixed source dimensions are acceptable.
• Mixing crossterm raw events with ui.* helpers. Prefer ui.key(), ui.key_code(), ui.key_mod(). For modal-aware shortcuts use ui.raw_key_*.
• Hard-coding Color::Rgb(...) instead of ui.theme() — themes can't swap.
• RichLogState::new() for unbounded. New caps at 10000; use RichLogState::new_unbounded() if you really want unlimited.
• First-frame hover/click tests. Render once to warm the prev-frame hit map, then send the event in a second tb.render(...) call.
• Binding only Ctrl-C as quit. macOS terminals intercept Ctrl-C as Copy. Always pair q, Esc, and Ctrl-Q.
• unsafe blocks. #![forbid(unsafe_code)]. Hard compile error.
• Printing to stdout/stderr from a widget. A library must not write to stdout. Lints catch this.

Reference examples (skill should reference these by file:line)

Domain	Reference file	Key shape
Hello / minimal	examples/hello.rs (21 lines)	slt::run, bordered.title.col, quit triple
Counter (state in closure)	examples/counter.rs	move-closure state pattern
Inline mode	examples/inline.rs (23 lines)	run_inline(rows, ...)
Tabbed tour	examples/cookbook_tour.rs	TabsState + child pub fn render(ui, &mut DemoState)
Form / validators	examples/cookbook_login.rs	TextInputState::with_placeholder, masked password, validation
Searchable+sortable table	examples/cookbook_table.rs	TableState::set_filter, toggle_sort, consume_key
Modal + Toast	examples/cookbook_modal_toast.rs	ButtonVariant::Danger, raw_key_code(Esc) for modal-aware quit
Modal focus trap	examples/v020_modal_trap.rs	ModalOptions { tab_trap: true }
File picker	examples/cookbook_file_picker.rs	FilePickerState::selected_file()
Dashboard (chart+sparkline)	examples/cookbook_dashboard.rs	ui.chart(|c| c.line(...).color()), rolling VecDeque<f64>
Animation primitives	examples/anim.rs	Tween/Spring/Keyframes/Sequence/Stagger
use_state_keyed	examples/v020_use_state_keyed.rs	per-row counter via format!("counter-{i}")
use_effect	examples/v020_use_effect.rs	three dep shapes (&(), &i32, &bool)
provide/use_context	tests/context_provider.rs (100 lines), examples/demo_website.rs:139-152	injection + try_use_context
Theme subtree	examples/v020_theme_subtree.rs	container().theme(theme) per-subtree override
Theme density	examples/v020_spacing_scale.rs	Theme::compact() / comfortable() / spacious()
Gauge builder	examples/v020_gauge.rs:104-107	ui.gauge(value).label(...).width(24)
Line gauge	examples/v020_gauge.rs:74-92	ui.line_gauge(0.45).filled('#').empty('.').width(24)
Breadcrumb response	examples/v020_breadcrumb_response.rs:72-77	ui.breadcrumb(&segs).separator(" › ").show()
Scrollable + gutter	examples/v020_gutter_highlights.rs:150-165	GutterOpts::line_numbers, HighlightRange::line
Split pane	examples/v020_split_pane.rs	split_pane, vsplit_pane, drag handle
WidthSpec variants	examples/v020_widthspec.rs	Constraints::default().w_pct(50), .w_ratio(1,3), .w_minmax(10,30)
Named focus	examples/v020_named_focus.rs:187	register_focusable_named + focus_by_name
Keymap help overlay	examples/v020_keymap_help.rs	WidgetKeyHelp, publish_keymap, keymap_help_overlay
DX shortcuts	examples/v020_dx_shortcuts.rs	on_hover, animate_bool, fill(), Rect::center_in
Static log / scrollback	examples/v020_static_log.rs	slt::run_static, ui.static_log(...)
Async demo	examples/async_demo.rs	slt::run_async with tokio
All-in-one showcase	examples/v020_showcase.rs (277 lines)	every major v0.20 feature
Test utilities	tests/v020_test_utils_demo.rs	record_frames, sequence().tick().key().type_string()

Testing pattern (headless)

use slt::{TestBackend, EventBuilder};

#[test]
fn my_widget_renders() {
    let mut tb = TestBackend::new(80, 24);
    tb.render(|ui| { ui.text("hello"); });
    tb.assert_contains("hello");
}

// Multi-frame with events (warm prev-frame hit map first)
#[test]
fn click_triggers() {
    let mut tb = TestBackend::new(40, 10);
    tb.render(|ui| { ui.button("Save"); });                    // warm frame
    tb.run_with_events(vec![EventBuilder::mouse_down(2, 0)],   // event frame
        |ui| { if ui.button("Save").clicked { /* assert */ } });
}

// Sequence builder (most readable)
tb.sequence().tick(5).key(KeyCode::Tab, KeyModifiers::NONE).type_string("hello", &mut state.value).run();

See tests/v020_test_utils_demo.rs for record_frames, assert_not_contains, assert_style_at.

File layout cheat sheet

Area	Primary files
Public API	src/lib.rs (re-exports)
Run loop / backend	src/terminal.rs, src/lib.rs (run, run_with, run_inline, run_async, run_static, frame, frame_owned)
Context core	src/context/{core,runtime,container,helpers,state}.rs
Widget impls	src/context/widgets_display/*, widgets_interactive/*, widgets_input/*, widgets_viz.rs
Layer 4 state types	src/widgets/*.rs
Compound responses	src/widgets/responses.rs (BreadcrumbResponse, GaugeResponse, SplitPaneResponse, GutterResponse)
Layout kernels	src/layout/{tree,flexbox,collect,render,command}.rs
Style / theme	src/style/{color,theme}.rs, src/style.rs
Animation	src/anim.rs
Charts	src/chart.rs, src/chart/*.rs, src/context/widgets_viz.rs
Testing helpers	src/test_utils.rs
Skill references	REFERENCES.md (feature flags, doc pointers)

Korean conventions

• "ㄱㄱ" = "go go" → proceed immediately, no clarifying questions
• "켜줘" / "열어줘" → open the file in Cursor (NOT cat to terminal)
• "고쳐줘" / "수정해줘" → fix with minimal change, run quality gate
• "리뷰해줘" → audit only, do not modify code unless explicitly asked