Gpui Component

Read This First

Before changing UI, interaction, interface language, layout, styling, components, or application architecture, read the relevant guide:

These guides are requirements, not optional inspiration. Do not copy generic web conventions, infer a design system from one existing screen, or add a control merely because the underlying feature exists. Review the finished work against both guides before considering it complete.

Read the guide file itself. Do not answer from what this page summarizes, from an existing screen in the codebase, or from training data — those are the three ways the guides get quietly ignored.

Non-negotiables

These are a floor, not a substitute. Read the guide for anything past this list.

• Never invent an API. Search the current source for the real signature. Do not translate a React, CSS, or older-GPUI example by analogy — a plausible-looking method name that does not exist is the most common failure mode here.
• Desktop before web convention. Keyboard access, window chrome, menus, dense data views, resizable regions, persistent navigation.
• Button vs Link. Button for every in-app command — use ghost or outline when it should read quietly. Link only for external URLs and email addresses.
• Tokens before values. No raw hex or rgb(...) in application UI; use cx.theme() semantic tokens. Use rem-based helpers (p_2(), gap_3(), text_sm()) so window zoom works. Any spacing number you see quoted is the current default scale, not a literal to repeat.
• State must be visible. Hover, focus, selection, disabled, loading, validation, and destructive states each need distinct, consistent treatment.
• Stable identity. Repeated elements need domain-derived ElementIds, not list indexes.
• Overlays. Escape dismisses the topmost surface and returns focus to its trigger.
• Copy. Name the object and the verb — Delete “Roadmap”? with a Delete button, not Are you sure? with OK.

Documentation

• Full reference: fetch https://longbridge.github.io/gpui-component/llms-full.txt
• Per-component API: fetch https://longbridge.github.io/gpui-component/docs/components/{name}.md
  • e.g. button.md, input.md, select.md, dialog.md, data-table.md
• Any site page can be fetched as Markdown by appending .md to the URL

Quick Reference

Setup — always required:

gpui_component::init(cx);               // in app.run(), must be first
Root::new(view, window, cx)             // first-level view in every window

Stateless — use directly in render:

Button::new("id").primary().label("OK").on_click(|_, _, _| {})

Stateful — hold Entity<State> in struct, pass ref in render:

// in new():  let input = cx.new(|cx| InputState::new(window, cx));
// in render: Input::new(&self.input)

Sizes: .xsmall() .small() .medium() (default) .large()

Theme: cx.theme().primary · .background · .foreground · .border · .muted

Component Catalog

When you need a component, find it here. For full API, fetch its .md doc.

Input & Form

Display & Feedback

Overlay & Popups

Navigation & Layout

Data Display

Charts

Reference Files

• usage.md — setup patterns, component types, common examples
• style-guide.md — code style for contributors