Adding React Components

Adding React Components

The renderer uses React 18 with Zustand for state. Components live in src/renderer/components/. No barrel files — import directly from the file path.

Component types

Panel template

// src/renderer/components/panels/WidgetPanel.tsx

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
import { useAppStore } from '../../store/useAppStore'

export default function WidgetPanel() {
  const { activeSessionId } = useAppStore()
  const [items, setItems] = useState<any[]>([])

  useEffect(() => {
    window.latch?.widgetList?.().then((res) => {
      if (res?.ok) setItems(res.widgets)
    })
  }, [activeSessionId])

  return (
    <div className="rail-panel" id="rail-panel-widget">
      <div className="section-label">Widgets</div>
      {items.map((item) => (
        <div key={item.id} className="card-row">
          <span className="card-row-title">{item.name}</span>
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  )
}

Register in Rail.tsx

// src/renderer/components/Rail.tsx
import WidgetPanel from './panels/WidgetPanel'

// Add to TABS array:
{ id: 'widget', label: 'Widgets' }

// Add conditional render:
{activeRailPanel === 'widget' && <WidgetPanel />}

Add the ID to the RailPanel type in src/types/index.ts.

Modal template

// src/renderer/components/modals/WidgetEditor.tsx

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
import { useAppStore } from '../../store/useAppStore'

export default function WidgetEditor() {
  const {
    widgetEditorOpen,
    widgetEditorWidget,
    closeWidgetEditor,
    saveWidget,
  } = useAppStore()

  const [name, setName] = useState('')

  useEffect(() => {
    setName(widgetEditorWidget?.name ?? '')
  }, [widgetEditorWidget])

  if (!widgetEditorOpen) return null

  const handleSave = async () => {
    if (!name.trim()) return
    await saveWidget({
      id: widgetEditorWidget?.id ?? `widget-${Date.now()}`,
      name: name.trim(),
    })
    closeWidgetEditor()
  }

  const handleKeyDown = (e: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
    if (e.key === 'Escape') closeWidgetEditor()
    if (e.key === 'Enter' && (e.metaKey || e.ctrlKey)) handleSave()
  }

  return (
    <div
      className="modal-backdrop"
     
      => { if (e.target === e.currentTarget) closeWidgetEditor() }}
    >
      <div className="modal" id="widget-editor-modal">
        <div className="modal-header">
          <span className="modal-title">
            {widgetEditorWidget ? 'Edit Widget' : 'New Widget'}
          </span>
          <button className="modal-close"
        </div>
        <div className="modal-body">
          <div className="modal-field">
            <label className="modal-label" htmlFor="we-name">Name</label>
            <input
              className="modal-input"
              id="we-name"
              value={name}
              => setName(e.target.value)}
              autoFocus
            />
          </div>
        </div>
        <div className="modal-footer">
          <button className="modal-btn"
          <button className="modal-btn is-primary"
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
  )
}

Zustand store wiring

In src/renderer/store/useAppStore.ts, add state + actions:

// State
widgetEditorOpen: false,
widgetEditorWidget: null as WidgetRecord | null,

// Actions
openWidgetEditor: (widget: WidgetRecord | null) => {
  set({ widgetEditorOpen: true, widgetEditorWidget: widget })
},

closeWidgetEditor: () => {
  set({ widgetEditorOpen: false, widgetEditorWidget: null })
},

saveWidget: async (widget: WidgetRecord) => {
  const result = await window.latch?.widgetSave?.({ item: widget })
  if (result?.ok) {
    // reload or update local state
  }
},

Pattern: Each modal gets <X>Open, <X>Data, open<X>(), close<X>().

Selecting state: Use granular selectors to avoid unnecessary re-renders:

const widgetEditorOpen = useAppStore((s) => s.widgetEditorOpen)

Or destructure when you need multiple values:

const { widgetEditorOpen, openWidgetEditor, closeWidgetEditor } = useAppStore()

CSS conventions

All styles live in src/renderer/styles.css. Use CSS custom properties:

#rail-panel-widget {
  padding: 12px;
}

#rail-panel-widget .card-row {
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  gap: 8px;
  padding: 8px 10px;
  border: 1px solid var(--border-subtle);
  border-radius: 6px;
  background: var(--bg-card);
  cursor: pointer;
}

#rail-panel-widget .card-row:hover {
  background: var(--bg-card-hover);
}

Key tokens: --bg-card, --bg-card-hover, --border-subtle, --border-active, --text-primary, --text-secondary, --success, --warning, --error.

Modifiers: Use .is-* classes: .is-active, .is-primary, .is-danger.

Gotchas

• No StrictMode — removed to prevent double PTY listener registration. Don't add it back.
• Always-mounted terminals — xterm.js panes stay in the DOM, toggled with display: none/block. Never unmount them.
• No barrel files — import directly: import WidgetPanel from '../components/panels/WidgetPanel'
• Guard IPC calls — always window.latch?.method?.() with optional chaining.

Checklist

1. Create component file in src/renderer/components/panels/, modals/, or root
2. Add state + actions to src/renderer/store/useAppStore.ts if needed
3. Register in parent (Rail.tsx for panels, App.tsx or parent view for modals)
4. Add RailPanel type if adding a rail panel (src/types/index.ts)
5. Add styles to src/renderer/styles.css using CSS custom properties
6. Import directly — no barrel files