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Text-based user interface

lastmod 2026-03-20created 2018-09-0527 edits

Text-based user interface (TUI) is a generalized term coined after the invention of graphical user interfaces, to distinguish it from string-based user interfaces. It is also called a terminal user interface. Like a GUI, a TUI differs from a command-line interface: it uses the full screen area and does not necessarily provide line-by-line output. However, a TUI uses only the characters and symbols available on a plain text terminal, whereas a graphical user interface uses high-resolution graphics modes.

Projects

  • Ncurses (C/C++)
  • Termbox
  • LTUI (Lua) - A cross-platform terminal ui library based on Lua
  • libmabuff (C/C++) - libmabuff (or MABuffer) is a simple C++ library for creating "textual graphics". While it's not as complex, stable nor portable as ncurses, it provides a simple way to create TUIs.
  • FINAL CUT (C/C++) - A text-based widget toolkit
  • BearLibTerminal (C/C++) - BearLibTerminal is a library that creates a terminal-like window facilitating flexible textual output and uncomplicated input processing.
  • libtcod (C/C++) - libtcod is a free, fast, portable and uncomplicated API for roguelike developers providing an advanced true color console, input, and lots of other utilities frequently used in roguelikes.
  • newt (C/C++) - A library for text mode user interfaces
  • Bubble Tea (go) - A powerful little TUI framework
  • Dialog
  • Whiptail
  • TerminalTextEffects (TTE) - terminal text effects engine
  • Termo - a terminal emulator for building terminal UIs on the web
  • Twin - a text-mode window environment (Textmode WINdow)
  • tview - a terminal-based UI library written in Golang
  • DevTUI - a Swiss Army knife for developers
  • Bubble Tea (bubbletea; go)
  • tview (go)
  • Huh (go)
  • TUI Studio – a terminal UI design tool
  • tui.builders – Figma for terminal UIs, all the way to Rust code generation

See also

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Articles

author Zer0 sitemap