# Ink

> React for CLIs — build and test interactive command-line apps using React components and Flexbox layouts in the terminal.

Ink brings the React component model to the terminal, letting developers build interactive CLI applications using the same JSX syntax, hooks, and component patterns they already know from web development. It uses Facebook's Yoga engine to support Flexbox layouts in the terminal, making CSS-like properties available for positioning and sizing. Since Ink is a full React renderer, all React features — including hooks, context, Suspense, and concurrent mode — work out of the box. It is used in production by tools like Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, Cloudflare Wrangler, Gatsby, Prisma, and Shopify CLI.

- **React-based UI** — *Write CLI UIs using JSX components like `<Text>`, `<Box>`, `<Static>`, and `<Transform>` with familiar React patterns.*
- **Flexbox layouts** — *Use CSS-like Flexbox properties (flexDirection, alignItems, justifyContent, gap, padding, margin) powered by the Yoga layout engine.*
- **Rich hooks API** — *Built-in hooks including `useInput`, `usePaste`, `useApp`, `useStdin`, `useStdout`, `useWindowSize`, `useFocus`, `useFocusManager`, and `useCursor`.*
- **Screen reader support** — *ARIA props (`aria-role`, `aria-label`, `aria-state`, `aria-hidden`) enable accessible CLI output for screen reader users.*
- **Concurrent & Suspense support** — *Enable React Concurrent Rendering mode for async data fetching, `useTransition`, and `useDeferredValue`.*
- **Incremental rendering** — *Optional incremental rendering mode updates only changed lines, reducing flicker for frequently updating UIs.*
- **Alternate screen buffer** — *Render apps in the terminal's alternate screen (like vim/htop) with automatic restoration on exit.*
- **Kitty keyboard protocol** — *Optional support for enhanced keyboard input including modifier keys, key event types (press/repeat/release), and key disambiguation.*
- **Testing support** — *Use `ink-testing-library` and `renderToString()` to unit-test CLI components without a live terminal.*
- **React Devtools integration** — *Inspect and modify component trees live using React Devtools by running with `DEV=true`.*
- **CI-aware rendering** — *Automatically adapts output for CI environments, writing only the final frame instead of continuously updating the terminal.*
- **Scaffolding tool** — *Bootstrap new projects instantly with `npx create-ink-app` supporting both JavaScript and TypeScript.*

## Features
- React component model for CLIs
- Flexbox layouts via Yoga engine
- useInput hook for keyboard handling
- usePaste hook with bracketed paste mode
- useFocus and useFocusManager hooks
- useWindowSize hook with resize support
- useBoxMetrics hook for layout metrics
- useCursor hook for IME support
- Screen reader support with ARIA props
- React Concurrent Rendering mode
- Suspense support
- Incremental rendering mode
- Alternate screen buffer support
- Kitty keyboard protocol support
- React Devtools integration
- renderToString for synchronous rendering
- CI-aware rendering
- create-ink-app scaffolding tool
- ink-testing-library for unit testing
- Static component for permanent output
- Transform component for string transformation
- Configurable max FPS
- Custom border styles
- Background color support for Box elements

## Integrations
React, Yoga (Flexbox layout engine), Babel, TypeScript, Node.js, React Devtools, ink-testing-library, chalk, cli-boxes, patch-console, create-ink-app

## Platforms
WINDOWS, MACOS, WEB, API, DEVELOPER_SDK, CLI

## Pricing
Open Source

## Version
v6.8.0

## Links
- Website: https://term.ink
- Documentation: https://github.com/vadimdemedes/ink#readme
- Repository: https://github.com/vadimdemedes/ink
- EveryDev.ai: https://www.everydev.ai/tools/ink