`jsx
import {render, Box, Text} from 'ink';

const Example = () => (

This is a box with margin

);

render();
`

#### Dimensions

##### width

Type: number string

Width of the element in spaces.
You can also set it as a percentage, which will calculate the width based on the width of the parent element.

`jsx

X

//=> 'X '
`

`jsx


X

Y

//=> 'X Y'
`

##### height

Type: number string

Height of the element in lines (rows).
You can also set it as a percentage, which will calculate the height based on the height of the parent element.

`jsx

X

//=> 'X\n\n\n'
`

`jsx


X

Y

//=> 'X\n\n\nY\n\n'
`

##### minWidth

Type: number

Sets a minimum width of the element.
Percentages aren't supported yet; see https://github.com/facebook/yoga/issues/872.

##### minHeight

Type: number

Sets a minimum height of the element.
Percentages aren't supported yet; see https://github.com/facebook/yoga/issues/872.

#### Padding

##### paddingTop

Type: number\
Default: 0

Top padding.

##### paddingBottom

Type: number\
Default: 0

Bottom padding.

##### paddingLeft

Type: number\
Default: 0

Left padding.

##### paddingRight

Type: number\
Default: 0

Right padding.

##### paddingX

Type: number\
Default: 0

Horizontal padding. Equivalent to setting paddingLeft and paddingRight.

##### paddingY

Type: number\
Default: 0

Vertical padding. Equivalent to setting paddingTop and paddingBottom.

##### padding

Type: number\
Default: 0

Padding on all sides. Equivalent to setting paddingTop, paddingBottom, paddingLeft and paddingRight.

`jsx
Top
Bottom
Left
Right
Left and right
Top and bottom
Top, bottom, left and right
`

#### Margin

##### marginTop

Type: number\
Default: 0

Top margin.

##### marginBottom

Type: number\
Default: 0

Bottom margin.

##### marginLeft

Type: number\
Default: 0

Left margin.

##### marginRight

Type: number\
Default: 0

Right margin.

##### marginX

Type: number\
Default: 0

Horizontal margin. Equivalent to setting marginLeft and marginRight.

##### marginY

Type: number\
Default: 0

Vertical margin. Equivalent to setting marginTop and marginBottom.

##### margin

Type: number\
Default: 0

Margin on all sides. Equivalent to setting marginTop, marginBottom, marginLeft and marginRight.

`jsx
Top
Bottom
Left
Right
Left and right
Top and bottom
Top, bottom, left and right
`

#### Gap

#### gap

Type: number\
Default: 0

Size of the gap between an element's columns and rows. A shorthand for columnGap and rowGap.

`jsx

A
B
C

// A B
//
// C
`

#### columnGap

Type: number\
Default: 0

Size of the gap between an element's columns.

`jsx

A
B

// A B
`

#### rowGap

Type: number\
Default: 0

Size of the gap between an element's rows.

`jsx

A
B

// A
//
// B
`

#### Flex

##### flexGrow

Type: number\
Default: 0

See flex-grow.

`jsx

Label:

Fills all remaining space


`

##### flexShrink

Type: number\
Default: 1

See flex-shrink.

`jsx


Will be 1/4


Will be 3/4


`

##### flexBasis

Type: number string

See flex-basis.

`jsx


X

Y

//=> 'X Y'
`

`jsx


X

Y

//=> 'X Y'
`

##### flexDirection

Type: string\
Allowed values: row row-reverse column column-reverse

See flex-direction.

`jsx


X

Y

// X Y


X

Y


// Y X


X
Y

// X
// Y


X
Y

// Y
// X
`

##### flexWrap

Type: string\
Allowed values: nowrap wrap wrap-reverse

See flex-wrap.

`jsx

A
BC

// A
// B C
`

`jsx

A
B
C

// A C
// B
`

##### alignItems

Type: string\
Allowed values: flex-start center flex-end

See align-items.

`jsx


X


A

B

C


// X A
// B
// C



X


A

B

C


// A
// X B
// C



X


A

B

C


// A
// B
// X C
`

##### alignSelf

Type: string\
Default: auto\
Allowed values: auto flex-start center flex-end

See align-self.

`jsx


X


// X
//
//



X


//
// X
//



X


//
//
// X
`

##### justifyContent

Type: string\
Allowed values: flex-start center flex-end space-between space-around space-evenly

See justify-content.

`jsx

X

// [X ]


X

// [ X ]


X

// [ X]


X
Y

// [X Y]


X
Y

// [ X Y ]


X
Y

// [ X Y ]
`

#### Visibility

##### display

Type: string\
Allowed values: flex none\
Default: flex

Set this property to none to hide the element.

##### overflowX

Type: string\
Allowed values: visible hidden\
Default: visible

Behavior for an element's overflow in the horizontal direction.

##### overflowY

Type: string\
Allowed values: visible hidden\
Default: visible

Behavior for an element's overflow in the vertical direction.

##### overflow

Type: string\
Allowed values: visible hidden\
Default: visible

A shortcut for setting overflowX and overflowY at the same time.

#### Borders

##### borderStyle

Type: string\
Allowed values: single double round bold singleDouble doubleSingle classic | BoxStyle

Add a border with a specified style.
If borderStyle is undefined (the default), no border will be added.
Ink uses border styles from the cli-boxes module.

`jsx



single



double



round



bold





singleDouble



doubleSingle



classic



`

Alternatively, pass a custom border style like so:

`jsx
borderStyle={{
topLeft: '↘',
top: '↓',
topRight: '↙',
left: '→',
bottomLeft: '↗',
bottom: '↑',
bottomRight: '↖',
right: '←'
}}
>
Custom

`

See example in examples/borders.

##### borderColor

Type: string

Change border color.
A shorthand for setting borderTopColor, borderRightColor, borderBottomColor, and borderLeftColor.

`jsx

Green Rounded Box

`

##### borderTopColor

Type: string

Change top border color.
Accepts the same values as color in component.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderRightColor

Type: string

Change the right border color.
Accepts the same values as color in component.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderBottomColor

Type: string

Change the bottom border color.
Accepts the same values as color in component.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderLeftColor

Type: string

Change the left border color.
Accepts the same values as color in component.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderDimColor

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Dim the border color.
A shorthand for setting borderTopDimColor, borderBottomDimColor, borderLeftDimColor, and borderRightDimColor.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderTopDimColor

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Dim the top border color.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderBottomDimColor

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Dim the bottom border color.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderLeftDimColor

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Dim the left border color.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderRightDimColor

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Dim the right border color.

`jsx

Hello world

`

##### borderTop

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Determines whether the top border is visible.

##### borderRight

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Determines whether the right border is visible.

##### borderBottom

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Determines whether the bottom border is visible.

##### borderLeft

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Determines whether the left border is visible.

#### Background

##### backgroundColor

Type: string

Background color for the element.

Accepts the same values as color in the component.

`jsx


Red background



Orange background



Green background


`

The background color fills the entire area and is inherited by child components unless they specify their own backgroundColor.

`jsx

Blue inherited
Yellow override
Blue inherited again

`

Background colors work with borders and padding:

`jsx

Background with border and padding

`

See example in examples/box-backgrounds.

$3

Adds one or more newline (\n) characters.
Must be used within components.

#### count

Type: number\
Default: 1

Number of newlines to insert.

`jsx
import {render, Text, Newline} from 'ink';

const Example = () => (

Hello

World

);

render();
`

Output:

`
Hello
World
`

$3

A flexible space that expands along the major axis of its containing layout.
It's useful as a shortcut for filling all the available space between elements.

For example, using in a with default flex direction (row) will position "Left" on the left side and will push "Right" to the right side.

`jsx
import {render, Box, Text, Spacer} from 'ink';

const Example = () => (

Left

Right

);

render();
`

In a vertical flex direction (column), it will position "Top" at the top of the container and push "Bottom" to the bottom.
Note that the container needs to be tall enough to see this in effect.

`jsx
import {render, Box, Text, Spacer} from 'ink';

const Example = () => (

Top

Bottom

);

render();
`

$3

component permanently renders its output above everything else.
It's useful for displaying activity like completed tasks or logs - things that
don't change after they're rendered (hence the name "Static").

It's preferred to use for use cases like these when you can't know
or control the number of items that need to be rendered.

For example, Tap uses to display
a list of completed tests. Gatsby uses it
to display a list of generated pages while still displaying a live progress bar.

`jsx
import React, {useState, useEffect} from 'react';
import {render, Static, Box, Text} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const [tests, setTests] = useState([]);

useEffect(() => {
let completedTests = 0;
let timer;

const run = () => {
// Fake 10 completed tests
if (completedTests++ < 10) {
setTests(previousTests => [
...previousTests,
{
id: previousTests.length,
title: Test #${previousTests.length + 1}
}
]);

timer = setTimeout(run, 100);
}
};

run();

return () => {
clearTimeout(timer);
};
}, []);

return (
<>
{/ This part will be rendered once to the terminal /}

{test => (

✔ {test.title}

)}


{/ This part keeps updating as state changes /}

Completed tests: {tests.length}


);
};

render();
`

Note: only renders new items in the items prop and ignores items
that were previously rendered. This means that when you add new items to the items
array, changes you make to previous items will not trigger a rerender.

See examples/static for an example usage of component.

#### items

Type: Array

Array of items of any type to render using the function you pass as a component child.

#### style

Type: object

Styles to apply to a container of child elements.
See for supported properties.

`jsx

{...}

`

#### children(item)

Type: Function

Function that is called to render every item in the items array.
The first argument is the item itself, and the second argument is the index of that item in the
items array.

Note that a key must be assigned to the root component.

`jsx

{(item, index) => {
// This function is called for every item in ['a', 'b', 'c']
// item is 'a', 'b', 'c'
// index is 0, 1, 2
return (

Item: {item}

);
}}

`

$3

Transform a string representation of React components before they're written to output.
For example, you might want to apply a gradient to text, add a clickable link, or create some text effects.
These use cases can't accept React nodes as input; they expect a string.
That's what the component does: it gives you an output string of its child components and lets you transform it in any way.

Note: must be applied only to children components and shouldn't change the dimensions of the output; otherwise, the layout will be incorrect.

`jsx
import {render, Transform} from 'ink';

const Example = () => (
output.toUpperCase()}>
Hello World

);

render();
`

Since the transform function converts all characters to uppercase, the final output rendered to the terminal will be "HELLO WORLD", not "Hello World".

When the output wraps to multiple lines, it can be helpful to know which line is being processed.

For example, to implement a hanging indent component, you can indent all the lines except for the first.

`jsx
import {render, Transform} from 'ink';

const HangingIndent = ({content, indent = 4, children, ...props}) => (
transform={(line, index) =>
index === 0 ? line : ' '.repeat(indent) + line
}
{...props}
>
{children}

);

const text =
'WHEN I WROTE the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, ' +
'I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a ' +
'house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, ' +
'in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor ' +
'of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At ' +
'present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.';

// Other text properties are allowed as well
render(

{text}

);
`

#### transform(outputLine, index)

Type: Function

Function that transforms children output.
It accepts children and must return transformed children as well.

##### children

Type: string

Output of child components.

##### index

Type: number

The zero-indexed line number of the line that's currently being transformed.

Hooks

$3

This hook is used for handling user input.
It's a more convenient alternative to using useStdin and listening for data events.
The callback you pass to useInput is called for each character when the user enters any input.
However, if the user pastes text and it's more than one character, the callback will be called only once, and the whole string will be passed as input.
You can find a full example of using useInput at examples/use-input.

`jsx
import {useInput} from 'ink';

const UserInput = () => {
useInput((input, key) => {
if (input === 'q') {
// Exit program
}

if (key.leftArrow) {
// Left arrow key pressed
}
});

return …
};
`

#### inputHandler(input, key)

Type: Function

The handler function that you pass to useInput receives two arguments:

##### input

Type: string

The input that the program received.

##### key

Type: object

Handy information about a key that was pressed.

###### key.leftArrow

###### key.rightArrow

###### key.upArrow

###### key.downArrow

Type: boolean\
Default: false

If an arrow key was pressed, the corresponding property will be true.
For example, if the user presses the left arrow key, key.leftArrow equals true.

###### key.return

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Return (Enter) key was pressed.

###### key.escape

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Escape key was pressed.

###### key.ctrl

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Ctrl key was pressed.

###### key.shift

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Shift key was pressed.

###### key.tab

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Tab key was pressed.

###### key.backspace

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Backspace key was pressed.

###### key.delete

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Delete key was pressed.

###### key.pageDown

###### key.pageUp

Type: boolean\
Default: false

If the Page Up or Page Down key was pressed, the corresponding property will be true.
For example, if the user presses Page Down, key.pageDown equals true.

###### key.meta

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Meta key was pressed.

#### options

Type: object

##### isActive

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Enable or disable capturing of user input.
Useful when there are multiple useInput hooks used at once to avoid handling the same input several times.

$3

useApp is a React hook that exposes a method to manually exit the app (unmount).

#### exit(error?)

Type: Function

Exit (unmount) the whole Ink app.

##### error

Type: Error

Optional error. If passed, waitUntilExit will reject with that error.

`js
import {useApp} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {exit} = useApp();

// Exit the app after 5 seconds
useEffect(() => {
setTimeout(() => {
exit();
}, 5000);
}, []);

return …
};
`

$3

useStdin is a React hook that exposes the stdin stream.

#### stdin

Type: stream.Readable\
Default: process.stdin

The stdin stream passed to render() in options.stdin, or process.stdin by default.
Useful if your app needs to handle user input.

`js
import {useStdin} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {stdin} = useStdin();

return …
};
`

#### isRawModeSupported

Type: boolean

A boolean flag determining if the current stdin supports setRawMode.
A component using setRawMode might want to use isRawModeSupported to nicely fall back in environments where raw mode is not supported.

`jsx
import {useStdin} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {isRawModeSupported} = useStdin();

return isRawModeSupported ? (

) : (

);
};
`

#### setRawMode(isRawModeEnabled)

Type: function

##### isRawModeEnabled

Type: boolean

See setRawMode.
Ink exposes this function to be able to handle Ctrl+C, that's why you should use Ink's setRawMode instead of process.stdin.setRawMode.

Warning: This function will throw unless the current stdin supports setRawMode. Use isRawModeSupported to detect setRawMode support.

`js
import {useStdin} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {setRawMode} = useStdin();

useEffect(() => {
setRawMode(true);

return () => {
setRawMode(false);
};
});

return …
};
`

$3

useStdout is a React hook that exposes the stdout stream where Ink renders your app.

#### stdout

Type: stream.Writable\
Default: process.stdout

`js
import {useStdout} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {stdout} = useStdout();

return …
};
`

#### write(data)

Write any string to stdout while preserving Ink's output.
It's useful when you want to display external information outside of Ink's rendering and ensure there's no conflict between the two.
It's similar to , except it can't accept components; it only works with strings.

##### data

Type: string

Data to write to stdout.

`js
import {useStdout} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {write} = useStdout();

useEffect(() => {
// Write a single message to stdout, above Ink's output
write('Hello from Ink to stdout\n');
}, []);

return …
};
`

See additional usage example in examples/use-stdout.

$3

useStderr is a React hook that exposes the stderr stream.

#### stderr

Type: stream.Writable\
Default: process.stderr

Stderr stream.

`js
import {useStderr} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {stderr} = useStderr();

return …
};
`

#### write(data)

Write any string to stderr while preserving Ink's output.

It's useful when you want to display external information outside of Ink's rendering and ensure there's no conflict between the two.
It's similar to , except it can't accept components; it only works with strings.

##### data

Type: string

Data to write to stderr.

`js
import {useStderr} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {write} = useStderr();

useEffect(() => {
// Write a single message to stderr, above Ink's output
write('Hello from Ink to stderr\n');
}, []);

return …
};
`

$3

A component that uses the useFocus hook becomes "focusable" to Ink, so when the user presses Tab, Ink will switch focus to this component.
If there are multiple components that execute the useFocus hook, focus will be given to them in the order in which these components are rendered.
This hook returns an object with an isFocused boolean property, which determines whether this component is focused.

#### options

##### autoFocus

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Auto-focus this component if there's no active (focused) component right now.

##### isActive

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Enable or disable this component's focus, while still maintaining its position in the list of focusable components.
This is useful for inputs that are temporarily disabled.

##### id

Type: string\
Required: false

Set a component's focus ID, which can be used to programmatically focus the component. This is useful for large interfaces with many focusable elements to avoid having to cycle through all of them.

`jsx
import {render, useFocus, Text} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {isFocused} = useFocus();

return {isFocused ? 'I am focused' : 'I am not focused'};
};

render();
`

See example in examples/use-focus and examples/use-focus-with-id.

$3

This hook exposes methods to enable or disable focus management for all components or manually switch focus to the next or previous components.

#### enableFocus()

Enable focus management for all components.

Note: You don't need to call this method manually unless you've disabled focus management. Focus management is enabled by default.

`js
import {useFocusManager} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {enableFocus} = useFocusManager();

useEffect(() => {
enableFocus();
}, []);

return …
};
`

#### disableFocus()

Disable focus management for all components.
The currently active component (if there's one) will lose its focus.

`js
import {useFocusManager} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {disableFocus} = useFocusManager();

useEffect(() => {
disableFocus();
}, []);

return …
};
`

#### focusNext()

Switch focus to the next focusable component.
If there's no active component right now, focus will be given to the first focusable component.
If the active component is the last in the list of focusable components, focus will be switched to the first focusable component.

Note: Ink calls this method when user presses Tab.

`js
import {useFocusManager} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {focusNext} = useFocusManager();

useEffect(() => {
focusNext();
}, []);

return …
};
`

#### focusPrevious()

Switch focus to the previous focusable component.
If there's no active component right now, focus will be given to the first focusable component.
If the active component is the first in the list of focusable components, focus will be switched to the last focusable component.

Note: Ink calls this method when user presses Shift+Tab.

`js
import {useFocusManager} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {focusPrevious} = useFocusManager();

useEffect(() => {
focusPrevious();
}, []);

return …
};
`

#### focus(id)

##### id

Type: string

Switch focus to the component with the given id.
If there's no component with that ID, focus will be given to the next focusable component.

`js
import {useFocusManager, useInput} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const {focus} = useFocusManager();

useInput(input => {
if (input === 's') {
// Focus the component with focus ID 'someId'
focus('someId');
}
});

return …
};
`

$3

Returns whether a screen reader is enabled. This is useful when you want to render different output for screen readers.

`jsx
import {useIsScreenReaderEnabled, Text} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const isScreenReaderEnabled = useIsScreenReaderEnabled();

return (

{isScreenReaderEnabled
? 'Screen reader is enabled'
: 'Screen reader is disabled'}

);
};
`

API

#### render(tree, options?)

Returns: Instance

Mount a component and render the output.

##### tree

Type: ReactElement

##### options

Type: object

###### stdout

Type: stream.Writable\
Default: process.stdout

Output stream where the app will be rendered.

###### stdin

Type: stream.Readable\
Default: process.stdin

Input stream where app will listen for input.

###### stderr

Type: stream.Writable\
Default: process.stderr

Error stream.

###### exitOnCtrlC

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Configure whether Ink should listen for Ctrl+C keyboard input and exit the app.
This is needed in case process.stdin is in raw mode, because then Ctrl+C is ignored by default and the process is expected to handle it manually.

###### patchConsole

Type: boolean\
Default: true

Patch console methods to ensure console output doesn't mix with Ink's output.
When any of the console.* methods are called (like console.log()), Ink intercepts their output, clears the main output, renders output from the console method, and then rerenders the main output again.
That way, both are visible and don't overlap each other.

This functionality is powered by patch-console, so if you need to disable Ink's interception of output but want to build something custom, you can use that.

###### onRender

Type: ({renderTime: number}) => void\
Default: undefined

Runs the given callback after each render and re-render with a metrics object.

###### debug

Type: boolean\
Default: false

If true, each update will be rendered as separate output, without replacing the previous one.

###### maxFps

Type: number\
Default: 30

Maximum frames per second for render updates.
This controls how frequently the UI can update to prevent excessive re-rendering.
Higher values allow more frequent updates but may impact performance.
Setting it to a lower value may be useful for components that update very frequently, to reduce CPU usage.

###### incrementalRendering

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Enable incremental rendering mode which only updates changed lines instead of redrawing the entire output.
This can reduce flickering and improve performance for frequently updating UIs.

#### Instance

This is the object that render() returns.

##### rerender(tree)

Replace the previous root node with a new one or update the props of the current root node.

###### tree

Type: ReactElement

`jsx
// Update props of the root node
const {rerender} = render();
rerender();

// Replace root node
const {rerender} = render();
rerender();
`

##### unmount()

Manually unmount the whole Ink app.

`jsx
const {unmount} = render();
unmount();
`

##### waitUntilExit()

Returns a promise that resolves when the app is unmounted.

`jsx
const {unmount, waitUntilExit} = render();

setTimeout(unmount, 1000);

await waitUntilExit(); // resolves after unmount() is called
`

##### clear()

Clear output.

`jsx
const {clear} = render();
clear();
`

#### measureElement(ref)

Measure the dimensions of a particular element.
Returns an object with width and height properties.
This function is useful when your component needs to know the amount of available space it has. You can use it when you need to change the layout based on the length of its content.

Note: measureElement() returns correct results only after the initial render, when the layout has been calculated. Until then, width and height equal zero. It's recommended to call measureElement() in a useEffect hook, which fires after the component has rendered.

##### ref

Type: MutableRef

A reference to a element captured with the ref property.
See Refs for more information on how to capture references.

`jsx
import {render, measureElement, Box, Text} from 'ink';

const Example = () => {
const ref = useRef();

useEffect(() => {
const {width, height} = measureElement(ref.current);
// width = 100, height = 1
}, []);

return (


This box will stretch to 100 width


);
};

render();
`

Testing

Ink components are simple to test with ink-testing-library.
Here's a simple example that checks how the component is rendered:

`jsx
import React from 'react';
import {Text} from 'ink';
import {render} from 'ink-testing-library';

const Test = () => Hello World;
const {lastFrame} = render();

lastFrame() === 'Hello World'; //=> true
`

Check out ink-testing-library for more examples and full documentation.

Using React Devtools

![](media/devtools.jpg)

Ink supports React Devtools out of the box. To enable integration with React Devtools in your Ink-based CLI, first ensure you have installed the optional react-devtools-core dependency, and then run your app with the DEV=true environment variable:

`sh
DEV=true my-cli
`

Then, start React Devtools itself:

`sh
npx react-devtools
`

After it starts, you should see the component tree of your CLI.
You can even inspect and change the props of components, and see the results immediately in the CLI, without restarting it.

Note: You must manually quit your CLI via Ctrl+C after you're done testing.

Screen Reader Support

Ink has basic support for screen readers.

To enable it, you can either pass the isScreenReaderEnabled option to the render function or set the INK_SCREEN_READER environment variable to true.

Ink implements a small subset of functionality from the ARIA specification.

`jsx
render(, {isScreenReaderEnabled: true});
`

When screen reader support is enabled, Ink will try its best to generate a screen-reader-friendly output.

For example, for this code:

`jsx

Accept terms and conditions

`

Ink will generate the following output for screen readers:

`
(checked) checkbox: Accept terms and conditions
`

You can also provide a custom label for screen readers if you want to render something different for them.

For example, if you are building a progress bar, you can use aria-label to provide a more descriptive label for screen readers.

`jsx


50%

`

In the example above, the screen reader will read "Progress: 50%" instead of "50%".

$3

Type: string

A label for the element for screen readers.

$3

Type: boolean\
Default: false

Hide the element from screen readers.

##### aria-role

Type: string

The role of the element.

Supported values:
- button
- checkbox
- radio
- radiogroup
- list
- listitem
- menu
- menuitem
- progressbar
- tab
- tablist
- timer
- toolbar
- table

##### aria-state

Type: object

The state of the element.

Supported values:
- checked (boolean)
- disabled (boolean)
- expanded (boolean)
- selected (boolean)

Creating Components

When building custom components, it's important to keep accessibility in mind. While Ink provides the building blocks, ensuring your components are accessible will make your CLIs usable by a wider audience.

$3

- Provide screen reader-friendly output: Use the useIsScreenReaderEnabled hook to detect if a screen reader is active. You can then render more descriptive output for screen reader users.
- Leverage ARIA props: For components that have a specific role (e.g., a checkbox or button), use the aria-role, aria-state, and aria-label props on and to provide semantic meaning to screen readers.

For a practical example of building an accessible component, see the ARIA example.

Useful Components

- ink-text-input - Text input.
- ink-spinner - Spinner.
- ink-select-input - Select (dropdown) input.
- ink-link - Link.
- ink-gradient - Gradient color.
- ink-big-text - Awesome text.
- ink-picture - Display images.
- ink-tab - Tab.
- ink-color-pipe - Create color text with simpler style strings.
- ink-multi-select - Select one or more values from a list
- ink-divider - A divider.
- ink-progress-bar - Progress bar.
- ink-table - Table.
- ink-ascii - Awesome text component with more font choices, based on Figlet.
- ink-markdown - Render syntax highlighted Markdown.
- ink-quicksearch-input - Select component with fast, quicksearch-like navigation.
- ink-confirm-input - Yes/No confirmation input.
- ink-syntax-highlight - Code syntax highlighting.
- ink-form - Form.
- ink-task-list - Task list.
- ink-spawn - Spawn child processes.
- ink-titled-box - Box with a title.
- ink-chart - Sparkline and bar chart.
- ink-scroll-view - Scroll container.
- ink-scroll-list - Scrollable list.

Useful Hooks

- ink-use-stdout-dimensions - Subscribe to stdout dimensions.

Examples

The examples directory contains a set of real examples. You can run them with:

`bash
npm run example examples/[example name]


e.g. npm run example examples/borders

- Jest - Implementation of basic Jest UI.
- Counter - A simple counter that increments every 100ms.
- Form with validation - Manage form state using Final Form.
- Borders - Add borders to the component.
- Suspense - Use React Suspense.
- Table - Renders a table with multiple columns and rows.
- Focus management - Use the useFocus hook to manage focus between components.
- User input - Listen for user input.
- Write to stdout - Write to stdout, bypassing main Ink output.
- Write to stderr - Write to stderr, bypassing main Ink output.
- Static - Use the ` component to render permanent output.
- Child process - Renders output from a child process.

Maintainers

- Vadim Demedes
- Sindre Sorhus