Console Overlay

OpenTUI includes a powerful built-in console overlay that captures all console output (console.log, console.info, console.warn, console.error, console.debug) and displays it in a visual overlay without disrupting your main interface.

Quick Start

The console is automatically available in every OpenTUI application. Press ` (backtick) to toggle it.

import { createCliRenderer } from "@opentui/core"

const renderer = await createCliRenderer()

// Console is ready - just use it!
console.log("This appears in the overlay")
console.error("Errors are color-coded red")
console.warn("Warnings appear in yellow")

// Toggle console with backtick or programmatically
renderer.console.toggle()

Configuration

Customize the console when creating the renderer:

import { createCliRenderer, ConsolePosition } from "@opentui/core"

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    position: ConsolePosition.BOTTOM,    // TOP, BOTTOM, LEFT, or RIGHT
    sizePercent: 30,                     // 30% of terminal size
    colorInfo: "#00FFFF",                // Cyan for info messages
    colorWarn: "#FFFF00",                // Yellow for warnings
    colorError: "#FF0000",               // Red for errors
    colorDebug: "#808080",               // Gray for debug
    colorDefault: "#FFFFFF",             // White for log
    backgroundColor: "rgba(0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.7)", // Semi-transparent background
    titleBarColor: "rgba(0.05, 0.05, 0.05, 0.7)",
    titleBarTextColor: "#FFFFFF",
    title: "Debug Console",
    startInDebugMode: false,             // Show caller info
    maxStoredLogs: 2000,                 // Max logs to keep
    maxDisplayLines: 3000,               // Max lines to display
  },
})

Console Positions

The console can be positioned at any edge:

Bottom (Default)
Top
Left
Right

import { ConsolePosition } from "@opentui/core"

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    position: ConsolePosition.BOTTOM,
    sizePercent: 30,
  },
})

Best for most applications - doesn’t interfere with typical layouts.

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    position: ConsolePosition.TOP,
    sizePercent: 25,
  },
})

Useful for applications with important footer information.

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    position: ConsolePosition.LEFT,
    sizePercent: 40,
  },
})

Good for wide terminals with horizontal layouts.

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    position: ConsolePosition.RIGHT,
    sizePercent: 40,
  },
})

Ideal for sidebar-style debugging.

Keyboard Controls

When the console is focused, you can navigate and control it:

Key	Action
`	Toggle console (show/hide/focus)
`↑` / `↓`	Scroll up/down one line
`Shift+↑`	Jump to top
`Shift+↓`	Jump to bottom
`Ctrl+P`	Move to previous position (top → right → bottom → left)
`Ctrl+O`	Move to next position
`+` or `Shift+=`	Increase console size
`-`	Decrease console size
`Ctrl+S`	Save logs to file
`Ctrl+Shift+C`	Copy selected text (if selection exists)
`Escape`	Unfocus console (keep visible)

Programmatic Control

Show, Hide, and Toggle

// Show console
renderer.console.show()

// Hide console
renderer.console.hide()

// Toggle (show if hidden, focus if visible but not focused, hide if focused)
renderer.console.toggle()

// Focus console
renderer.console.focus()

// Unfocus console
renderer.console.blur()

// Check visibility
if (renderer.console.visible) {
  console.log("Console is visible")
}

Clear Console

// Clear all console logs
renderer.console.clear()

Log Levels and Colors

Different log levels are automatically color-coded:

console.log("Regular message")
console.log("Data:", { key: "value" })
console.log("Multiple", "arguments", 123)
// Color: White (colorDefault)

Debug Mode

Enable debug mode to show caller information (file name, line number) with each log:

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    startInDebugMode: true,
  },
})

// Or toggle at runtime
renderer.console.setDebugMode(true)
renderer.console.toggleDebugMode()

With debug mode enabled:

[12:34:56] [LOG] [app.ts:42] User logged in
[12:34:57] [ERROR] [database.ts:128] Connection failed

Text Selection and Copy

Select text in the console with mouse drag or keyboard, then copy it:

Mouse Selection

Click and drag to select text
Click the [Copy] button or press Ctrl+Shift+C

Custom Copy Handler

Handle the copy action yourself (e.g., to copy to system clipboard):

renderer.console.onCopySelection = (text: string) => {
  // Copy to clipboard using OSC 52 (works over SSH)
  const success = renderer.copyToClipboardOSC52(text)
  
  if (success) {
    console.info(`Copied ${text.length} characters to clipboard`)
  } else {
    console.warn("Clipboard copy not supported")
  }
}

Custom Key Bindings

Customize the copy shortcut:

renderer.console.keyBindings = [
  { name: "y", ctrl: true, action: "copy-selection" },
]

Saving Logs

Save console output to a file:

// Press Ctrl+S when console is focused
// Or programmatically:

import { writeFileSync } from "fs"

const logs = renderer.console.getCachedLogs()
writeFileSync("console.log", logs)
console.info("Logs saved to console.log")

Saved logs include timestamps and log levels:

2024-01-15T12:34:56.789Z [LOG] Application started
2024-01-15T12:34:57.123Z [INFO] Connected to database
2024-01-15T12:35:00.456Z [WARN] Cache miss for key: user:123

Environment Variables

Control console behavior via environment variables:

# Disable console capture
OTUI_USE_CONSOLE=false bun app.ts

# Show console at startup
SHOW_CONSOLE=true bun app.ts

import { env } from "@opentui/core"

if (env.SHOW_CONSOLE) {
  renderer.console.show()
}

Advanced: Custom Key Bindings

Completely customize console keyboard controls:

import type { ConsoleKeyBinding } from "@opentui/core"

const customBindings: ConsoleKeyBinding[] = [
  // Vim-style navigation
  { name: "k", action: "scroll-up" },
  { name: "j", action: "scroll-down" },
  { name: "g", shift: true, action: "scroll-to-bottom" },
  
  // Custom shortcuts
  { name: "y", ctrl: true, action: "copy-selection" },
  { name: "w", ctrl: true, action: "save-logs" },
]

renderer.console.keyBindings = customBindings

Available actions:

scroll-up - Scroll up one line
scroll-down - Scroll down one line
scroll-to-top - Jump to top
scroll-to-bottom - Jump to bottom
position-previous - Move to previous edge
position-next - Move to next edge
size-increase - Make console larger
size-decrease - Make console smaller
save-logs - Save logs to file
copy-selection - Copy selected text

Complete Example

import { createCliRenderer, ConsolePosition, BoxRenderable, TextRenderable } from "@opentui/core"

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  exitOnCtrlC: true,
  consoleOptions: {
    position: ConsolePosition.BOTTOM,
    sizePercent: 35,
    colorInfo: "#00FFFF",
    colorWarn: "#FFFF00",
    colorError: "#FF0000",
    colorDebug: "#808080",
    title: "Debug Console",
    startInDebugMode: true,
  },
})

renderer.setBackgroundColor("#001122")

// Setup copy handler
renderer.console.onCopySelection = (text: string) => {
  renderer.copyToClipboardOSC52(text)
  console.info(`Copied: "${text.substring(0, 50)}..."")`)
}

// Custom key bindings
renderer.console.keyBindings = [
  { name: "y", ctrl: true, action: "copy-selection" },
]

// Show console at startup
renderer.console.show()

// Create UI
const header = new BoxRenderable(renderer, {
  id: "header",
  height: 3,
  backgroundColor: "#3b82f6",
  borderStyle: "single",
  alignItems: "center",
})

const title = new TextRenderable(renderer, {
  id: "title",
  content: "CONSOLE DEMO - Press ` to toggle console",
  fg: "#FFFFFF",
})

header.add(title)
renderer.root.add(header)

// Log some messages
console.log("Application started")
console.info("Console overlay is ready")
console.warn("This is a warning")
console.debug("Debug info:", { timestamp: Date.now() })

renderer.start()

// Simulate periodic logging
let counter = 0
setInterval(() => {
  counter++
  console.log(`Update #${counter}`, { time: new Date().toISOString() })
  
  if (counter % 5 === 0) {
    console.info(`Milestone reached: ${counter}`)
  }
  
  if (counter === 10) {
    console.warn("Counter approaching limit")
  }
  
  if (counter > 15) {
    console.error("Counter exceeded limit!", { counter, limit: 15 })
  }
}, 2000)

Performance Tips

Limit Log Retention

Set reasonable limits for stored logs:

const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
  consoleOptions: {
    maxStoredLogs: 1000,   // Keep last 1000 log entries
    maxDisplayLines: 2000, // Display max 2000 lines
  },
})

Disable When Not Needed

Disable console capture in production:

# In production
OTUI_USE_CONSOLE=false bun app.ts

Use Debug Mode Sparingly

Debug mode collects stack traces which adds overhead:

// Enable only when debugging
if (process.env.NODE_ENV === "development") {
  renderer.console.setDebugMode(true)
}

Common Issues

Console Not Showing

Check if console is enabled:

// Activate console capture
renderer.console.activate()

// Show console
renderer.console.show()

Logs Not Appearing

Ensure you’re using console methods after renderer is created:

const renderer = await createCliRenderer()

// Now console.log will be captured
console.log("This works!")

Can't Copy Text

Provide a copy handler:

renderer.console.onCopySelection = (text) => {
  renderer.copyToClipboardOSC52(text)
}

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Framework Integrations

Advanced

Console Overlay

Quick Start

Configuration

Console Positions

Keyboard Controls

Programmatic Control

Show, Hide, and Toggle

Clear Console

Log Levels and Colors

Debug Mode

Text Selection and Copy

Mouse Selection

Custom Copy Handler

Custom Key Bindings

Saving Logs

Environment Variables

Advanced: Custom Key Bindings

Complete Example

Performance Tips

Common Issues

Next Steps

Animations

3D Rendering

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Framework Integrations

Advanced

Documentation Index

​Quick Start

​Configuration

​Console Positions

​Keyboard Controls

​Programmatic Control

​Show, Hide, and Toggle

​Clear Console

​Log Levels and Colors

​Debug Mode

​Text Selection and Copy

​Mouse Selection

​Custom Copy Handler

​Custom Key Bindings

​Saving Logs

​Environment Variables

​Advanced: Custom Key Bindings

​Complete Example

​Performance Tips

​Common Issues

​Next Steps

Animations

3D Rendering

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Quick Start

Configuration

Console Positions

Keyboard Controls

Programmatic Control

Show, Hide, and Toggle

Clear Console

Log Levels and Colors

Debug Mode

Text Selection and Copy

Mouse Selection

Custom Copy Handler

Custom Key Bindings

Saving Logs

Environment Variables

Advanced: Custom Key Bindings

Complete Example

Performance Tips

Common Issues

Next Steps