SharpConsoleUI Examples

This document provides an overview of all example applications demonstrating SharpConsoleUI capabilities.

Video Demo

SharpConsoleUI Video Demo

Watch SharpConsoleUI examples in action on YouTube

Quick Start

Run any example with:

dotnet run --project Examples/<ExampleName>

Real-World Applications

Production applications built with SharpConsoleUI.

ServerHub

Production-ready Linux server control panel.

ServerHub Dashboard

Project: github.com/nickprotop/ServerHub

Terminal-based control panel for Linux servers and homelabs with 14 bundled widgets for monitoring CPU, memory, disk, network, Docker containers, systemd services, and more.

Key Features:

  • Real-time system monitoring dashboard
  • Widget-based architecture with 14 built-in widgets
  • Network traffic visualization with historical trends
  • Widget browser with search and filtering
  • Custom widget support (any language)
  • Context-aware actions system
Main Dashboard Network Traffic Widget Browser
Main Network Widgets

LazyNuGet

A lazygit-inspired terminal UI for managing NuGet packages across .NET solutions.

LazyNuGet Dashboard

Project: github.com/nickprotop/lazynuget

Keyboard-driven TUI for browsing projects, checking for updates, installing/removing/updating packages, searching NuGet.org, and managing multiple package sources. Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS).

Key Features:

  • Interactive dashboard with project and package browsing
  • NuGet.org search with package details and dependency trees
  • Update strategies (latest stable, latest including prerelease, by constraint)
  • Multi-source support with credential management
  • CPM (Central Package Management) migration wizard
  • Operation history with undo support
Dashboard Search NuGet.org Dependency Tree
Dashboard Search Deps

LazyDotIDE

A lightweight console-based .NET IDE with LSP IntelliSense.

LazyDotIDE Editor

Project: github.com/nickprotop/lazydotide

Console-based .NET IDE with LSP-powered IntelliSense, built-in terminal, and git integration. Works over SSH, in containers, anywhere you have a console.

Key Features:

  • LSP IntelliSense with code completion and diagnostics
  • Built-in terminal emulator (PTY-based)
  • Git integration with commit dialog and change tracking
  • Multi-file editing with tab navigation
  • Works over SSH and in containers
Editor + IntelliSense Git Integration
IntelliSense Git

Showcase Examples

The best visual demonstrations of SharpConsoleUI capabilities, ordered by impact.

DemoApp

The flagship demo — six independent windows running simultaneously.

DemoApp

dotnet run --project Examples/DemoApp

Key Features:

  • Six independent windows running simultaneously (Terminal, Canvas, DataGrid, System Info, Image Viewer, and the launcher)
  • TerminalControl with PTY-backed shell
  • CanvasControl with interactive starfield and plasma effects
  • TableControl (DataGrid) with 10,000 virtual rows, sorting, filtering, and cell editing
  • ImageControl rendering images directly in the terminal
  • Full markup syntax showcase with colors, decorations, and gradients
  • Async window threads with CancellationToken
  • Theme switching and window taskbar navigation

Controls: Ctrl+O to open demo windows, Alt+1-6 to switch

Markup, Gradients & International Text File Explorer, DataGrid & Package Manager NavigationView Launcher
Markup Demo Windows Demo NavigationView

Full-screen desktop-style application using the NavigationView pattern — the same sidebar + content layout found in native GUI frameworks like WinUI, GTK, and Qt.

NavigationViewDemo Dashboard

dotnet run --project Examples/NavigationViewDemo

This example demonstrates that SharpConsoleUI applications aren't limited to traditional terminal utilities. The NavigationView pattern produces applications that look and behave like native desktop software — with a navigation sidebar, content switching, gradient backgrounds, and rich interactive controls — the only difference is that every pixel is a character cell rendered in the terminal.

Key Features:

  • Full-screen borderless window with diagonal gradient background
  • Responsive NavigationView with WinUI-inspired display modes (Expanded, Compact, Minimal)
  • NavigationView with collapsible header groups and content switching
  • 9 content pages: Dashboard, Getting Started, Buttons & Inputs, Lists & Trees, Data Visualization, Layout, Colors & Gradients, Typography, About
  • Interactive controls: progress bars, sparklines, bar graphs, checkboxes, buttons, lists, trees, text input
  • Keyboard-driven navigation (Tab, arrows, Enter) and mouse support
  • Works on Windows, Linux, and macOS — anywhere you have a terminal

Responsive Navigation

The NavigationView automatically adapts to the terminal width — full nav pane at wide sizes, icon-only with hamburger at medium, and hidden with overlay at narrow:

Responsive NavigationView

Side-by-side with native desktop apps The same NavigationView pattern used by GNOME Settings, rendered entirely in the terminal.

Dashboard Typography
Dashboard Typography

CanvasDemo

Three animated windows showcasing the CanvasControl drawing surface with real-time graphics.

Canvas Demo

dotnet run --project Examples/CanvasDemo

Key Features:

  • Starfield: 120 stars in 3 parallax layers with particle bursts on click
  • Plasma: Per-cell HSV sine plasma with expanding ripple effects on click, combined retained + event-driven painting
  • Geometry: Rotating polygon, orbiting triangle, pulsing circles, breathing ellipse, sweeping arc, radiating lines, bouncing box, gradient bar, expanding ring effects on click

APIs Demonstrated:

  • CanvasControl with BeginPaint()/EndPaint() (retained mode)
  • Paint event with CanvasGraphics (immediate mode)
  • Combined retained + event overlay painting
  • AutoSize with Stretch/Fill for responsive canvases
  • Canvas-local mouse click events (CanvasMouseClick)
  • Full CanvasGraphics API: circles, polygons, gradients, ellipses, arcs, lines, text

Controls: Click inside canvases for interactive effects, resize windows, Esc to quit

Alpha Blending Demo

Real-time Porter-Duff alpha compositing showcase with a live cycling gradient background.

Alpha Blending Demo

dotnet run --project Examples/DemoApp
# Navigate to Rendering → Alpha Blending

Five zones demonstrate every level of the alpha pipeline against a continuously cycling full-spectrum gradient (three hues 120° apart rotating through the colour wheel every ~12 s):

Zone What it shows
Alpha Ladder Eight panels, same orange hue, alpha 0 → 255. Each panel background composites over the live gradient — fully transparent at α=0, fully opaque at α=255.
Fade to Transparent 60 █ block characters with foreground alpha stepping 255 → 0. Foreground blends against the resolved background, so the blocks dissolve into the gradient rather than fading to white.
Glass Panels Four bordered panels at 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 % opacity. The gradient shows through each panel proportionally.
Live Compositor Interactive Color.Blend(src, dst) visualiser — drag the slider to change source alpha and watch the blended swatch update in real time.
Pulse Panel Background alpha animated 0 → 255 → 0 via a sine wave in an async window thread.

APIs Demonstrated:

  • Color.Blend() — Porter-Duff "over" compositing
  • ColorGradient.FromColors() with time-varying hues for a smooth colour-wheel cycle
  • ScrollablePanel with semi-transparent BackgroundColor (glass effect)
  • SliderControl wired to a live MarkupControl preview
  • Markup inline alpha: [#RRGGBBAA]text[/]
  • WithAsyncWindowThread driving animation at 20 fps

ConsoleTopExample

ntop/btop-inspired live system monitoring dashboard.

Processes Memory CPU
Processes Memory CPU
Network Storage
Network Storage 
dotnet run --project Examples/ConsoleTopExample

Key Features:

  • Full-screen maximized window
  • Real-time system stats (CPU, memory, network, disk)
  • Tab-based navigation (Processes, Memory, CPU, Network, Storage)
  • Sparkline graphs with history
  • Process list with sorting
  • Cross-platform system stats provider

Controls: Tab keys to switch panels, arrow keys to navigate, Esc to quit

HighFreqDemo

Multi-frequency update showcase with various control update rates.

HighFreqDemo

dotnet run --project Examples/HighFreqDemo

Key Features:

  • Controls updating at different frequencies (100ms to 2s)
  • Sparkline controls (Block, Braille, Bidirectional modes)
  • Bar graph controls with smooth gradients
  • ListControl for events and alerts
  • Performance metrics overlay
  • Menu system with frame rate controls

CompositorEffectsExample

Compositor-style buffer manipulation — fractals, blur, particles, and wipe transitions.

Compositor Effects

dotnet run --project Examples/CompositorEffectsExample

Key Features:

  • Fade-In Effect: Smooth color interpolation using PostBufferPaint
  • Blur Effect: Box blur post-processing algorithm
  • Screenshot Capture: BufferSnapshot API for capturing window state
  • Fractal Explorer: Animated Mandelbrot/Julia fractals using PreBufferPaint

APIs Demonstrated:

  • PreBufferPaint - Custom backgrounds rendered before controls
  • PostBufferPaint - Post-processing effects after controls
  • BufferSnapshot - Immutable buffer captures

AgentStudio

OpenCode-inspired TUI showcase demonstrating an AI coding agent interface aesthetic.

AgentStudio

dotnet run --project Examples/AgentStudio

Key Features:

  • Modern TUI design patterns
  • Advanced NetConsoleDriverOptions configuration
  • Hidden status bars for immersive experience
  • Custom window class implementation

SnakeGame

Classic Snake game demonstrating direct frame buffer manipulation.

Snake Game

dotnet run --project Examples/SnakeGame

Key Features:

  • Direct CharacterBuffer manipulation via PostBufferPaint
  • Real-time game loop with System.Timers.Timer
  • Sidebar layout using HorizontalGridControl
  • Keyboard input handling (arrows/WASD)
  • Game state management (playing, paused, game over)

Controls: Arrow keys or WASD to move, P to pause, R to restart, Esc to quit

TextEditorExample

Multiline text editor with syntax highlighting and file browser.

Text Editor

dotnet run --project Examples/TextEditorExample

Key Features:

  • Multiline edit control with scrolling
  • File browser dialog integration
  • Syntax highlighting support
  • Save/load functionality
  • Line numbers and cursor position

Controls: Ctrl+O to open file, Ctrl+S to save, arrow keys to navigate

Image Viewer (DemoApp)

Load and display real image files in the terminal using half-block Unicode rendering.

Image Viewer

dotnet run --project Examples/DemoApp
# Navigate to Rendering → Image Viewer

Key Features:

  • Load PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, WebP, TIFF files via file picker dialog
  • Half-block rendering (2 vertical pixels per character cell)
  • Four scale modes: Fit, Fill, Stretch, None
  • Resizable window with live image rescaling
  • Keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+O to open, S to cycle scale, Esc to close

APIs Demonstrated:

  • PixelBuffer.FromFile() — decode image files via SixLabors.ImageSharp
  • ImageControl with ScaleMode switching
  • FileDialogs.ShowFilePickerAsync() with format filter
  • HorizontalGridControl for toolbar layout

Video Player (DemoApp)

Play video files directly in the terminal with three render modes.

Video Player

dotnet run --project Examples/DemoApp
# Navigate to Utilities → Video Player

Key Features:

  • Half-block, ASCII, and braille render modes (press M to cycle live)
  • FFmpeg subprocess decoding — no extra NuGet dependencies
  • Dynamic resize — restarts at new resolution when window is dragged
  • Overlay status bar — appears on keypress, auto-hides after 3 seconds
  • Looping, pause/resume, frame skipping when behind
  • Graceful FFmpeg-not-found message with install instructions

APIs Demonstrated:

  • Controls.Video() fluent builder with .WithOverlay(), .WithLooping()
  • VideoControl.PlayFile(), CycleRenderMode(), TogglePlayPause()
  • FileDialogs.ShowFilePickerAsync() with video format filter
  • WithAsyncWindowThread for non-blocking file picker

MultiDashboard

Multiple windows with independent async update threads.

MultiDashboard

dotnet run --project Examples/MultiDashboard

Key Features:

  • 6 independent dashboard windows updating at different rates
  • Weather (5s), System Monitor (1s), Stock Ticker (2s), News (10s), Clock (1s), Log Stream (500ms)
  • Demonstrates async window threads with IDisposable pattern
  • Window toggle functionality (F1-F6)

What makes it unique: Each window has its own async update thread running independently.

FigletShowcaseExample

ASCII art font showcase demonstrating Figlet font rendering.

Figlet Showcase

dotnet run --project Examples/FigleShowcaseExample

Key Features:

  • Multiple Figlet ASCII art fonts (Star Wars, Graffiti, etc.)
  • Font size comparison demo
  • Color cycling with animated background
  • Direct font loading from FLF (FigletFont) files
  • Text alignment and positioning options

Controls: Number keys to switch examples, Esc to close

Full-featured horizontal menu bar with keyboard and mouse support.

MenuDemo

dotnet run --project Examples/MenuDemo

Key Features:

  • Horizontal menu bar with unlimited nesting depth
  • Full keyboard navigation (arrows, Enter, Escape, Home/End, letter keys)
  • Complete mouse support (click, hover, delayed submenu opening)
  • Separators and keyboard shortcut display
  • Fluent Controls.Menu() builder API

More Examples

These examples demonstrate specific features without full screenshots.

Example What it shows Run command
FrameRateDemo Adjustable FPS (15-144), frame rate limiting, performance metrics dotnet run --project Examples/FrameRateDemo
FullScreenExample Kiosk-style maximized window, hidden taskbar, disabled chrome dotnet run --project Examples/FullScreenExample
StartMenuDemo Windows-like Start menu, plugin integration, categorized items dotnet run --project Examples/StartMenuDemo
TabControlDemo Multi-page tabs, Ctrl+Tab switching, ScrollablePanel integration dotnet run --project Examples/TabControlDemo
TableDemo TableControl with theme switching (F1-F3), markup in cells, rounded borders dotnet run --project Examples/TableDemo
PanelDemo Panel mouse events (click, double-click, enter, leave, move) dotnet run --project Examples/PanelDemo
BorderStyleDemo DoubleLine vs None border styles, runtime toggling dotnet run --project Examples/BorderStyleDemo
SpectreMouseExample Mouse events on SpectreRenderableControl, event counters dotnet run --project Examples/SpectreMouseExample
PluginShowcaseExample Plugin loading, DevDark theme, Debug Console, agnostic services dotnet run --project Examples/PluginShowcaseExample

Feature Matrix

Example Async Windows Buffer Paint Mouse Events Themes Plugins Games
DemoApp ✅ ✅ ✅
NavigationViewDemo ✅
CanvasDemo ✅ ✅ ✅
Alpha Blending Demo ✅ ✅
ConsoleTopExample ✅
HighFreqDemo ✅ ✅
CompositorEffectsExample ✅ ✅ ✅
AgentStudio
SnakeGame ✅ ✅
TextEditorExample
MultiDashboard ✅
FigletShowcaseExample
MenuDemo ✅
FrameRateDemo
FullScreenExample ✅
StartMenuDemo ✅ ✅
TabControlDemo ✅
TableDemo ✅
PanelDemo ✅
BorderStyleDemo
SpectreMouseExample ✅
PluginShowcaseExample ✅ ✅

Controls Demonstrated

Control Examples
MarkupControl All examples
ButtonControl DemoApp, FullScreenExample, CompositorEffectsExample
ListControl DemoApp, HighFreqDemo
TreeControl DemoApp (File Explorer), NavigationViewDemo
DropdownControl DemoApp, PluginShowcaseExample
MenuControl MenuDemo, HighFreqDemo
TableControl DemoApp, TableDemo
PanelControl StartMenuDemo, PanelDemo, HighFreqDemo
SparklineControl ConsoleTopExample, HighFreqDemo, NavigationViewDemo
LineGraphControl DemoApp
BarGraphControl HighFreqDemo, NavigationViewDemo
NavigationView DemoApp, NavigationViewDemo
ProgressBarControl DemoApp, NavigationViewDemo
PromptControl DemoApp (Command Window)
MultilineEditControl DemoApp, TextEditorExample
LogViewerControl DemoApp
TabControl TabControlDemo
ImageControl DemoApp (Image Rendering, Image Viewer)
CanvasControl CanvasDemo, DemoApp
HorizontalGridControl Most examples
SliderControl DemoApp, Alpha Blending Demo
RangeSliderControl DemoApp
SpectreRenderableControl SpectreMouseExample

API Patterns Demonstrated

Fluent Builders

// WindowBuilder
new WindowBuilder(windowSystem)
    .WithTitle("My Window")
    .WithSize(80, 25)
    .Centered()
    .Closable(true)
    .Build();

// Controls fluent API
Controls.Menu().Horizontal().AddItem("File", ...).Build();
Controls.Markup().AddLine("[bold]Hello[/]").Build();
Controls.List().MaxVisibleItems(10).Build();

Async Window Threads

new WindowBuilder(windowSystem)
    .WithAsyncWindowThread(async (window, ct) => {
        while (!ct.IsCancellationRequested) {
            // Update window content
            await Task.Delay(1000, ct);
        }
    })
    .Build();

Canvas Drawing

// Retained mode — draw from any thread, content persists
var canvas = new CanvasControl { AutoSize = true };
var g = canvas.BeginPaint();
g.DrawCircle(30, 10, 8, '*', Color.Cyan, Color.Black);
g.GradientFillRect(0, 0, 60, 20, Color.DarkBlue, Color.Black, horizontal: false);
canvas.EndPaint();

// Immediate mode — redraw each frame
canvas.Paint += (sender, e) => {
    e.Graphics.WriteStringCentered(10, "Hello!", Color.White, Color.Black);
};

// Interactive — canvas-local mouse coordinates
canvas.CanvasMouseClick += (sender, e) => {
    var g2 = canvas.BeginPaint();
    g2.FillCircle(e.CanvasX, e.CanvasY, 2, '*', Color.Red, Color.Black);
    canvas.EndPaint();
};

Buffer Paint Hooks

// PreBufferPaint - Custom backgrounds
window.Renderer.PreBufferPaint += (buffer, dirty, clip) => {
    // Render background before controls
};

// PostBufferPaint - Post-processing effects
window.Renderer.PostBufferPaint += (buffer, dirty, clip) => {
    // Apply effects after controls render
};

Plugin Services

// Load plugin
windowSystem.PluginStateService.LoadPlugin<DeveloperToolsPlugin>();

// Create window from plugin
var window = windowSystem.PluginStateService.CreateWindow("DebugConsole");

// Use service (agnostic pattern)
var service = windowSystem.PluginStateService.GetService("Diagnostics");
var result = service.Execute("GetDiagnosticsReport");

Running All Examples

To build and verify all examples compile:

dotnet build ConsoleEx.sln

Each example is a standalone project that can be run independently.

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