Buffalo TUI Framework

A beginner friendly TUI framework available on various package managers for Node.js projects.

Features

1. Floating Windows are movable, overlapping windows with ZIndex support.
2. RGB Color Support allows for full 24-bit RGB coloring with ANSI escape sequences.
3. Input Handling gives native keyboard event handling.
4. Interactive Elements such as input fields, buttons, and labels with support for keyboard navigation.
5. Control Bar allows you to write a useful status bar with nice keyboard shortcuts.
6. Efficient Rendering uses a buffer-based rendering system for seamless render updates.

Install Buffalo

Buffalo is available for anyone on the NPM marketplace.

[!NOTE] As of Tuesday, February 10th, 2026, Buffalo does not support TypeScript type declarations!

Install Buffalo using the Node Package Manager:

npm install buffalo-tui

Demo Preview

Getting Started

Writing your first TUI with Buffalo is extremely easy and can be done using the code below:

import { Screen, Frame, ColorManager, InputManager } from "buffalo-tui";

const screen = new Screen();
const inputManager = new InputManager();

screen.enterFullscreen();

// (sizeX, sizeY, posX, posY, windowTitle, color)
const frame = new Frame(
    50, 20,
    5, 2,
    "My Buffalo Program",
    new ColorManager().setColor(100, 150, 255)
);

frame.setBackgroundColor(15, 15, 25);
frame.addContent(2, 2, "Hello, Buffalo!", new ColorManager().setColor(255, 255, 100));

screen.addElement(frame);
screen.setControlBar("Press Q to quit");

inputManager.onAny((keyName) => {
    if (keyName === "q" || keyName === "Q") {
        inputManager.stop();
        screen.exitFullscreen();
        process.exit(0);
    }
});

inputManager.start();
screen.render();

Learn Buffalo through API Documentation

Screen

Main class for managing the terminal display.

const screen = new Screen();

Properties:

• width - Terminal width in characters
• height - Terminal height in characters
• elements - Array of elements to render

Methods:

• enterFullscreen() - Enter fullscreen mode
• exitFullscreen() - Exit fullscreen mode
• render() - Render all elements to terminal
• addElement(element) - Add an element to the screen
• removeElement(element) - Remove an element
• setControlBar(text) - Set control bar text
• writeAt(x, y, char, color) - Write a single character
• writeString(x, y, str, color) - Write a string
• drawRect(x, y, width, height, filled, char, color) - Draw a rectangle
• drawLine(x1, y1, x2, y2, char, color) - Draw a line
• getUsableHeight() - Get height minus control bar

Frame

Floating window element with border, title, and content.

Constructor:

new Frame(sizeX, sizeY, posX, posY, windowTitle, borderColor)

Parameters:

• sizeX - Width of the frame
• sizeY - Height of the frame
• posX - X position on screen
• posY - Y position on screen
• windowTitle - Title displayed on top border
• borderColor - ColorManager instance for border

Methods:

• setWindowTitle(title) - Update window title
• setBorderColor(R, G, B) - Set border color (0-255 RGB)
• setBackgroundColor(R, G, B) - Set background color
• addContent(x, y, text, color) - Add text content at position
• clearContent() - Remove all content
• show() - Make frame visible
• hide() - Make frame invisible
• setZIndex(z) - Set layering order (higher = front)

Input

Text input field element.

Constructor:

new Input(posX, posY, width, label, color)

Parameters:

• posX - X position on screen
• posY - Y position on screen
• width - Width of input field
• label - Label text above input
• color - ColorManager instance (optional)

Methods:

• setValue(value) - Set input value
• getValue() - Get current value
• setFocus(focused) - Set focus state
• show() / hide() - Visibility control

Button

Clickable button element.

Constructor:

new Button(posX, posY, text, color)

Parameters:

• posX - X position on screen
• posY - Y position on screen
• text - Button text
• color - ColorManager instance (optional)

Methods:

• setText(text) - Update button text
• setHovered(hovered) - Set hover state
• show() / hide() - Visibility control

Label

Static text label element.

Constructor:

new Label(posX, posY, text, color)

Parameters:

• posX - X position on screen
• posY - Y position on screen
• text - Label text
• color - ColorManager instance (optional)

Methods:

• setText(text) - Update label text
• setColor(R, G, B) - Set text color
• show() / hide() - Visibility control

ColorManager

RGB color management with ANSI conversion.

Methods:

• setColor(R, G, B) - Set RGB color (0-255 each)
• getColor() - Returns {R, G, B} object
• toANSIForeground() - Convert to ANSI foreground code
• toANSIBackground() - Convert to ANSI background code
• static reset() - Get ANSI reset code

InputManager

Keyboard input handling.

Methods:

• start() - Start capturing keyboard input
• stop() - Stop capturing input
• onAny(callback) - Register callback for any key: (keyName, rawKey) => {}

Key Events:

• keyName - Human-readable key name
• rawKey - Raw escape sequence