rtui ships with 15 ready-to-run example apps in
inst/examples/. Each one is self-contained and demonstrates
a progressively richer set of features.
Terminal only: Save as
.Rfiles and run from a real terminal withRscript. These will not work in RStudio or R GUI.
01 — Hello World
Features: text(), box(),
vstack(), key handler, quit().
The simplest possible rtui app — a styled greeting with a quit key.
02 — List-Detail
Features: list_view(),
on_change, update(), per-widget routing.
A master-detail pattern: select an item on the left, see its content on the right.
03 — Data Table
Features: data_table(), displaying data
frames.
Pass any data.frame directly to data_table() for an
interactive, scrollable table view.
04 — dfdiff Explorer
Features: list_view(),
static(), on_mount, state timestamps.
A more complete list-detail explorer with named sections and mount-time state initialization.
05 — Reactive Counter
Features: reactive() bindings,
digits(), button(), click handlers,
notify().
The classic counter app — but with reactive bindings so
state$set("count", n) automatically updates the digit
display.
library(rtui)
quick_app(
title = "Counter",
layout = vstack(
header(),
center(vstack(
digits("0", id = "display"),
hstack(
button("-1", id = "dec"),
button("Reset", id = "reset"),
button("+1", id = "inc")
)
)),
footer(),
id = "root"
),
reactive = reactive(count = "display"),
on_mount = function(event, state) {
state$set("count", 0L)
state
},
on_click = list(
inc = function(event, state) {
state$set("count", state$get("count", 0L) + 1L)
state
},
dec = function(event, state) {
state$set("count", state$get("count", 0L) - 1L)
state
},
reset = function(event, state) {
state$set("count", 0L)
notify(state$app, "Counter reset.", severity = "info")
state
}
)
)06 — Contact Form
Features: tui_form(),
input(), select(), checkbox(),
confirm() dialog, on_screen_result.
A structured form with validation, confirmation dialog before submission, and status feedback.
07 — Stopwatch
Features: set_interval(),
clear_timer(), progress_bar(),
log_view(), key bindings with binding().
Start/pause/reset stopwatch with lap tracking. Press Space to toggle,
d for dark mode.
08 — Tabbed Dashboard
Features: tabs(),
tab_pane(), data_table(),
sparkline(), plot_bar(),
digits(), tui_theme().
A three-tab sales dashboard with KPI cards, sparkline trends, a sortable data table, and a bar chart — styled with the Catppuccin theme.
09 — Todo List
Features: option_list(),
on_submit, dynamic list updates, confirm()
dialog, CRUD operations.
Add tasks by typing and pressing Enter, mark them done, delete with confirmation, and clear all completed items.
10 — Chart Gallery
Features: plot_bar(),
plot_line(), plot_scatter(),
plot_hist(), plot_heatmap(), tabs, Dracula
theme.
Five chart types in a tabbed view, each with sample data.
11 — Screens & Modals
Features: push_screen(),
pop_screen(), tui_screen(),
confirm(), alert(), screen results.
A multi-screen app with a settings modal (input, select, switch) that returns results to the main screen.
12 — Reactive Dashboard
Features: reactive() with formula
bindings, set_interval(), auto-updating sparklines,
log_view(), multiple reactive targets, Nord theme.
A simulated system monitor that updates CPU/memory/disk every 2 seconds. Reactive formulas auto-update digits and progress bars. Warnings are logged and notified.
13 – Background Tasks
Features: run_async(),
cancel_async(), on_task, progress
feedback.
Starts background R work without blocking the TUI and reports completion back through the normal event handler contract.
14 – Hot Reload Development
Features: dev_app(), file watching,
restart-on-save workflow.
Runs an app file in a loop so development changes are picked up after the app exits.
15 – Live Stock Tracker
Features: Yahoo Finance chart data,
input(), select(), tabs(),
data_table(), sparkline(),
text_plot(), chart mode buttons, timer-based auto-refresh,
and global key bindings.
This is a full market dashboard rather than a toy widget demo. It opens with a watchlist, loads the active symbol from Yahoo Finance, shows KPI cards, draws line/candlestick/volume/scatter charts, keeps an OHLCV history table, and refreshes automatically every 60 seconds.
Install the optional JSON parser first:
install.packages("jsonlite")Run the install command from a normal R session, such as RStudio. Then run the app from a real terminal inside the rtui project:
If you are developing from this checkout after package-side changes,
reinstall the package first with
devtools::install_local(".", force = TRUE, upgrade = "never");
separate terminal Rscript runs load the installed
package.
On Windows, this assumes Rscript is on
PATH. If PowerShell cannot find it, add R’s
bin directory to PATH or reinstall R with
command-line tools available.
After installing rtui, you can also launch the packaged example directly:
Use the watchlist input for comma-separated symbols such as
AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, or type one ticker in Add Symbol and
press Add. In the Chart tab, choose the active ticker from Tracked
Symbols. The Watchlist tab shows every tracked quote; selecting a row
there also makes that symbol active and repopulates the KPI, chart,
history, and sparkline panels. Press r to refresh now,
1 through 4 to change chart modes,
d to toggle dark mode, and q or Escape to
quit. The Yahoo Finance chart endpoint can be rate-limited or
temporarily unavailable, so production apps should add caching, retry
backoff, and a formal market-data provider contract.
Showcase apps
Beyond these examples, rtui includes 8 full showcase apps in
spikes/:
| App | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Stock Tracker | Live prices, candlestick charts, sparklines |
| System Monitor | CPU/memory/disk gauges, process table |
| Log Viewer | Severity filter, search, pause/resume |
| CSV Explorer | Browse R datasets, 5 chart types |
| ggplot Explorer | 8 ggplot2 plots rendered in terminal |
| Pomodoro Timer | Big-digit countdown, work/break cycles |
| Git Dashboard | Commit log, contributor charts |
| Markdown Notes | CRUD notes with live markdown preview |
Run any showcase: