Input Handling

RatatuiRenderer exposes virtual hooks for keyboard, mouse, and hover events. All input coordinates are in terminal cells (not pixels), and every interactive region is identified by the uint area ID returned from Split / Inner.

Hooks

Override any of these on your RatatuiRenderer subclass:

protected override void OnTerminalKeyDown(TerminalKeyEvent e) { }
protected override void OnTerminalMouseEvent(TerminalMouseEvent e) { }
protected override void OnTerminalHoverChanged(
    TerminalHoverState oldState, TerminalHoverState newState) { }

Keyboard

protected override void OnTerminalKeyDown(TerminalKeyEvent e)
{
    if (e.Key == KeyCode.RightArrow || e.Character == 'd')
        _activeTab = (_activeTab + 1) % _tabs.Length;

    if (e.Key == KeyCode.LeftArrow || e.Character == 'a')
        _activeTab = (_activeTab + _tabs.Length - 1) % _tabs.Length;
}

TerminalKeyEvent carries:

• Key — UnityEngine.KeyCode for non-character keys (arrows, Tab, Return, F-keys, etc.)
• Character — printable char for letter / number / symbol keys
• Modifiers — KeyModifiers flags (Shift, Ctrl, Alt)

Mouse — Click, Scroll, Hit-Testing

Every mouse event includes the AreaId it landed on. Store area IDs from your render pass, compare them in the handler:

private uint _inboxArea;
private int  _inboxTop;
private int  _scrollOffset;

protected override void OnTerminalMouseEvent(TerminalMouseEvent e)
{
    if (e.AreaId != _inboxArea) return;

    if (e.Type == MouseEventType.Click && e.Button == MouseButton.Left)
    {
        int localRow = e.Row - _inboxTop;
        SelectItem(_scrollOffset + localRow);
    }

    if (e.Type == MouseEventType.Scroll)
    {
        if (e.ScrollDelta > 0) SelectPrevious();
        else SelectNext();
    }
}

TerminalMouseEvent fields:

• Type — MouseEventType.Click, Move, Scroll
• Button — MouseButton.Left, Right, Middle (Click only)
• Col, Row — terminal-space cell coordinates
• ScrollDelta — ±1 per notch (Scroll only)
• AreaId — hit-tested area ID (0 if no match)

To convert global terminal coords to area-local, query the area rect:

if (term.TryGetAreaRect(_inboxArea, out int ax, out int ay, out int aw, out int ah))
{
    int localCol = e.Col - ax;
    int localRow = e.Row - ay;
}

Hover

Hover fires when the cell-under-cursor changes — useful for highlighting list rows without click:

private int _hoveredRow = -1;

protected override void OnTerminalHoverChanged(
    TerminalHoverState oldState, TerminalHoverState newState)
{
    _hoveredRow = (newState.IsInside && newState.AreaId == _inboxArea)
        ? newState.Row - _inboxTop + _scrollOffset
        : -1;
}

TerminalHoverState carries IsInside (cursor within terminal at all?), AreaId, Col, Row.

Text Input Fields — TerminalInput

For multi-character editing (search boxes, command lines), use the TerminalInput helper:

private readonly TerminalInput _name = new TerminalInput(initial: "Faruk");

protected override void OnTerminalKeyDown(TerminalKeyEvent e)
{
    if (e.Key == KeyCode.Tab) { /* switch field */; return; }
    if (e.Key == KeyCode.Return) { Submit(_name.Value); return; }

    _name.HandleKeyEvent(e);  // typing, Backspace, arrows, Home/End, Ctrl+Arrow
}

protected override void OnTerminalMouseEvent(TerminalMouseEvent e)
{
    if (e.AreaId == _nameArea)
        _name.HandleMouseEvent(e);  // click to reposition cursor
}

protected override void BuildFrame(RatatuiTerminal term)
{
    term.Block(area, "Name", Borders.All);
    _nameArea = term.Inner(area);
    _name.Render(term, _nameArea,
        cursorFg: Color.black, cursorBg: Color.white);
}

Supports: Backspace, Delete, Left/Right, Home/End, Ctrl+Left/Right (word jump), printable chars, scroll when text exceeds field width.

Click-Through Pattern: Tab Bar Routing

Real apps usually delegate input to whichever sub-component owns the area. Pattern from the BasicUsage demo:

protected override void OnTerminalKeyDown(TerminalKeyEvent e)
{
    // Global shortcut: tab switching
    if (e.Character == 'd') { _activeTab = (_activeTab + 1) % _tabs.Length; return; }
    if (e.Character == 'a') { _activeTab = (_activeTab + _tabs.Length - 1) % _tabs.Length; return; }

    // Otherwise hand off to the active sub-component
    _tabs[_activeTab].OnKeyEvent(e);
}