Rust GPUI Development

Name: rust-gpui-development
Rating: 92
Author: contember

Patterns and API reference for building Rust applications with the GPUI framework.

Reference Files

Load based on current task:

Task	Reference	Content
Working with GPUI	gpui-patterns.md	App architecture, context types, entities, actions, rendering, modals, drag & drop, menus, tooltips, testing
Designing state flow	state-management.md	Global state, view-model separation, state machines, derived state, unidirectional flow

Quick Reference

GPUI Context Types

Context	Scope	When Used
`&mut App`	Global	App init, global operations
`&mut Window`	Window	Rendering, events
`&mut Context<T>`	Entity	Entity methods, `render()`

View Structure

rust

pub struct MyView {
    focus_handle: FocusHandle,
}

impl Render for MyView {
    fn render(&mut self, window: &mut Window, cx: &mut Context<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        div()
            .key_context("MyView")
            .on_action(cx.listener(Self::handle_action))
            .child(/* ... */)
    }
}

impl MyView {
    fn handle_action(&mut self, _: &MyAction, window: &mut Window, cx: &mut Context<Self>) {
        cx.notify();
    }
}

Actions

rust

// Simple actions
actions!(my_namespace, [DoSomething, Cancel]);

// Parameterized actions
#[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Deserialize, JsonSchema, Action)]
#[action(namespace = my_namespace)]
pub struct SelectItem { pub index: usize }

// Register in render() via cx.listener()
div().on_action(cx.listener(Self::handle_action))

Global State

rust

impl Global for AppSettings {}
cx.set_global(AppSettings::new());
let settings = cx.global::<AppSettings>();
cx.observe_global::<AppSettings>(|this, cx| { cx.notify(); }).detach();

Critical Rules

•Never store cx - always pass through method parameters
•Call .detach() on subscriptions and observations
•Call cx.notify() after state changes that affect rendering
•Use cx.listener() for action/click handlers in render() - wraps entity access
•window: &mut Window is a separate parameter in all entity callbacks