Examples

Three of these run with no build step at all, and seven are applications with one.

No build: hello and counter

cd examples/counter
node index.ts        # or: bun index.ts

Nothing compiles them. h is what JSX compiles to: <Row gap={1}/> and { component: 'Row', gap: 1 } are the same value. So a file that calls h directly is a file the runtime already understands. Node has stripped types by default since 23.6.

hello	The smallest thing that runs
counter	useKeymap, useState and a timer you can pause - in h and in JSX
chatunix	A chat room over a socket or a port. Two processes, really talking

Can they use JSX?

Under bun, yes, and with no build. counter/counter.tsx is the same program as counter/index.ts, in JSX. Under node, no, and the reason is worth knowing because it is not a missing flag.

Node strips types; it does not transform syntax. A .ts file with no non-erasable syntax is a file node runs by deleting the annotations. JSX is not an annotation - <Box/> has to become a call - so node rejects .tsx outright:

TypeError [ERR_UNKNOWN_FILE_EXTENSION]: Unknown file extension ".tsx"

--experimental-transform-types does not help; it handles enums and namespaces. So the trade is angle brackets against node, which is why the counter ships both and node index.ts is the default.

Bun compiles TSX, and the whole setup is one line beside the file:

{ "compilerOptions": { "jsxImportSource": "textui" } }

textui rather than @textui/core, so one install is enough - the facade re-exports the JSX runtime for this.

With a build: the applications

Bigger programs, bundled by esbuild because they are many files rather than because textui needs it.

pnpm example todo        # or arcade, surfaces, ink, flipbook

todo	Screens, navigation, a store that persists
arcade	Frame loops, canvas painting, input timing
surfaces	An application with no shell, arranging its own chrome
ink	ColorText: a colour per cell, over a banner and over prose
showcase	The catalog on one screen, as a row that wraps. Writes its own screenshot
flipbook	An ASCII Motion document, played on its own timeline and edited in place