Terminal Presentation Modes

Termina supports full-screen and inline presentation modes.

FullScreen remains the default mode. It preserves the behavior of current applications.

Inline is an opt-in mode. It keeps stable output in the primary terminal buffer.

Full-Screen Mode

Full-screen mode owns the complete terminal viewport.

Termina enters the alternate buffer at application start. Termina leaves that buffer at application exit.

The default input mode is LegacyMouseTracking.

Use full-screen mode for these applications:

• dashboards
• forms
• setup wizards
• applications that need a fixed viewport

Inline Mode

Inline mode owns one bounded live region in the primary buffer.

Termina replaces only that live region after each frame. Stable output stays above the live region.

The terminal owns native selection and scrollback. Termina does not capture mouse-wheel input in this mode.

Inline mode requires ScrollInputMode.NativeTerminal.

using Termina.Hosting;

builder.Services.AddTermina("/chat", termina =>
{
    termina.ConfigureRuntime(options =>
    {
        options.PresentationMode = TerminalPresentationMode.Inline;
        options.ScrollInputMode = ScrollInputMode.NativeTerminal;
        options.PreferRawInput = true;
    });

    termina.RegisterRoute<ChatPage, ChatViewModel>("/chat");
});

Use inline mode for these applications:

• chats
• command shells
• build monitors
• applications with long settled output

Stable Output

Inject IInlineOutput into a view model. Use it to commit a settled layout above the live region.

using Termina.Layout;
using Termina.Terminal;

public sealed class ChatViewModel(IInlineOutput output) : ReactiveViewModel
{
    public ValueTask CommitMessageAsync(string text, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        return output.CommitAsync(new TextNode(text), cancellationToken);
    }
}

Termina processes commits in event-loop order. Each commit erases the live region, writes stable content, and restores the live region.

The commit task completes after the live region returns.

Output Ownership

CAUTION: Direct console writes can corrupt an active live region.

Use IInlineOutput for stable application output. Use the current page layout for live output.

Send diagnostic output to a file or another sink. Do not write diagnostic text to standard output during an inline session.

Compatibility

The presentation API uses an extend-only design.

• FullScreen has value 0.
• Inline has value 1.
• NativeTerminal appends value 2 to ScrollInputMode.
• The current IAnsiTerminal contract does not change.
• IInlineTerminalControl supplies the new relative cursor operations.
• The current AnsiTerminal(bool) constructor keeps its behavior.

An inline application fails at startup when its terminal lacks IInlineTerminalControl.

Terminal Support

Test inline mode on every supported terminal. Include direct sessions and multiplexer sessions.

The application must restore these states after a normal exit or a failed exit:

• the cursor
• bracketed paste
• keyboard protocol flags
• mouse modes
• terminal input mode

See the inline demo for a small test application.