@unblessed/blessed

100% backward-compatible blessed API wrapper for @unblessed/node.

⚠️ ALPHA SOFTWARE - This package is part of the unblessed alpha release. API may change between alpha versions.

Overview

@unblessed/blessed provides a 100% backward-compatible API with the original blessed library. It's a thin wrapper over @unblessed/node that maintains the exact same API surface, making migration seamless.

Use this package if:

• ✅ You have existing blessed code
• ✅ You want a drop-in replacement for blessed
• ✅ You need to maintain API compatibility
• ✅ You're migrating gradually from blessed

Use @unblessed/node instead if:

• 🚀 You're starting a new project
• 🎯 You want a modern, typed API
• 📦 You prefer ES modules over CommonJS

Installation

npm install @unblessed/blessed@alpha
# or
pnpm add @unblessed/blessed@alpha
# or
yarn add @unblessed/blessed@alpha

Requirements: Node.js >= 22.0.0

Quick Start

CommonJS (Original blessed style)

const blessed = require("@unblessed/blessed");

const screen = blessed.screen({
  smartCSR: true,
  title: "My App",
});

const box = blessed.box({
  parent: screen,
  top: "center",
  left: "center",
  width: "50%",
  height: "50%",
  content: "{bold}Hello from @unblessed/blessed!{/bold}",
  tags: true,
  border: {
    type: "line",
  },
  style: {
    fg: "white",
    bg: "blue",
    border: {
      fg: "#f0f0f0",
    },
  },
});

screen.key(["escape", "q", "C-c"], () => {
  process.exit(0);
});

box.focus();
screen.render();

ES Modules

import blessed from "@unblessed/blessed";
// or
import * as blessed from "@unblessed/blessed";

const screen = blessed.screen({
  smartCSR: true,
});

const box = blessed.box({
  parent: screen,
  content: "Hello!",
});

screen.render();

Complete Documentation

For comprehensive blessed documentation including all widgets, examples, and FAQ:

• Blessed Guide - Complete blessed API reference with detailed examples, widget catalog, and FAQs
• API Reference - Structured API compatibility baseline for all blessed v0.1.82 features

The Blessed Guide includes:

• Detailed widget documentation (27+ widgets)
• Tag system and content formatting
• Style and color system
• Event handling and bubbling
• Positioning and rendering
• Terminal compatibility notes
• Comprehensive FAQ

API Compatibility

@unblessed/blessed maintains 100% API compatibility with blessed:

Widget Factory Functions

// Lowercase factory functions (blessed style)
blessed.screen();
blessed.box();
blessed.list();
blessed.form();
blessed.button();
blessed.textbox();
blessed.textarea();
blessed.checkbox();
blessed.radioset();
blessed.table();
blessed.listtable();
blessed.log();
blessed.progressbar();
blessed.filemanager();
// ... all blessed widgets

// PascalCase factory functions (also supported)
blessed.Screen();
blessed.Box();
blessed.List();
// ... all blessed widgets

Widget Classes

const { Box, List, Screen } = blessed;

const screen = new Screen();
const box = new Box({ parent: screen });

Utility Functions

blessed.program(); // Create a Program
blessed.tput(); // Access terminfo
blessed.colors; // Color utilities
blessed.unicode; // Unicode utilities
blessed.helpers; // Helper functions

Migration from blessed

Drop-in Replacement

Simply replace blessed with @unblessed/blessed:

- const blessed = require('blessed');
+ const blessed = require('@unblessed/blessed');

That's it! Your code should work without any other changes.

Gradual Migration

You can migrate to @unblessed/node gradually:

1. Step 1: Replace blessed with @unblessed/blessed (no code changes)
2. Step 2: Test thoroughly
3. Step 3: Optionally migrate to @unblessed/node for modern API

// @unblessed/blessed (backward compatible)
const blessed = require("@unblessed/blessed");
const screen = blessed.screen();

// @unblessed/node (modern API)
import { Screen } from "@unblessed/node";
const screen = new Screen();

Differences from Original blessed

While @unblessed/blessed maintains API compatibility, there are some under-the-hood improvements:

Improvements:

• ✅ Full TypeScript support with types
• ✅ Modern ES modules + CommonJS dual build
• ✅ Better performance (smart rendering)
• ✅ Platform-agnostic architecture
• ✅ Active maintenance

Behavioral Changes:

• Runtime initialization is automatic (no setup needed)
• Some internal implementation details differ
• Uses modern Node.js APIs under the hood

Not Yet Supported:

• Some legacy/undocumented APIs may not be present
• Report any compatibility issues on GitHub

TypeScript Support

@unblessed/blessed includes complete TypeScript definitions:

import blessed from "@unblessed/blessed";
import type { Widgets } from "@unblessed/blessed";

const screen = blessed.screen({
  smartCSR: true,
});

// Type-safe widget options
const box: Widgets.BoxElement = blessed.box({
  parent: screen,
  top: 0,
  left: 0,
});

Why Use This Package?

Pros:

• ✅ Zero code changes from blessed
• ✅ Immediate migration path
• ✅ Maintains muscle memory and documentation
• ✅ Compatible with blessed examples and tutorials
• ✅ TypeScript support included

Cons:

• ❌ Uses older factory function API
• ❌ Less modern than @unblessed/node
• ❌ Slightly larger bundle (includes compatibility layer)

For new projects, we recommend @unblessed/node for a cleaner, more modern API.

Examples

All original blessed examples should work. Here are a few:

List Widget

const blessed = require("@unblessed/blessed");

const screen = blessed.screen();

const list = blessed.list({
  parent: screen,
  border: "line",
  width: "50%",
  height: "50%",
  top: "center",
  left: "center",
  label: " My List ",
  keys: true,
  vi: true,
  style: {
    selected: {
      bg: "blue",
    },
  },
});

list.setItems(["Item 1", "Item 2", "Item 3"]);

list.on("select", (item, index) => {
  console.log("Selected:", item.getText());
});

screen.key(["escape", "q"], () => process.exit(0));
screen.render();

Form Widget

const blessed = require("@unblessed/blessed");

const screen = blessed.screen();

const form = blessed.form({
  parent: screen,
  keys: true,
  left: "center",
  top: "center",
  width: 30,
  height: 10,
  border: "line",
  label: " Login ",
});

const username = blessed.textbox({
  parent: form,
  name: "username",
  top: 1,
  left: 1,
  height: 1,
  width: 25,
  label: " Username: ",
  keys: true,
});

const submit = blessed.button({
  parent: form,
  top: 6,
  left: "center",
  shrink: true,
  padding: { left: 1, right: 1 },
  content: "Submit",
  keys: true,
});

submit.on("press", () => {
  form.submit();
});

form.on("submit", (data) => {
  console.log("Submitted:", data);
  process.exit(0);
});

screen.render();

Troubleshooting

Module not found errors?

Make sure you have the latest version:

npm update @unblessed/blessed

TypeScript errors?

Include @unblessed/blessed types:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "types": ["@unblessed/blessed"]
  }
}

Runtime errors?

Check that you're using Node.js >= 22:

node --version

Resources

• blessed Documentation - Original blessed docs
• @unblessed/node - Modern alternative
• @unblessed/core - Core library
• Examples - Working examples

License

MIT © Vinicius De Antoni

Related

• @unblessed/node - Node.js runtime adapter (modern API)
• @unblessed/core - Core TUI library
• @unblessed/browser - Browser runtime adapter
• blessed - Original library