| name | ink-bbs-ansi-ui |
| description | Design React Ink terminal UI components for a terminal-based IDE with classic BBS / warez-scene aesthetics and ANSI art composition rules. |
| triggers | ["ink","react ink","terminal ide","tui ui","bbs ui","warez scene","ansi style","acid style","terminal app design","cli ide"] |
Ink BBS ANSI UI
Purpose
Design terminal UI components for a React-based Ink application that feels like a classic elite BBS / warez-scene board, while using ANSI art composition principles to get the visual language right.
This is not generic retro styling.
This is terminal UI built from:
- ANSI composition rules
- BBS chrome language
- ACiD-style visual density
- artpack-era panel logic
- keyboard-first IDE ergonomics
Aesthetic target
Use the visual language of:
- elite BBS boards
- warez-scene menus
- ANSI art packs
- ACiD-style logos and panels
- iCE / oldschool text-mode work
- box-drawing UI chrome
- neon-on-dark terminal surfaces
- dense, information-rich operator interfaces
Prefer:
- strong silhouette
- hard outline
- framed sections
- layered panels
- crisp separators
- title bars
- status lines
- prompt-driven navigation
- compact menu structures
- deliberate shading and contrast
Avoid:
- web-app whitespace
- soft card UI
- generic SaaS dashboards
- rounded modern components
- decorative noise without function
- retro cosplay with no terminal logic
What to produce
Return one or more of:
- component hierarchy
- layout plan
- Ink component API sketch
- terminal theme tokens
- ANSI-style chrome rules
- interaction model
- focus and keyboard map
- resize behavior
- validation notes
- visual reference interpretation
Core rules
- Design for keyboard-first use.
- Keep terminal width and height constraints explicit.
- Use fixed-cell thinking.
- Assume monospace rendering.
- Treat ANSI composition as part of the UI design language.
- Make the UI feel like a board, not a browser.
- Preserve readability at low terminal sizes.
ANSI composition rules
These matter for component design too:
- silhouette first
- outline second
- fill third
- shading last
- contrast is structure
- line weight matters
- borders are part of the content
- width is a hard constraint
- negative space must be intentional
- palette choices must support hierarchy
ACiD / artpack inspiration rules
Use ACiD-era and artpack-era references as design cues for:
- panel density
- header treatment
- logo blocks
- prompt lines
- info hierarchy
- border behavior
- scene-authentic color use
- title rhythm
- status messaging
- full-screen composition
The UI should feel like it could live beside:
- ANSI art packs
- intro screens
- file boards
- release menus
- scene logins
- old BBS navigational shells
Component philosophy
Design components as terminal primitives:
- panel
- split pane
- tree
- list
- prompt
- status bar
- modal
- inspector
- log view
- transfer view
- tab strip
- command palette
- login form
- message board
- file browser
- editor frame
Output format
When answering, prefer:
- component list
- layout wireframe
- props and state model
- keyboard behavior
- styling tokens
- ANSI chrome guidance
- implementation notes for Ink / React
Constraints
- Do not assume browser layout behavior.
- Do not assume CSS flexbox feels like DOM UI.
- Do not use pixel-based thinking.
- Do not use emoji as primary UI glyphs.
- Do not break the BBS feel by over-modernizing the surfaces.
- Do not lose ANSI craft in the name of UI cleanliness.
Success criteria
A good result:
- feels like a serious old-school board or warez terminal
- uses ANSI composition intelligently
- works in a terminal first
- supports rapid keyboard navigation
- is usable as an IDE shell
- preserves the ACiD / artpack / BBS visual DNA
