genui

name	genui
description	Core GenUI framework for dynamic AI-driven UIs. Use when: working with Conversation, SurfaceController, Transport, Surface, SurfaceHost, Catalog, CatalogItem, CatalogItemContext, DataModel, DataContext, DataPath, A2uiSchemas, ClientFunction, PromptBuilder, A2UiClientCapabilities, data binding, A2UI message protocol, ChatMessage, UiEvent, or SurfaceDefinition.
argument-hint	Describe the GenUI API or data binding task

GenUI Package — API Reference

The genui package (v0.9.0) is the core framework for building Flutter applications with dynamically generated user interfaces powered by AI. The UI is not predefined — it is constructed in real-time through a conversation cycle between the app, an AI model, and the user. Implements the A2UI protocol v0.9.

When to Use

• Working with Conversation lifecycle (send requests, listen for surfaces/text/errors)
• Rendering dynamic UI with Surface widget
• Implementing a custom Transport
• Subscribing to or updating DataModel / DataContext paths
• Working with A2uiSchemas reference types
• Using CatalogItemContext properties (data, dataContext, buildChild, dispatchEvent)
• Processing A2uiMessage protocol messages (CreateSurface, UpdateComponents, UpdateDataModel, DeleteSurface)
• Working with ChatMessage or MessagePart types
• Defining custom ClientFunction implementations
• Building prompts with PromptBuilder
• Generating A2UiClientCapabilities from catalogs

Project conventions for creating catalogue item files (5-step convention, naming, example data rules, three-tier pattern) live in the catalogue-items skill. This skill covers the package API.

---

Core Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│   Application (Flutter Widgets)     │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Facade Layer                      │
│   - Conversation                    │
│   - PromptBuilder                   │
│   - Surface (Widget)                │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Engine Layer                      │
│   - SurfaceController               │
│   - SurfaceRegistry                 │
│   - DataModelStore                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Model Layer                       │
│   - Catalog, CatalogItem            │
│   - DataModel, DataContext          │
│   - A2uiMessage types              │
│   - ChatMessage types               │
│   - A2UiClientCapabilities          │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Transport Layer                   │
│   - Transport (interface)           │
│   - A2uiTransportAdapter            │
│   - A2uiParserTransformer           │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│   Interfaces                        │
│   - SurfaceHost                     │
│   - SurfaceContext                  │
│   - A2uiMessageSink                │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Interaction Flow

User
 │  (1) sendRequest(ChatMessage)
 ▼
Conversation ──► Transport (A2A / Direct AI)
 │                    │
 │  (2) incomingMessages (Stream<A2uiMessage>)
 │      incomingText (Stream<String>)
 ▼                    │
SurfaceController ◄───┘
 │  (3) surfaceUpdates (Stream<SurfaceUpdate>)
 ▼
Surface (Flutter Widget)
 │  (4) Catalog widget builders render
 │      Flutter widgets from Components
 ▼
User interactions → UiEvent → back to Transport

---

Quick Reference — Top-Level Classes

Conversation

High-level facade for managing a GenUI conversation. Orchestrates the SurfaceController and Transport.

Conversation({
  required SurfaceController controller,
  required Transport transport,
})

Property / Method	Type	Purpose
controller	SurfaceController	Manages surfaces
transport	Transport	AI communication
events	Stream<ConversationEvent>	Event stream (surfaces, text, errors)
state	ValueListenable<ConversationState>	Current conversation state
sendRequest(message)	Future<void>	Send user message to AI
dispose()	void	Clean up resources

ConversationEvent (Sealed)

Event	Key Fields	Purpose
ConversationSurfaceAdded	surfaceId, definition	New surface created
ConversationComponentsUpdated	surfaceId, definition	Components updated
ConversationSurfaceRemoved	surfaceId	Surface deleted
ConversationContentReceived	text	Text response from AI
ConversationWaiting	—	Waiting for response
ConversationError	error, stackTrace?	Error occurred

ConversationState

class ConversationState {
  final List<String> surfaces;   // Active surface IDs
  final String latestText;       // Latest text received
  final bool isWaiting;          // Waiting for response
}

---

Surface

Flutter widget that dynamically renders a UI from a SurfaceDefinition.

Surface({
  required SurfaceHost host,
  required String surfaceId,
  WidgetBuilder? defaultBuilder,
})

• Listens to host for updates to surfaceId
• Recursively builds Flutter widgets from Component definitions via the Catalog
• Dispatches user interactions back to the host

---

Transport (Interface)

Abstract interface for AI communication. Implement this to connect to a custom backend.

abstract interface class Transport {
  Stream<String> get incomingText;
  Stream<A2uiMessage> get incomingMessages;
  Future<void> sendRequest(ChatMessage message);
  void dispose();
}

---

A2uiTransportAdapter

Push-based transport for imperative integration. Wraps A2uiParserTransformer to parse streaming text into A2UI messages.

A2uiTransportAdapter({ManualSendCallback? onSend})

Method / Property	Type	Purpose
addChunk(text)	void	Feed text from LLM
addMessage(msg)	void	Inject raw A2uiMessage
incomingText	Stream<String>	Sanitized text for chat UI
incomingMessages	Stream<A2uiMessage>	Parsed A2UI messages
sendRequest(msg)	Future<void>	Delegates to onSend callback

---

SurfaceController

Runtime controller for the GenUI system. Manages surfaces, data models, and message routing.

SurfaceController({
  required Iterable<Catalog> catalogs,
  Duration pendingUpdateTimeout = const Duration(minutes: 1),
})

Property / Method	Type	Purpose
catalogs	Iterable<Catalog>	Available component catalogs
surfaceUpdates	Stream<SurfaceUpdate>	Surface lifecycle events
onSubmit	Stream<ChatMessage>	Messages to submit to AI
activeSurfaceIds	Iterable<String>	Currently active surfaces
clientCapabilities	A2UiClientCapabilities	Auto-generated from catalogs
handleMessage(msg)	void	Process an A2uiMessage
contextFor(surfaceId)	SurfaceContext	Get context for a surface
dispose()	void	Clean up

Implements both SurfaceHost and A2uiMessageSink.

---

PromptBuilder

Builds system prompts from catalogs and fragments for AI communication.

// Chat-style: creates new surfaces per response, no deletions
PromptBuilder.chat({
  required Catalog catalog,
  Iterable<String> systemPromptFragments = const [],
  String importancePrefix = 'IMPORTANT: ',
  JsonMap? clientDataModel,
})

// Custom operations control
PromptBuilder.custom({
  required Catalog catalog,
  required SurfaceOperations allowedOperations,
  Iterable<String> systemPromptFragments = const [],
  ...
})

PromptFragments

Static utility methods for common prompt fragments:

Method	Purpose
PromptFragments.acknowledgeUser()	Require AI to acknowledge user message
PromptFragments.requireAtLeastOneSubmitElement()	Require submit elements
PromptFragments.currentDate()	Inject current date
PromptFragments.uiGenerationRestriction()	Restrict to JSON text blocks

---

A2UiClientCapabilities

Describes the client's UI rendering capabilities to the server.

A2UiClientCapabilities({
  required List<String> supportedCatalogIds,
  List<JsonMap>? inlineCatalogs,
})

// From catalogs:
factory A2UiClientCapabilities.fromCatalogs(
  Iterable<Catalog> catalogs, {
  InlineCatalogHandling inlineHandling = InlineCatalogHandling.missingIds,
})

InlineCatalogHandling	Behavior
none	Never inline; throw if catalog has no ID
missingIds	Inline only catalogs without a catalogId
all	Inline all catalogs

---

SurfaceUpdate (Sealed)

Events broadcast when surfaces change.

sealed class SurfaceUpdate {
  final String surfaceId;
}

final class SurfaceAdded extends SurfaceUpdate {
  final SurfaceDefinition definition;
}

final class ComponentsUpdated extends SurfaceUpdate {
  final SurfaceDefinition definition;
}

final class SurfaceRemoved extends SurfaceUpdate {}

---

Reference Docs

Topic	File	Key Classes
Data binding & A2uiSchemas	data-binding.md	DataModel, DataContext, DataPath, A2uiSchemas, DataContextExtensions
Catalog & widget building	catalog-api.md	Catalog, CatalogItem, CatalogItemContext, BasicCatalog
A2UI protocol & chat messages	messages.md	A2uiMessage, ChatMessage, MessagePart
UI models, events & tools	ui-models.md	SurfaceDefinition, Component, SurfaceUpdate, UiEvent, SurfaceController