GPUI Patterns

Metadata

This skill provides comprehensive guidance on common GPUI patterns and best practices for building maintainable, performant applications.

Instructions

Component Composition Patterns

Basic Component Structure

use gpui::*;

// View component with state
struct MyView {
    state: Model<MyState>,
    _subscription: Subscription,
}

impl MyView {
    fn new(state: Model<MyState>, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> Self {
        let _subscription = cx.observe(&state, |_, _, cx| cx.notify());
        Self { state, _subscription }
    }
}

impl Render for MyView {
    fn render(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        let state = self.state.read(cx);

        div()
            .flex()
            .flex_col()
            .child(format!("Value: {}", state.value))
    }
}

Container/Presenter Pattern

Container (manages state and logic):

struct Container {
    model: Model<AppState>,
    _subscription: Subscription,
}

impl Container {
    fn new(model: Model<AppState>, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> Self {
        let _subscription = cx.observe(&model, |_, _, cx| cx.notify());
        Self { model, _subscription }
    }
}

impl Render for Container {
    fn render(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        let state = self.model.read(cx);

        // Pass data to presenter
        Presenter::new(state.data.clone())
    }
}

Presenter (pure rendering):

struct Presenter {
    data: String,
}

impl Presenter {
    fn new(data: String) -> Self {
        Self { data }
    }
}

impl Render for Presenter {
    fn render(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        div().child(self.data.as_str())
    }
}

Compound Components

// Parent component with shared context
pub struct Tabs {
    items: Vec<TabItem>,
    active_index: usize,
}

pub struct TabItem {
    label: String,
    content: Box<dyn Fn() -> AnyElement>,
}

impl Tabs {
    pub fn new() -> Self {
        Self {
            items: Vec::new(),
            active_index: 0,
        }
    }

    pub fn add_tab(
        mut self,
        label: impl Into<String>,
        content: impl Fn() -> AnyElement + 'static,
    ) -> Self {
        self.items.push(TabItem {
            label: label.into(),
            content: Box::new(content),
        });
        self
    }

    fn set_active(&mut self, index: usize, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
        self.active_index = index;
        cx.notify();
    }
}

impl Render for Tabs {
    fn render(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        div()
            .flex()
            .flex_col()
            .child(
                // Tab headers
                div()
                    .flex()
                    .children(
                        self.items.iter().enumerate().map(|(i, item)| {
                            tab_header(&item.label, i == self.active_index, || {
                                self.set_active(i, cx)
                            })
                        })
                    )
            )
            .child(
                // Active tab content
                (self.items[self.active_index].content)()
            )
    }
}

State Management Strategies

Model-View Pattern

// Model: Application state
#[derive(Clone)]
struct AppState {
    count: usize,
    items: Vec<String>,
}

// View: Observes and renders state
struct AppView {
    state: Model<AppState>,
    _subscription: Subscription,
}

impl AppView {
    fn new(state: Model<AppState>, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> Self {
        let _subscription = cx.observe(&state, |_, _, cx| cx.notify());
        Self { state, _subscription }
    }

    fn increment(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
        self.state.update(cx, |state, cx| {
            state.count += 1;
            cx.notify();
        });
    }
}

Context-Based State

// Global state via context
#[derive(Clone)]
struct GlobalSettings {
    theme: Theme,
    language: String,
}

impl Global for GlobalSettings {}

// Initialize in app
fn init_app(cx: &mut AppContext) {
    cx.set_global(GlobalSettings {
        theme: Theme::Light,
        language: "en".to_string(),
    });
}

// Access in components
impl Render for MyView {
    fn render(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        let settings = cx.global::<GlobalSettings>();

        div()
            .child(format!("Language: {}", settings.language))
    }
}

Subscription Patterns

Basic Subscription:

struct Observer {
    model: Model<Data>,
    _subscription: Subscription,
}

impl Observer {
    fn new(model: Model<Data>, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> Self {
        let _subscription = cx.observe(&model, |_, _, cx| {
            cx.notify();  // Rerender on change
        });

        Self { model, _subscription }
    }
}

Selective Updates:

impl Observer {
    fn new(model: Model<Data>, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> Self {
        let _subscription = cx.observe(&model, |this, model, cx| {
            let data = model.read(cx);

            // Only rerender if specific field changed
            if data.important_field != this.cached_field {
                this.cached_field = data.important_field.clone();
                cx.notify();
            }
        });

        Self {
            model,
            cached_field: String::new(),
            _subscription,
        }
    }
}

Multiple Subscriptions:

struct MultiObserver {
    model_a: Model<DataA>,
    model_b: Model<DataB>,
    _subscriptions: Vec<Subscription>,
}

impl MultiObserver {
    fn new(
        model_a: Model<DataA>,
        model_b: Model<DataB>,
        cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>,
    ) -> Self {
        let mut subscriptions = Vec::new();

        subscriptions.push(cx.observe(&model_a, |_, _, cx| cx.notify()));
        subscriptions.push(cx.observe(&model_b, |_, _, cx| cx.notify()));

        Self {
            model_a,
            model_b,
            _subscriptions: subscriptions,
        }
    }
}

Event Handling Patterns

Click Events

div()
    .on_click(cx.listener(|this, event: &ClickEvent, cx| {
        // Handle click
        this.handle_click(cx);
    }))
    .child("Click me")

Keyboard Events

div()
    .on_key_down(cx.listener(|this, event: &KeyDownEvent, cx| {
        match event.key.as_str() {
            "Enter" => this.submit(cx),
            "Escape" => this.cancel(cx),
            _ => {}
        }
    }))

Event Propagation

// Stop propagation
div()
    .on_click(|event, cx| {
        event.stop_propagation();
        // Handle click
    })

// Prevent default
div()
    .on_key_down(|event, cx| {
        if event.key == "Tab" {
            event.prevent_default();
            // Custom tab handling
        }
    })

Mouse Events

div()
    .on_mouse_down(cx.listener(|this, event, cx| {
        this.mouse_down_position = Some(event.position);
    }))
    .on_mouse_move(cx.listener(|this, event, cx| {
        if let Some(start) = this.mouse_down_position {
            let delta = event.position - start;
            this.handle_drag(delta, cx);
        }
    }))
    .on_mouse_up(cx.listener(|this, event, cx| {
        this.mouse_down_position = None;
    }))

Action System

Define Actions

use gpui::*;

actions!(app, [
    Increment,
    Decrement,
    Reset,
    SetValue
]);

// Action with data
#[derive(Clone, PartialEq)]
pub struct SetValue {
    pub value: i32,
}

impl_actions!(app, [SetValue]);

Register Action Handlers

impl Counter {
    fn register_actions(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
        cx.on_action(cx.listener(|this, _: &Increment, cx| {
            this.model.update(cx, |state, cx| {
                state.count += 1;
                cx.notify();
            });
        }));

        cx.on_action(cx.listener(|this, _: &Decrement, cx| {
            this.model.update(cx, |state, cx| {
                state.count = state.count.saturating_sub(1);
                cx.notify();
            });
        }));

        cx.on_action(cx.listener(|this, action: &SetValue, cx| {
            this.model.update(cx, |state, cx| {
                state.count = action.value;
                cx.notify();
            });
        }));
    }
}

Dispatch Actions

// From within component
fn handle_button_click(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
    cx.dispatch_action(Increment);
}

// With data
fn set_specific_value(&mut self, value: i32, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
    cx.dispatch_action(SetValue { value });
}

// Global action dispatch
cx.dispatch_action_on_window(Reset, window_id);

Keybindings

// Register global keybindings
fn register_keybindings(cx: &mut AppContext) {
    cx.bind_keys([
        KeyBinding::new("cmd-+", Increment, None),
        KeyBinding::new("cmd--", Decrement, None),
        KeyBinding::new("cmd-0", Reset, None),
    ]);
}

Element Composition

Builder Pattern

fn card(title: &str, content: impl IntoElement) -> impl IntoElement {
    div()
        .flex()
        .flex_col()
        .bg(white())
        .border_1()
        .rounded_lg()
        .shadow_sm()
        .p_6()
        .child(
            div()
                .text_lg()
                .font_semibold()
                .mb_4()
                .child(title)
        )
        .child(content)
}

Conditional Rendering

div()
    .when(condition, |this| {
        this.bg(blue_500())
    })
    .when_some(optional_value, |this, value| {
        this.child(format!("Value: {}", value))
    })
    .map(|this| {
        if complex_condition {
            this.border_1()
        } else {
            this.border_2()
        }
    })

Dynamic Children

div()
    .children(
        items.iter().map(|item| {
            div().child(item.name.as_str())
        })
    )

View Lifecycle

Initialization

impl MyView {
    fn new(cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> Self {
        // Initialize state
        let model = cx.new_model(|_| MyState::default());

        // Set up subscriptions
        let subscription = cx.observe(&model, |_, _, cx| cx.notify());

        // Spawn async tasks
        cx.spawn(|this, mut cx| async move {
            // Async initialization
        }).detach();

        Self {
            model,
            _subscription: subscription,
        }
    }
}

Update Notifications

impl MyView {
    fn update_state(&mut self, new_data: Data, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
        self.model.update(cx, |state, cx| {
            state.data = new_data;
            cx.notify();  // Trigger rerender
        });
    }
}

Cleanup

impl Drop for MyView {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        // Manual cleanup if needed
        // Subscriptions are automatically dropped
    }
}

Reactive Patterns

Derived State

impl Render for MyView {
    fn render(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) -> impl IntoElement {
        let state = self.model.read(cx);

        // Compute derived values
        let total = state.items.iter().map(|i| i.value).sum::<i32>();
        let average = total / state.items.len() as i32;

        div()
            .child(format!("Total: {}", total))
            .child(format!("Average: {}", average))
    }
}

Async Updates

impl MyView {
    fn load_data(&mut self, cx: &mut ViewContext<Self>) {
        let model = self.model.clone();

        cx.spawn(|_, mut cx| async move {
            let data = fetch_data().await?;

            cx.update_model(&model, |state, cx| {
                state.data = data;
                cx.notify();
            })?;

            Ok::<_, anyhow::Error>(())
        }).detach();
    }
}

Resources

Official Documentation

GPUI GitHub: https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/tree/main/crates/gpui
Zed Editor Source: Real-world GPUI examples

Common Patterns Reference

Model-View: State management pattern
Container-Presenter: Separation of concerns
Compound Components: Related components working together
Action System: Command pattern for user interactions
Subscriptions: Observer pattern for reactive updates

Best Practices

Store subscriptions to prevent cleanup
Use cx.notify() sparingly
Prefer composition over inheritance
Keep render methods pure
Handle errors gracefully
Document component APIs
Test component behavior

gpui-patterns