Backends

Ratatui interfaces with the terminal emulator through a backend. These libraries enable Ratatui via the Terminal type to draw styled text to the screen, manipulate the cursor, and interrogate properties of the terminal such as the console or window size. You application will generally also use the backend directly to capture keyboard, mouse and window events, and enable raw mode and the alternate screen.

Ratatui supports the following backends:

• Crossterm via CrosstermBackend and the crossterm (enabled by default).
• Termion via TermionBackend and the termion feature.
• Termwiz via TermwizBackend and the termwiz feature.
• A TestBackend which can be useful to unit test your application’s UI

For information on how to choose a backend see: Comparison

Each backend supports Raw Mode (which changes how the terminal handles input and output processing), an Alternate Screen which allows it to render to a separate buffer than your shell commands use, and Mouse Capture, which allows your application to capture mouse events.