Install and first use

pito-footer is a Rust library for ratatui 0.30. It is taken from its Git repository by tag, and the line is the same on Linux, Windows and macOS. In the app’s Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
pito-footer = { git = "https://github.com/gmrdad82/pito-footer", tag = "v1.0.1" }
ratatui = "0.30"

To turn crossterm key events into the crate’s Key (see Feed it keys from crossterm), add the crossterm feature:

pito-footer = { git = "https://github.com/gmrdad82/pito-footer", tag = "v1.0.1", features = ["crossterm"] }

Without it the crate has no backend dependency.

A first footer

Put hints at the bottom of the screen. The footer says how many rows it needs for a width with height(width), and the app gives it those rows:

use pito_footer::{Footer, Hint};
use ratatui::{crossterm::event, layout::Rect};

const HINTS: [Hint; 3] = [
    Hint::new("↑↓", "move"),
    Hint::new("enter", "open").rank(1),
    Hint::new("q", "quit").pinned(),
];

fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
    let mut terminal = ratatui::init();
    loop {
        terminal.draw(|frame| {
            let footer = Footer::new(&HINTS).version("app", "1.0.0");
            let area = frame.area();
            let height = footer.height(area.width);
            let bottom = Rect { y: area.bottom().saturating_sub(height), height, ..area };
            frame.render_widget(footer, bottom);
        })?;
        let quit = event::read()?
            .as_key_press_event()
            .is_some_and(|key| key.code == event::KeyCode::Char('q'));
        if quit {
            break;
        }
    }
    ratatui::restore();
    Ok(())
}

cargo run draws ↑↓ move · enter open · q quit on the last row with app v1.0.0 at its right end; q quits.

See every part working

The repository’s demo is a task list with the footer at its bottom: move with ↑↓, mark a task done with enter, search with /, delete with d, hide the hints with ?, and press ctrl+c twice to quit.

git clone https://github.com/gmrdad82/pito-footer && cd pito-footer
cargo run --example demo --features crossterm

The gallery draws one scene for each part of the footer, the scenes the pictures in these guides come from:

cargo run --example gallery --features crossterm -- fit

The scenes are fit, notices, status, input and confirm; any other name prints gallery: unknown scene '…', try fit, notices, status, input or confirm and exits with 2.