/build-gpui-apps

GPUI reference app

This is the retained direct upstream GPUI fixture, not a GPUI Kit starter. For the recommended Kit path, follow the framework choice policy and Getting Started. Its pinned dependencies and compile results do not validate Kit examples.

This is the compile-checked companion to the build-gpui-apps skill. It pins Zed/GPUI commit 7733b9922665f103abda7c6a3fde6b9dfdc8eba9 and Rust 1.97 so the higher-level examples have one executable API baseline.

It demonstrates:

• gpui_platform::application() startup;
• root Entity and Context state ownership;
• typed actions, scoped key bindings, and application menus;
• an owned self-subscription and semantic entity event;
• cancellable async work with a stale-generation guard;
• stable IDs, roles, labels, tab stops, and focus-visible controls;
• a virtualized uniform_list;
• a semantic opaque material and explicit accessibility fallbacks;
• reduced-motion-aware spring orchestration;
• multiple windows and last-window close policy;
• pure Rust and #[gpui::test] tests.

It deliberately does not claim to be:

• a component framework;
• a production text editor or full IME implementation;
• native Liquid Glass or backdrop blur;
• proof of Windows/Linux runtime behavior from a macOS build;
• a visually accepted product screen.

Read ../../references/input-windows.md before implementing custom editable text, clipboard, drag/drop, dynamic menus, close prompts, or restoration.

Validate

From the skill directory:

scripts/validate_reference_app.sh

The script runs formatting, exact-lockfile compilation, all tests, and Clippy with warnings denied. macOS requires Xcode's Metal toolchain. Linux needs the native libraries required by the selected Wayland/X11 GPUI features.

To open the sample window in a desktop session:

cargo +1.97.1 run --manifest-path assets/reference-app/Cargo.toml --locked

Launching remains a separate verification step; CI compilation and tests do not prove window appearance, focus, accessibility output, or input behavior.

Known pinned dependency notice

Rust 1.97.1 reports a future-incompatibility lint in indirect macOS dependency block 0.1.6 (static of uninhabited type). The fixture itself remains clean under Clippy with warnings denied. Keep the notice visible and re-evaluate it when refreshing GPUI; do not hide it or add an unreviewed dependency patch just to silence the report.

Refresh the pin

Do not casually float this dependency. When refreshing it:

1. Record the new Zed commit and matching toolchain.
2. Update every gpui and gpui_platform revision together.
3. Regenerate and review Cargo.lock.
4. Recheck source-backed API claims in the skill references.
5. Run the validation script and launch on each supported platform available.
6. Update references/sources.md with the new research snapshot.