textual-widget-development

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Designs and implements custom Textual widgets with composition, styling, and lifecycle management. Use when creating reusable widget components, composing widgets from built-in components, implementing widget lifecycle (on_mount, on_unmount), handling widget state, and testing widgets. Covers custom widgets extending Static, Container, and building complex widget hierarchies.

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textual-widget-developmentlifecycle-managementcss-stylingpython-ui-componentsreusable-widgets

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Textual Widget Development

Purpose

Build reusable, composable Textual widgets that follow functional principles, proper lifecycle management, and type safety. Widgets are the fundamental building blocks of Textual applications.

Quick Start

python
from textual.app import ComposeResult
from textual.widgets import Static, Container
from textual.containers import Vertical

class SimpleWidget(Static):
    """A simple reusable widget."""

    DEFAULT_CSS = """
    SimpleWidget {
        height: auto;
        border: solid $primary;
        padding: 1;
    }
    """

    def __init__(self, title: str, **kwargs: object) -> None:
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        self._title = title

    def render(self) -> str:
        """Render widget content."""
        return f"Title: {self._title}"

# Use in app:
class MyApp(App):
    def compose(self) -> ComposeResult:
        yield SimpleWidget("Hello")

Instructions

Step 1: Choose Widget Base Class

Select appropriate base class based on widget purpose:
python
from textual.widgets import Static, Container, Input, Button
from textual.containers import Vertical, Horizontal, Container as GenericContainer

# For custom content/display - Simple widgets
class StatusWidget(Static):
    """Displays status information."""
    pass

# For layout/composition - Container widgets
class DashboardWidget(Container):
    """Composes multiple child widgets."""
    pass

# Built-in widgets (ready to use)
# - Static: Display text/rich content
# - Input: Text input field
# - Button: Clickable button
# - Label: Static label
# - Select: Dropdown selector
# - DataTable: Tabular data
# - Tree: Hierarchical data
Guidelines:
  • Use 
    Static
    for display-only content
  • Use 
    Container
    when you need to compose child widgets
  • Use built-in widgets first before creating custom ones
  • Create custom widgets only when built-in options don't fit

Step 2: Define Widget Initialization and Configuration

Implement 
__init__
with proper type hints and parent class initialization:
python
from typing import ClassVar
from textual.app import ComposeResult
from textual.widgets import Static

class ConfigurableWidget(Static):
    """Widget with configurable parameters."""

    DEFAULT_CSS = """
    ConfigurableWidget {
        height: auto;
        border: solid $primary;
        padding: 1;
    }

    ConfigurableWidget .header {
        background: $boost;
        text-style: bold;
    }
    """

    # Class constants
    BORDER_COLOR: ClassVar[str] = "$primary"

    def __init__(
        self,
        title: str,
        content: str = "",
        *,
        name: str | None = None,
        id: str | None = None,  # noqa: A002
        classes: str | None = None,
        variant: str = "default",
    ) -> None:
        """Initialize widget.

        Args:
            title: Widget title.
            content: Initial content.
            name: Widget name.
            id: Widget ID for querying.
            classes: CSS classes to apply.
            variant: Visual variant (default, compact, etc).

        Always pass **kwargs to parent:
            super().__init__(name=name, id=id, classes=classes)
        """
        super().__init__(name=name, id=id, classes=classes)
        self._title = title
        self._content = content
        self._variant = variant
Important Rules:
  • Always call 
    super().__init__()
    with name, id, classes
  • Store configuration in instance variables (prefix with 
    _
    )
  • Use type hints for all parameters
  • Document all parameters with docstrings
  • Use keyword-only arguments (after 
    *
    ) for optional parameters

Step 3: Implement Widget Composition

For complex widgets that contain child widgets:
python
from textual.app import ComposeResult
from textual.containers import Vertical, Horizontal
from textual.widgets import Static, Button, Label

class CompositeWidget(Vertical):
    """Widget that composes multiple child widgets."""

    DEFAULT_CSS = """
    CompositeWidget {
        height: auto;
        border: solid $primary;
    }

    CompositeWidget .header {
        height: 3;
        background: $boost;
        text-style: bold;
    }

    CompositeWidget .content {
        height: 1fr;
        overflow: auto;
    }

    CompositeWidget .footer {
        height: auto;
        border-top: solid $primary;
    }
    """

    def __init__(self, title: str, **kwargs: object) -> None:
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        self._title = title
        self._items: list[str] = []

    def compose(self) -> ComposeResult:
        """Compose child widgets.

        Yields:
            Child widgets in order they should appear.
        """
        # Header
        yield Static(f"Title: {self._title}", classes="header")

        # Content area with items
        yield Vertical(
            Static(
                "Content area" if not self._items else "\n".join(self._items),
                id="content-area",
            ),
            classes="content",
        )

        # Footer with buttons
        yield Horizontal(
            Button("Add", id="btn-add", variant="primary"),
            Button("Remove", id="btn-remove"),
            classes="footer",
        )

    async def on_mount(self) -> None:
        """Initialize after composition."""
        # Can now query child widgets
        content = self.query_one("#content-area", Static)
        content.update("Initialized")

    async def add_item(self, item: str) -> None:
        """Add item to widget."""
        self._items.append(item)
        content = self.query_one("#content-area", Static)
        content.update("\n".join(self._items))
Composition Pattern:
  • Override 
    compose()
    to yield child widgets
  • Use containers (Vertical, Horizontal) for layout
  • Use 
    on_mount()
    after children are mounted
  • Query children by ID using 
    self.query_one()

Step 4: Implement Widget Rendering

For display widgets using 
render()
:
python
from rich.console import Console
from rich.table import Table
from rich.text import Text
from textual.widgets import Static

class RichWidget(Static):
    """Widget that renders Rich objects."""

    def __init__(self, data: dict, **kwargs: object) -> None:
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        self._data = data

    def render(self) -> str | Text | Table:
        """Render widget content as Rich object.

        Returns:
            str, Text, or Rich-renderable object.
            Textual converts to displayable content.
        """
        # Simple text
        return f"Data: {self._data}"

        # Rich Text with styling
        text = Text()
        text.append("Status: ", style="bold")
        text.append(self._data.get("status", "unknown"), style="green")
        return text

        # Rich Table
        table = Table(title="Data")
        table.add_column("Key", style="cyan")
        table.add_column("Value", style="magenta")
        for key, value in self._data.items():
            table.add_row(key, str(value))
        return table
Rendering Methods:
  1. render()
    - Return displayable content
  2. update(content)
    - Update rendered content
  3. refresh()
    - Force re-render

Step 5: Add Widget Lifecycle Methods

Implement lifecycle hooks for initialization and cleanup:
python
class LifecycleWidget(Static):
    """Widget with full lifecycle implementation."""

    def __init__(self, **kwargs: object) -> None:
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        self._initialized = False

    async def on_mount(self) -> None:
        """Called when widget is mounted to DOM.

        Use for:
        - Initializing state
        - Starting background tasks
        - Loading data
        - Querying sibling widgets
        """
        self._initialized = True
        self.update("Widget mounted and ready")

        # Start background task
        self.app.run_worker(self._background_work())

    async def _background_work(self) -> None:
        """Background async work."""
        import asyncio
        while self._initialized:
            await asyncio.sleep(1)
            self.refresh()

    def on_unmount(self) -> None:
        """Called when widget is removed from DOM.

        Use for:
        - Cleanup
        - Stopping background tasks
        - Closing connections
        """
        self._initialized = False
Lifecycle Events:
  • on_mount()
    - After widget mounted and can query children
  • on_unmount()
    - After widget removed, before destruction
  • on_focus()
    - Widget gained focus
  • on_blur()
    - Widget lost focus

Step 6: Implement Widget Actions and Messages

Add interactivity through actions and custom messages:
python
from textual.message import Message
from textual import on
from textual.widgets import Button

class ItemWidget(Static):
    """Widget that posts custom messages."""

    class ItemClicked(Message):
        """Posted when item is clicked."""

        def __init__(self, item_id: str) -> None:
            super().__init__()
            self.item_id = item_id

    def __init__(self, item_id: str, label: str, **kwargs: object) -> None:
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        self._item_id = item_id
        self._label = label

    def render(self) -> str:
        return f"[{self._item_id}] {self._label}"

    def on_click(self) -> None:
        """Handle click event."""
        # Post message that parent can handle
        self.post_message(self.ItemClicked(self._item_id))

# Parent widget handling custom messages
class ItemList(Vertical):
    """Widget that handles ItemWidget messages."""

    @on(ItemWidget.ItemClicked)
    async def on_item_clicked(self, message: ItemWidget.ItemClicked) -> None:
        """Handle item click message."""
        print(f"Item clicked: {message.item_id}")
        self.notify(f"Selected: {message.item_id}")
Message Pattern:
  1. Define custom Message subclass
  2. Post message with 
    self.post_message()
  3. Parent handles with 
    @on(MessageType)
    decorator
  4. Messages bubble up the widget tree

Step 7: Add CSS Styling

Define DEFAULT_CSS for widget styling:
python
class StyledWidget(Static):
    """Widget with comprehensive CSS styling."""

    DEFAULT_CSS = """
    StyledWidget {
        width: 100%;
        height: auto;
        border: solid $primary;
        padding: 1 2;
        background: $surface;
    }

    StyledWidget .header {
        width: 100%;
        height: 3;
        background: $boost;
        text-style: bold;
        content-align: center middle;
        color: $text;
    }

    StyledWidget .content {
        width: 1fr;
        height: 1fr;
        padding: 1;
        overflow: auto;
    }

    StyledWidget .status-active {
        color: $success;
        text-style: bold;
    }

    StyledWidget .status-inactive {
        color: $error;
        text-style: dim;
    }

    StyledWidget:focus {
        border: double $primary;
    }

    StyledWidget:disabled {
        opacity: 0.5;
    }
    """

    def render(self) -> str:
        return "Styled Widget"
CSS Best Practices:
  • Use CSS variables ($primary, $success, etc.) for consistency
  • Keep DEFAULT_CSS in the widget file
  • Use classes for variants
  • Use pseudo-classes (:focus, :hover, :disabled)
  • Use width/height in fr (fraction) or auto

Examples

Basic Widget Examples

See above instructions for two fundamental widget examples:
  1. Custom Status Display Widget (rendering with Rich)
  2. Reusable Data Table Widget (composition pattern)
For advanced widget patterns, see references/advanced-patterns.md:
  • Complex container widgets with multiple child types
  • Dynamic widget mounting/unmounting
  • Lazy loading patterns
  • Advanced reactive patterns with watchers
  • Custom message bubbling
  • Performance optimization (virtual scrolling, debouncing)
  • Comprehensive testing patterns

Requirements

  • Textual >= 0.45.0
  • Python 3.9+ for type hints
  • Rich (installed with Textual for rendering)

Common Patterns

Creating Reusable Containers

python
def create_section(title: str, content: Static) -> Container:
    """Factory function for creating sections."""
    return Container(
        Static(title, classes="section-header"),
        content,
        classes="section",
    )

Lazy Widget Mounting

python
async def lazy_mount_children(self) -> None:
    """Mount child widgets gradually."""
    for i, item in enumerate(self._items):
        await container.mount(self._create_item_widget(item))
        if i % 10 == 0:
            await asyncio.sleep(0)  # Yield to event loop

See Also

  • textual-app-lifecycle.md - App initialization and lifecycle
  • textual-event-messages.md - Event and message handling
  • textual-layout-styling.md - CSS styling and layout