Create GPUI Docview

Create a new GPUI document-view application in a single command.

GPUI is a fast, productive UI framework for Rust from the creators of Zed.

This generator scaffolds document-view style applications similar to Zed Editor, with proper Workspace, Pane, Dock, and Panel architecture patterns. For simple GPUI apps, use create-gpui-app instead.

Quick Start

cargo install create-gpui-docview
create-gpui-docview --name my-app
cd my-app
cargo run -p my-app

Creating an App

You'll need to have Rust and Cargo installed on your machine. You can install Rust through rustup.

To create a new document-view app:

create-gpui-docview --name my-app
cd my-app

This will generate a complete workspace structure:

my-app
├── Cargo.toml (workspace root)
├── crates
│   ├── my-app              # Main application entry point
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src
│   │       └── main.rs
│   ├── pane                # Pane, PaneGroup, TabBar
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src
│   │       ├── pane.rs
│   │       ├── pane_group.rs
│   │       └── tab_bar.rs
│   ├── docking             # Dock system with Panel trait
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src
│   │       ├── dock.rs
│   │       └── panel_trait.rs
│   ├── panels              # Example panel implementations
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src
│   │       ├── file_tree_panel.rs
│   │       ├── settings_panel.rs
│   │       └── terminal_panel.rs
│   ├── modals              # Modal components
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src
│   │       ├── settings_modal.rs
│   │       ├── picker.rs
│   │       └── dialog.rs
│   ├── statusbar           # Status bar component
│   │   ├── Cargo.toml
│   │   └── src
│   │       └── lib.rs
│   └── theme               # Theme and settings management
│       ├── Cargo.toml
│       └── src
│           ├── theme.rs
│           └── settings_model.rs
└── README.md

Running create-gpui-docview with no --name argument creates an app called gpui-docview-app.

Running the App

During development:

cargo run -p my-app

For production/performance testing:

cargo build --release
./target/release/my-app

What's Included

A full-featured document-view workspace with:

• Main app crate - Application entry point with Workspace orchestration
• Pane system - Pane, PaneGroup, and TabBar for document/tab management
• Docking system - Dock component with Panel trait for sidebar/panel management
• Panel examples - FileTree, Settings, and Terminal panel implementations
• Modal components - Settings modal (⌘,), Picker, and Dialog modals for user interactions
• Status bar - Bottom status bar with file info and workspace indicators
• Theme system - Live theme switching with 4 built-in themes (Dark, Light, High Contrast, Moonlight)
• Menu system - Native macOS menu bar with keyboard shortcuts

All components follow GPUI best practices with Entity-based architecture and proper event handling.

Key Features

• Settings Modal - Accessible via ⌘, (Cmd+Comma), provides a clean interface for app configuration and theme selection
• Live Theme Switching - Choose from 4 beautiful themes with instant preview: Dark (purple accents), Light (clean whites), High Contrast (accessibility), and Moonlight (cyan accents). Switch themes on-the-fly from the Settings modal.
• Native Menus - Fully integrated macOS menu bar with File, Edit, View menus and keyboard shortcuts
• Keyboard-driven - Comprehensive keyboard shortcuts following macOS conventions
• Reactive Architecture - Built with GPUI's Entity system for responsive theme updates across all components

Troubleshooting

See the Zed development troubleshooting guide for platform-specific hints: https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/docs/src/development/macos.md#troubleshooting

Contributing

Your contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.

License

create-gpui-docview is open source software licensed as MIT.