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justrach/nanoui

A Zig toolkit for building desktop apps with native UI drawn on the GPU, or with a web page in the system webview.

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What is it?

nanoui is a toolkit for writing desktop applications in Zig. Each window can show either a native interface written entirely in Zig and drawn by nanoui, with no HTML or webview, or a web page rendered in the system webview (WKWebView on macOS, WebView2 on Windows) whose frontend calls Zig through a generated, typed JavaScript client.

The native UI uses flexbox-style layout, text rendering from a glyph atlas, animations, and immediate-mode views that can be tested without opening a window. On macOS it draws with Metal and CoreText. Linux and Windows are also supported, along with iOS and Android. Apps compile to single binaries.

The project includes a `nui` command-line tool that scaffolds a new app, runs its tests offscreen, and captures snapshots as PNG files, which suits both developers and coding agents.

Key features

  • 01Native UI written in Zig, drawn on the GPU with Metal on macOS
  • 02Flexbox layout, virtualized lists, text wrapping and rich text
  • 03Web pages in the system webview with a generated, typed JavaScript client
  • 04Headless testing and PNG snapshots without opening a window
  • 05Single-binary apps, with a release build around 0.7 MB
  • 06Runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, iOS and Android

Use cases

  • Building small, fast desktop utilities in Zig without a browser engine
  • Writing a native-feeling app whose UI is tested headlessly in CI
  • Shipping a Zig backend with a web frontend in the system webview
  • Prototyping an iOS or Android app in Zig with shared view code

Quick start

  1. 1

    Clone the repository with submodules

    git clone --recursive https://github.com/justrach/nanoui
  2. 2

    Enter the project directory

    cd nanoui
  3. 3

    Run the native UI gallery example

    zig build run-gallery
  4. 4

    Run the webview example

    zig build run-hello

Things to know

  • Requires Zig 0.17.0, which is a specific pre-1.0 toolchain version.
  • While nanoui is 0.x, minor releases may change the API.
  • Linux apps need GTK 3 at run time.

In collections

Desktop GUI apps & toolkits

Topics

#zig#gui#desktop-app#ui-framework#gpu-rendering#webview#cross-platform#metal

FAQ

What is nanoui?
A Zig toolkit for building desktop apps with native UI drawn on the GPU, or with a web page in the system webview. nanoui is a toolkit for writing desktop applications in Zig. Each window can show either a native interface written entirely in Zig and drawn by nanoui, with no HTML or webview, or a web page rendered in the system webview (WKWebView on macOS, WebView2 on Windows) whose frontend calls Zig through a generated, typed JavaScript client.
Is nanoui free to use? What license does it have?
nanoui is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is nanoui still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to nanoui was on Nov 7, 2026.
What can I use nanoui for?
Building small, fast desktop utilities in Zig without a browser engine Writing a native-feeling app whose UI is tested headlessly in CI Shipping a Zig backend with a web frontend in the system webview Prototyping an iOS or Android app in Zig with shared view code
How do I install nanoui?
Clone the repository with submodules: git clone --recursive https://github.com/justrach/nanoui Enter the project directory: cd nanoui Run the native UI gallery example: zig build run-gallery Run the webview example: zig build run-hello
Where can I get nanoui?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/justrach/nanoui

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