# bubbletea examples/chat — viewport plus textarea chat example

## Metadata

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Institute | Molodetz Institute — Research & Retrieval Division |
| Subject | tui-framework-design |
| Document type | Source Dossier |
| Tier | 1 |
| Source title | bubbletea examples/chat/main.go — chat example (no sidebar) |
| Source URL | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea/main/examples/chat/main.go |
| Source publisher / author | Charm (bubbletea project) |
| Source type | repository |
| Source date (published) | Unknown — not stated |
| Date researched | 2026-10-11 |
| Researched by | tai (agent), model: Muse Spark, on behalf of retoor |
| Research method | direct page fetch |
| Confidence | Medium |
| Status | Active |

## Summary

Charm's own minimal chat example: a full-width transcript viewport over a 3-row textarea with a 280-character limit, resizing both to the window on `WindowSizeMsg`, jumping to the bottom on send and resize, with Enter to send and Esc/Ctrl+C to quit. Notably sidebar-free.

## Key findings

- Layout is a transcript viewport plus a 3-row textarea (placeholder `Send a message...`, `CharLimit` 280, box-glyph prompt); there is no sidebar or chat list.
- `WindowSizeMsg` resizes both components to full width with viewport height set to window height minus textarea height; sends and resizes trigger `GotoBottom`.
- Enter sends; Esc or Ctrl+C quits.

## Pros / strengths

- Authoritative minimal precedent from the framework authors: the viewport-resize math and send-then-bottom pattern are directly reusable.
- Shows the no-sidebar endpoint of the design space, bounding tai's choice.

## Cons / limitations / caveats

- An example, not a shipped client: no chat list, no status bar, no history, no per-message state — tai needs the fuller clients for those.
- Full-width single-pane layout is rejected for tai, which needs a conversation list.

## Relevance to tai

- Contributes the viewport height math (window minus input) and send-then-bottom behavior to the messaging-layout conclusion; its sidebar-free shape is recorded there as a considered and rejected alternative.

## Changelog

| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-11 | Initial dossier created from 2026-10-11 research-pass evidence (body opened via web_fetch by researching agent). |