Lua Type Aliases

Yazi defines several type aliases used across the plugin API to clarify what kinds of values are expected in different contexts.

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Origin

Marks a value as originating from a specific context. Used for ownership tracking between sync and async.

-- Origin values carry context ownership information
local origin_file = some_origin_value  -- owned by e.g. sync context

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Sendable

A value that is safe to send between contexts (sync ↔ async). All primitive Lua types are Sendable. Composite types must be explicitly marked.

Type	Sendable?
nil	Yes
boolean	Yes
number	Yes
string	Yes
table	Yes (if all keys/values are Sendable)
function	No

Values that cross the sync/async boundary must be Sendable.

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Renderable

Any value that can be rendered by the UI system. This includes:

• Span — A styled text span
• Line — A row of spans
• Text — A multi-line block
• List — A scrollable list
• Paragraph — A wrapped text block
• Gauge — A progress bar
• Table — A table widget
• Bar — A directional bar
• Border — A bordered frame
• Clear — An area clear
• Sparkline — A sparkline chart

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AsPos

A value that can be converted to a Pos. Accepts:

-- Table with x, y keys
ui.Pos { x = 1, y = 2 }

-- Table with col, row keys
ui.Pos { col = 1, row = 2 }

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AsSpan

A value that can be converted to a Span. Accepts:

-- Plain string
ui.Span("hello")

-- Styled string
ui.Span({ text = "hello", fg = "red" })

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AsLine

A value that can be converted to a Line. Accepts:

-- Single span
ui.Line { "text" }

-- Multiple spans
ui.Line { "hello", ui.Span("world"):bold() }

-- Array of strings
ui.Line { "part1", "part2" }

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Span

A styled text segment — the fundamental building block of rendered text.

Method	Description
:fg(color)	Set foreground color
:bg(color)	Set background color
:bold()	Bold text
:italic()	Italic text
:underline()	Underlined text
:crossed_out()	Strikethrough text

ui.Span("Warning: "):fg("yellow"):bold()

Line

A row composed of multiple Span values.

ui.Line {
  ui.Span("Name: "):fg("blue"),
  ui.Span("report.pdf"):bold(),
}

Colors can be specified as strings ("red", "#ff0000") or as Rgb values.

info

All type aliases are conceptual — they document the expected shape of values rather than providing explicit type annotations.