HTML/CSS as your desktop UI language.
KUI brings HTML/CSS interfaces, native application logic and built-in capabilities together for teams that want control over their desktop runtime, components and delivery.
- Modern web layout: Use familiar Flex, Grid, selectors, CSS variables, typography and animation. Canvas, SVG and DOM events have dedicated APIs, with individual support details in the reference.
- Lean runtime & Lua: KUI ships its own HTML/CSS renderer, without Chromium or a system WebView. Keep business logic in the native host, and use optional Lua for interface interactions.
- Built-in virtual components: VirtualList, ListView and TreeView are built in. Instantiate rows for the viewport and overscan, with APIs for selection, tree expansion and dynamic data changes.
- An extensible native core: Add an editor, PDF viewer or 3D through standalone extensions. Register your own elements through a pure C ABI, with styling, events and a defined drawing lifecycle.
- Built for agent-assisted development: You do not need to learn KUI’s features first. Describe layout, style and actions using HTML/CSS web standards. Your agent can consult the SDK docs, handle integration and inspect the UI and interactions through DevTools/MCP.
Qt Quick and Qt Widgets
Qt provides Qt Quick and Qt Widgets as its main UI technologies. Qt Quick uses QML and scene-graph rendering; Widgets provides a separate desktop control model. Qt WebEngine is a different integration path from ordinary QML or Widgets.
Retain logic and rebuild UI connections
Independent C++ algorithms and business modules may be retained. Reconnect QWidget/QML, signals and slots, QObject ownership, model/view logic and resources to KUI windows, DOM and event lifetimes. If both event loops remain, define how they are driven and stopped.
Check the delivered dependencies
Compare the controls, plugins, system interfaces and deployment tools the application uses, as well as UI syntax. Review licensing for the actual Qt modules and distribution model; KUI's binary and source offers also require formal terms.
Sources and practice
Technical models were checked against official documentation on 2026-11-09. Migration sections are our engineering guidance, without cross-framework benchmark results. Check KUI interfaces, limitations and examples for specific capabilities.
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