React is no longer just for web applications. Some of today’s prominent AI developer tools, including Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and GitHub Copilot CLI, bring React into a rather different environment: the terminal. At the center of this development is Ink, a React renderer for building interactive command-line interfaces using components, hooks, and Flexbox-like layouts.
But the bigger shift is not just from browser to terminal. AI applications are moving from sim- ple chat interfaces toward harnesses: systems that connect models with tools, context, workflows, and humans. This talk explores how React and Ink can become the interaction layer for these systems, covering patterns for streaming output, long-running jobs, tool execution, persistent UI regions, keyboard interaction, and asynchronous state
This talk has been presented at React Day Berlin 2026, check out the latest edition of this React Conference.





















