Create your first app - Niblet

Create a project:

niblet apps init desk-message --name "Desk Message" --author "Your name"
cd desk-message

Replace main.star with:

load("render.star", "render")

def main(config):
    message = config.get("message") or "hello niblet"
    return render.Root(
        child = render.Box(
            width = 64,
            height = 32,
            color = "#0d1117",
            child = render.Text(
                content = message,
                color = "#ff745b",
            ),
        ),
    )

Run the live preview:

niblet serve .

Open http://localhost:8080. You can pass configuration through the preview URL, for example http://localhost:8080?message=good%20morning.

What the code does

load imports the runtime’s render module.
main(config) is the app entry point.
render.Box creates a 64×32 background and centers its child.
render.Text draws one line using a bundled pixel font.
render.Root supplies the final widget tree to the encoder.

Validate the result

niblet apps validate .
niblet apps preview . -o preview.webp

Inspect the WebP at its native 64×32 size and magnified. A browser preview is a development check, not a substitute for viewing the app on a physical panel.