Key prompts

Show prompts such as [E] Open door or [A] Continue whose key comes from the live bindings and the device in use: the context row, the help bar, tutorial prompts pushed from a script.

Source: module-kits:kits/ui_prompts/usage/en.mdView Markdown source

Also read offline — CLI: grip-forge docs ui-promptsMCP tool: gripforge_docs { "topic": "ui-prompts" }

Key prompts that follow the controls (ui.prompts) #

Part of the menus and screens guide.

What it is for #

ui.prompts decides which key hints are on screen, and writes them: "[E] Open door" on a keyboard, "[A] Continue" on a gamepad. No key is written in the kit. Every label comes from input.actions (labelFor, promptFor), so it follows the project bindings, the player's remapping and the device used last. The kit draws nothing itself: view() gives what an interface draws, and the web player shows it as a ui.webui fragment.

No key is shown by default. The help bar and the context row are off, and the controls live in the options menu. Turn one on for a tutorial or for a game that relies on contextual prompts. A prompt pushed with show() is always shown.

Turn it on #

gripforge_gamekit_install   { project_id: "gkp_…", id: "ui.prompts" }
gripforge_gamekit_configure { project_id: "gkp_…", id: "ui.prompts",
                              config: { "bar": true, "context": true, "maxItems": 4 } }

The kit needs input.actions and game.engine.

First example #

With bar and context on and maxItems: 2, the bar lists the button actions of the moment ("[Left Shift] Sprint", "[Space] Jump"). A tutorial step pushes a prompt, which leads the context row and leaves the bar:

{ "op": "call", "service": "ui.prompts", "method": "show",
  "args": ["tutorial.jump", "jump", { "en": "Leap", "fr": "Bondir" }] }

The context row now reads "[Space] Leap" (in French "[Espace] Bondir"); hide("tutorial.jump") removes it.

Settings and defaults #

Setting	Type	Default	Meaning
`bar`	boolean	`false`	show the help bar of the controls of the moment
`context`	boolean	`false`	show the context row: the interaction target and the `contexts` rows
`barActions`	list	`[]`	actions of the bar in order; empty = automatic (the button actions of the current group: on foot, or `vehicle.*` while driving)
`exclude`	list	`[]`	actions never shown in the bar
`maxItems`	integer	`6`	most prompts in the bar (1 to 12)
`interaction`	boolean	`true`	with `context` on, show the `interaction.system` target ("[E] Open door"); left to `interaction.feedback` while it draws the prompt on the object
`contexts`	list	dialogue, vehicle	rows `{ id, action, text: { en, fr }, var, tag }` shown while the state variable `var` is truthy or the player has the tag `tag`; an unregistered action is skipped
`position`	text	`bottom`	where the prompts are drawn
`device`	text	`auto`	`auto` follows the last device; `keyboard` or `gamepad` forces a style
`language`	text	`auto`	`auto` follows the `ui.menu` language; or `en`, `fr`
`hideInMenus`	boolean	`true`	hide the prompts while a menu or the end screen is open

The default contexts are "Continue" while dialogue.active is true and "Exit vehicle" while the player has the tag driving.

Services, events, variables #

ui.prompts (service): view(lang), context(lang), bar(lang), show(id, action, text) (false if the id or the action is invalid; text is a string or { en, fr }, empty means the action name), hide(id), shown(), labelFor(action, lang?, device?), promptFor(action, text?, lang?, device?), device(), setDevice(d) (keyboard, gamepad, else auto), visible(), setVisible(on), refresh().
prompts.changed (event): the first context prompt or the device changed, payload { context, device }.
Variables: prompts.context (the first context prompt as text) and prompts.device, refreshed every tick and after each call.
Listens to: input.device, remap.changed, remap.reset, menu.language, i18n.language, ui.theme.changed, interaction.available, interaction.hidden.

Hooks and modding #

The kit decides nothing of the game, so a mod may set every setting above. It declares no hook of its own.

Engines #

Web, native, Godot, Unity and Unreal share the same model. Each engine draws keycaps in the ui.menu theme (a CanvasLayer in Godot, UI Toolkit in Unity, a UMG widget in Unreal). On a touch device, a prompt whose action has a control on screen is its text alone, without a key.

When it does not do what you expect #

No key on screen: bar and context are off by default; turn one on, or push a prompt with show().
A prompt shows the wrong key: it follows the live binding, so check the project bindings and the player's remapping, or force a style with device.
A context row is missing: its action is not registered in input.actions, or its var is not truthy.
Prompts vanish: hideInMenus is on and a menu is open.

Limits #

The kit does not bind keys and does not own the controls screen; those belong to input.actions and ui.menu.

Versions #

Kit 1.5.0 (no key on screen by default; adds context). Service ui.prompts 1.0.0.