jotoba-tui

A terminal-based Japanese dictionary TUI powered by the Jotoba API.

Built with Bubbletea and Lipgloss.

Features

• Three search modes: Words, Kanji, and Sentences (switch with Tab)
• Word search: kanji display, kana reading, definitions in English (with 8 additional languages)
• Kanji search: meanings, kunyomi, onyomi, stroke count, grade level
• Sentence search: example sentences with furigana and translations
• Language selector (Ctrl+L) with 9 languages — English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovenian
• Language preference persisted across sessions
• Scrollable results with Up/Down
• Automatic retry with exponential backoff on network errors

Installation

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S jotoba-tui

macOS / Windows (Go)

go install github.com/kurojs/jotoba-tui/cmd/jotoba@latest

Make sure $GOPATH/bin (or $HOME/go/bin) is in your PATH.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/kurojs/jotoba-tui.git
cd jotoba-tui
go build -o jotoba-tui ./cmd/jotoba

Usage

jotoba

Type a Japanese word, kanji, or phrase and press Enter. Use Tab to cycle between Words, Kanji, and Sentences modes. Press Ctrl+C or Esc to quit.

Word search

Search by kanji or kana. Shows reading, definitions in the selected language, and scrollable results.

Kanji search

Look up kanji by character or keyword. Displays meaning, kunyomi, onyomi, stroke count, and grade level.

Sentence search

Find example sentences with furigana and translations in the selected language.

Language selection

Press Ctrl+L to open the language menu. 9 languages available:

English (default), German, Spanish, French, Russian, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovenian

The selected language persists across sessions via ~/.config/jotoba-tui/config.json.

Definitions default to English if no translation is available for the selected language.

Keys

Key	Action
Enter	Search
Tab	Switch mode (Words/Kanji/Sentences)
Ctrl+L	Language selector
Up/Down	Scroll results
Esc / Ctrl+C	Quit

Project structure

cmd/jotoba/main.go       Entry point
internal/config/          Persistent config (language)
internal/jotoba/          API client and types
internal/jotoba/client.go HTTP client with retry logic
internal/jotoba/types.go  Shared response types
internal/tui/             Bubbletea model, update, and view
internal/tui/model.go     State and styles
internal/tui/update.go    Message handling and search dispatch
internal/tui/view.go      Terminal rendering

License

MIT