slint 1.10.0a1

Slint Python integration

Slint-python (Alpha)

Slint is a UI toolkit that supports different programming languages. Slint-python is the integration with Python.

Warning: Alpha Slint-python is still in the very early stages of development: APIs will change and important features are still being developed, the project is overall incomplete.

You can track the overall progress for the Python integration by looking at python-labelled issues at https://github.com/slint-ui/slint/labels/a%3Alanguage-python .

Slint Language Manual

The Slint Language Documentation covers the Slint UI description language in detail.

Prerequisites

• Python 3
• pip
• uv

Installation

Slint can be installed with pip or uv from the Python Package Index:

uv add slint

The installation will use binaries provided vi macOS, Windows, and Linux for various architectures. If your target platform is not covered by binaries, uv will automatically build Slint from source. If that happens, you need common software development tools on your machine, as well as Rust.

Building from Source

Try it out

If you want to just play with this, you can try running our Python port of the printer demo:

cd demos/printerdemo/python
uv run main.py

Quick Start

1. Create a new project with uv init.
2. Add Slint Python Package Index to your Python project: uv add slint
3. Create a file called app-window.slint:

import { Button, VerticalBox } from "std-widgets.slint";

export component AppWindow inherits Window {
    in-out property<int> counter: 42;
    callback request-increase-value();
    VerticalBox {
        Text {
            text: "Counter: \{root.counter}";
        }
        Button {
            text: "Increase value";
            clicked => {
                root.request-increase-value();
            }
        }
    }
}

4. Create a file called main.py:

import slint

# slint.loader will look in `sys.path` for `app-window.slint`.
class App(slint.loader.app_window.AppWindow):
    @slint.callback
    def request_increase_value(self):
        self.counter = self.counter + 1

app = App()
app.run()

5. Run it with uv run main.py

API Overview

Instantiating a Component

The following example shows how to instantiate a Slint component in Python:

app.slint

export component MainWindow inherits Window {
    callback clicked <=> i-touch-area.clicked;

    in property <int> counter;

    width: 400px;
    height: 200px;

    i-touch-area := TouchArea {}
}

The exported component is exposed as a Python class. To access this class, you have two options:

1. Call slint.load_file("app.slint"). The returned object is a namespace, that provides the MainWindow class as well as any other explicitly exported component that inherits Window:

   import slint
   components = slint.load_file("app.slint")
   main_window = components.MainWindow()
   

2. Use Slint's auto-loader, which lazily loads .slint files from sys.path:

   import slint
   # Look for for `app.slint` in `sys.path`:
   main_window = slint.loader.app.MainWindow()
   

   Any attribute lookup in slint.loader is searched for in sys.path. If a directory with the name exists, it is returned as a loader object, and subsequent attribute lookups follow the same logic. If the name matches a file with the .slint extension, it is automatically loaded with load_file and the namespace is returned, which contains classes for each exported component that inherits Window. If the file name contains a dash, like app-window.slint, an attribute lookup for app_window will first try to locate app_window.slint and then fall back to app-window.slint.

Accessing Properties

Properties declared as out or in-out in .slint files are visible as properties on the component instance.

main_window.counter = 42
print(main_window.counter)

Accessing Globals

Global Singletons are accessible in Python as properties in the component instance.

For example, this Slint code declares a PrinterJobQueue singleton:

export global PrinterJobQueue {
    in-out property <int> job-count;
}

Access it as a property on the component instance by its name:

print("job count:", instance.PrinterJobQueue.job_count)

Note: Global singletons are instantiated once per component. When declaring multiple components for export to Python, each instance will have their own instance of associated globals singletons.

Setting and Invoking Callbacks

Callbacks declared in .slint files are visible as callable properties on the component instance. Invoke them as function to invoke the callback, and assign Python callables to set the callback handler.

Callbacks in Slint can be defined using the callback keyword and can be connected to a callback of an other component using the <=> syntax.

my-component.slint

export component MyComponent inherits Window {
    callback clicked <=> i-touch-area.clicked;

    width: 400px;
    height: 200px;

    i-touch-area := TouchArea {}
}

The callbacks in Slint are exposed as properties and that can be called as a function.

main.py

import slint

component = slint.loader.my_component.MyComponent()
# connect to a callback

def clicked():
    print("hello")

component.clicked = clicked
// invoke a callback
component.clicked();

Another way to set callbacks is to sub-class and use the @slint.callback decorator:

import slint

class Component(slint.loader.my_component.MyComponent):
    @slint.callback
    def clicked(self):
        print("hello")

component = Component()

The @slint.callback() decorator accepts a name named argument, when the name of the method does not match the name of the callback in the .slint file. Similarly, a global_name argument can be used to bind a method to a callback in a global singleton.

Type Mappings

The types used for properties in the Slint Language each translate to specific types in Python. The follow table summarizes the entire mapping:

.slint Type	Python Type	Notes
int	int
float	float
string	str
color	slint.Color
brush	slint.Brush
image	slint.Image
length	float
physical_length	float
duration	float	The number of milliseconds
angle	float	The angle in degrees
structure	dict/Struct	When reading, structures are mapped to data classes, when writing dicts are also accepted.
array	slint.Model

Arrays and Models

Array properties can be set from Python by passing subclasses of slint.Model.

Use the slint.ListModel class to construct a model from an iterable.

component.model = slint.ListModel([1, 2, 3]);
component.model.append(4)
del component.model[0]

When sub-classing slint.Model, provide the following methods:

    def row_count(self):
        """Return the number of rows in your model"""

    def row_data(self, row):
        """Return data at specified row"""

    def set_row_data(self, row, data):
        """For read-write models, store data in the given row. When done call set.notify_row_changed:"
        ..."""
        self.notify_row_changed(row)

When adding/inserting rows, call notify_row_added(row, count) on the super class. Similarly, removal requires notifying Slint by calling notify_row_removed(row, count).

Structs

Structs declared in Slint and exposed to Python via export are accessible in the namespace returned when instantiating a component.

app.slint

export struct MyData {
    name: string,
    age: int
}

export component MainWindow inherits Window {
    in-out property <MyData> data;
}

main.py

The exported MyData struct can be constructed

import slint
# Look for for `app.slint` in `sys.path`:
main_window = slint.loader.app.MainWindow()

data = slint.loader.app.MyData(name = "Simon")
data.age = 10
main_window.data = data