PowerShell conventions | ConsoleMonster documentation

Every widget is a New-Console* command, and they read the same way, so a widget you have not used yet works like the last one.

Containers take a script block of children. New-ConsoleRows, New-ConsoleColumns, New-ConsoleGrid, New-ConsolePanel, New-ConsoleStack, New-ConsoleAlign, New-ConsolePadding and New-ConsoleRegion lay out what their script block emits; strings are markup text.
Widgets with items take a script block of item commands, with the same parameter names everywhere: New-ConsoleTreeNode for New-ConsoleTree, New-ConsoleKeyValueItem for New-ConsoleKeyValue, New-ConsoleStatusItem for New-ConsoleStatusList and New-ConsolePhases, New-ConsoleBarItem for New-ConsoleBarChart, New-ConsoleChartSeries for New-ConsoleLineChart, New-ConsoleLogEntry for New-ConsoleLog and New-ConsoleLane for New-ConsoleLanes. Items can also come from the pipeline, and simple data still works with -Data hashtables and -Value arrays.
Hierarchical objects become a tree. New-ConsoleTree follows children with -ChildrenProperty or a -Children script block and keeps a large or cyclic hierarchy bounded with -Depth, -MaxItems and -MaxNodes.
A widget made earlier grows with Add-ConsoleItem, which takes the same item commands; a widget in a running dashboard changes through the live commands (Update-ConsoleStatus, Write-ConsoleLog, Add-ConsoleValue...).

New-ConsoleTree '[bold]evotec.xyz[/]' {
    New-ConsoleTreeNode 'MX' -Status Pass -Detail '2 records' {
        New-ConsoleTreeNode 'evotec-xyz.mail.protection.outlook.com' -Detail 'priority 0'
    }
    New-ConsoleTreeNode 'SPF' -Status Warn -Detail '9 of 10 DNS lookups'
    New-ConsoleTreeNode 'DMARC' -Status Fail -Detail 'p=none'
} | Write-ConsoleWidget

$groups | New-ConsoleTree 'Privileged groups' -ChildrenProperty Members -StatusProperty Health -Depth 3 | Write-ConsoleWidget

Shared parameters

Parameter	Meaning everywhere
`-Status`	`Pass`, `Fail`, `Warn`, `Skip`, `Info`, `Running`, `Pending`, plus PowerShell's words (`Success`, `Warning`, `Error`, `Failed`, `Skipped`...), with tab completion.
`-Level`	Log levels: `Information`, `Warning`, `Error`, `Verbose`, `Debug`, `Success`, or `info`, `warn`, `err`.
`-Detail`	A muted note beside the label: a duration, a count, a short reason.
`-Tone`	A colour as a theme role: `Accent`, `Pass`, `Fail`, `Warn`, `Muted`, `Series1` to `Series6`.
`-Value` and `-Presenter`	What an item shows, and how: `Bytes`, `Duration`, `Date`, `Number`, `Boolean`...
`-Markup`	Opt-in markup for data values; titles and labels take markup without it.
`-At`	A time: a `TimeSpan`, seconds, or `500ms`, `2s`, `1.5m`, `1h`.

The cmdlet form is what the documentation shows first. Each widget is also an ordinary .NET object, so a script can keep it in a variable and call its methods, the way C# code does.

Widget	Cmdlet form	Grow it later	In a dashboard	.NET methods
Tree	`New-ConsoleTree` + `New-ConsoleTreeNode`	`Add-ConsoleItem`		`Add(label, status, note)` returns the node
Key/value list	`New-ConsoleKeyValue` + `New-ConsoleKeyValueItem`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Set-ConsoleValue`	`Add(key, value, status)`, `AddValue(key, value, presenter)`
Status list	`New-ConsoleStatusList` + `New-ConsoleStatusItem`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Update-ConsoleStatus`	`Add(label, status, detail)`
Phases	`New-ConsolePhases` + `New-ConsoleStatusItem`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Update-ConsolePhase`	`Set(key, status, label, detail)`
Bar chart, stacked bar	`New-ConsoleBarChart` + `New-ConsoleBarItem`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Add-ConsoleValue`, `Set-ConsoleValue`	`Add(label, value, token)`
Line and scatter chart	`New-ConsoleLineChart` + `New-ConsoleChartSeries`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Add-ConsoleValue -Key`	`AddSeries(name, token)`, `Add(series, value)`
Sparkline, histogram	`New-ConsoleSparkline`, `New-ConsoleHistogram`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Add-ConsoleValue`	`Add(value)`
Log	`New-ConsoleLog` + `New-ConsoleLogEntry`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Write-ConsoleLog`	`Write(text, level, time)`
Lanes	`New-ConsoleLanes` + `New-ConsoleLane`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Update-ConsoleLane`	`Add(key, label, total)` returns the lane
Progress, spinner	`New-ConsoleProgress`, `New-ConsoleSpinner`		`Update-ConsoleProgress`, `Update-ConsoleSpinner`	`Value`, `Status`, `Detail`
Live table	`New-ConsoleLiveTable`	`Add-ConsoleItem`	`Update-ConsoleTable`	`Set(key, values)`, `Remove(key)`
Cell map, summary bar	`New-ConsoleCellMap`, `New-ConsoleSummaryBar`	`Add-ConsoleItem` (cell map)	drawn by `Invoke-ConsoleRun`	`Add(state)`, `SetProgress`, `SetCounter`
Region	`New-ConsoleRegion`		`Set-ConsoleRegion`	`session.Region(name).Set(widget)`

The same log written both ways:

New-ConsoleLog -Height 5 {
    New-ConsoleLogEntry 'Discovered 4 domain controllers in 2 domains' -Level Info -At 2s
    New-ConsoleLogEntry 'DC02: USN rollback check failed (event 2095)' -Level Error -At 44s
} | Write-ConsoleWidget

# Using the object directly
$log = New-ConsoleLog -Height 5
$log.Write('Discovered 4 domain controllers in 2 domains', 'info', [timespan]::FromSeconds(2))
$log.Write('DC02: USN rollback check failed (event 2095)', 'err', [timespan]::FromSeconds(44))
$log | Write-ConsoleWidget

The full conventions, with every widget and parameter, are in Docs/PowerShell-Conventions.md, and every command is in the command reference.