diff --git a/pkg/cli/layout.go b/pkg/cli/layout.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..736dc94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cli/layout.go
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package cli
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// Region represents one of the 5 HLCRF regions.
+type Region rune
+
+const (
+	RegionHeader  Region = 'H'
+	RegionLeft    Region = 'L'
+	RegionContent Region = 'C'
+	RegionRight   Region = 'R'
+	RegionFooter  Region = 'F'
+)
+
+// Composite represents an HLCRF layout node.
+type Composite struct {
+	variant string
+	path    string
+	regions map[Region]*Slot
+	parent  *Composite
+}
+
+// Slot holds content for a region.
+type Slot struct {
+	region Region
+	path   string
+	blocks []Renderable
+	child  *Composite
+}
+
+// Renderable is anything that can be rendered to terminal.
+type Renderable interface {
+	Render() string
+}
+
+// StringBlock is a simple string that implements Renderable.
+type StringBlock string
+
+func (s StringBlock) Render() string { return string(s) }
+
+// Layout creates a new layout from a variant string.
+func Layout(variant string) *Composite {
+	c, err := ParseVariant(variant)
+	if err != nil {
+		return &Composite{variant: variant, regions: make(map[Region]*Slot)}
+	}
+	return c
+}
+
+// ParseVariant parses a variant string like "H[LC]C[HCF]F".
+func ParseVariant(variant string) (*Composite, error) {
+	c := &Composite{
+		variant: variant,
+		path:    "",
+		regions: make(map[Region]*Slot),
+	}
+
+	i := 0
+	for i < len(variant) {
+		r := Region(variant[i])
+		if !isValidRegion(r) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid region: %c", r)
+		}
+
+		slot := &Slot{region: r, path: string(r)}
+		c.regions[r] = slot
+		i++
+
+		if i < len(variant) && variant[i] == '[' {
+			end := findMatchingBracket(variant, i)
+			if end == -1 {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unmatched bracket at %d", i)
+			}
+			nested, err := ParseVariant(variant[i+1 : end])
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			nested.path = string(r) + "-"
+			nested.parent = c
+			slot.child = nested
+			i = end + 1
+		}
+	}
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+func isValidRegion(r Region) bool {
+	return r == 'H' || r == 'L' || r == 'C' || r == 'R' || r == 'F'
+}
+
+func findMatchingBracket(s string, start int) int {
+	depth := 0
+	for i := start; i < len(s); i++ {
+		if s[i] == '[' {
+			depth++
+		} else if s[i] == ']' {
+			depth--
+			if depth == 0 {
+				return i
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return -1
+}
+
+// H adds content to Header region.
+func (c *Composite) H(items ...any) *Composite { c.addToRegion(RegionHeader, items...); return c }
+
+// L adds content to Left region.
+func (c *Composite) L(items ...any) *Composite { c.addToRegion(RegionLeft, items...); return c }
+
+// C adds content to Content region.
+func (c *Composite) C(items ...any) *Composite { c.addToRegion(RegionContent, items...); return c }
+
+// R adds content to Right region.
+func (c *Composite) R(items ...any) *Composite { c.addToRegion(RegionRight, items...); return c }
+
+// F adds content to Footer region.
+func (c *Composite) F(items ...any) *Composite { c.addToRegion(RegionFooter, items...); return c }
+
+func (c *Composite) addToRegion(r Region, items ...any) {
+	slot, ok := c.regions[r]
+	if !ok {
+		return
+	}
+	for _, item := range items {
+		slot.blocks = append(slot.blocks, toRenderable(item))
+	}
+}
+
+func toRenderable(item any) Renderable {
+	switch v := item.(type) {
+	case Renderable:
+		return v
+	case string:
+		return StringBlock(v)
+	default:
+		return StringBlock(fmt.Sprint(v))
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/render.go b/pkg/cli/render.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d97b714
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cli/render.go
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// RenderStyle controls how layouts are rendered.
+type RenderStyle int
+
+const (
+	RenderFlat   RenderStyle = iota // No borders
+	RenderSimple                     // --- separators
+	RenderBoxed                      // Unicode box drawing
+)
+
+var currentRenderStyle = RenderFlat
+
+func UseRenderFlat()   { currentRenderStyle = RenderFlat }
+func UseRenderSimple() { currentRenderStyle = RenderSimple }
+func UseRenderBoxed()  { currentRenderStyle = RenderBoxed }
+
+// Render outputs the layout to terminal.
+func (c *Composite) Render() {
+	fmt.Print(c.String())
+}
+
+// String returns the rendered layout.
+func (c *Composite) String() string {
+	var sb strings.Builder
+	c.renderTo(&sb, 0)
+	return sb.String()
+}
+
+func (c *Composite) renderTo(sb *strings.Builder, depth int) {
+	order := []Region{RegionHeader, RegionLeft, RegionContent, RegionRight, RegionFooter}
+
+	var active []Region
+	for _, r := range order {
+		if slot, ok := c.regions[r]; ok {
+			if len(slot.blocks) > 0 || slot.child != nil {
+				active = append(active, r)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	for i, r := range active {
+		slot := c.regions[r]
+		if i > 0 && currentRenderStyle != RenderFlat {
+			c.renderSeparator(sb, depth)
+		}
+		c.renderSlot(sb, slot, depth)
+	}
+}
+
+func (c *Composite) renderSeparator(sb *strings.Builder, depth int) {
+	indent := strings.Repeat("  ", depth)
+	switch currentRenderStyle {
+	case RenderBoxed:
+		sb.WriteString(indent + "├" + strings.Repeat("─", 40) + "┤\n")
+	case RenderSimple:
+		sb.WriteString(indent + strings.Repeat("─", 40) + "\n")
+	}
+}
+
+func (c *Composite) renderSlot(sb *strings.Builder, slot *Slot, depth int) {
+	indent := strings.Repeat("  ", depth)
+	for _, block := range slot.blocks {
+		for _, line := range strings.Split(block.Render(), "\n") {
+			if line != "" {
+				sb.WriteString(indent + line + "\n")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if slot.child != nil {
+		slot.child.renderTo(sb, depth+1)
+	}
+}