The Menu View

MenuView<C, M> is the live runtime object for one player and one open menu.

If Menu is the blueprint, MenuView is the actual house currently being lived in.

You will see a MenuView in:

title(...)
capacity(...)
content(...)
button click handlers
menu handler callbacks

What You Can Read From A View

Method	Meaning
`menu()`	The menu template behind this view
`viewer()`	The player looking at it
`title()`	The resolved title used when it was opened
`capacity()`	The resolved capacity used when it was opened
`content()`	The current live `Content` object
`data()`	The per-view `DataRegistry`
`type()`	The inventory type
`getInventory()`	The Bukkit inventory, or `null` before open / after close
`isOpen()`	Whether the view is still active
`refresh()`	Rebuild the content and repaint the inventory

The Most Important Distinction

MenuView.refresh() rebuilds content, not the whole menu shell.

for (MenuView<?, ?> view : lotus.openViews()) {
    if (view.menu() instanceof ShopMenu) {
        view.refresh();
    }
}

refresh() does not change the inventory title or capacity. Those were resolved when the view was opened. If you need a new title or a different size, open a new menu.

Runtime Edits Inside A Click

Inside a button handler, you can mutate only the part that changed:

view.content().set(Slot.of(event.getSlot()), replacementButton);
view.content().update(Slot.of(event.getSlot()), current -> current.withItem(brighterIcon));
view.content().remove(Slot.of(event.getSlot()));

Lotus repaints automatically after button dispatch, so these changes show up right away.

If the change happens outside a click, such as a scheduler task or a service callback, call view.refresh() yourself.

Tracking Open Views

Lotus keeps a live registry of open views:

Optional<MenuView<?, ?>> current = lotus.viewOf(player);
Collection<MenuView<?, ?>> allOpen = lotus.openViews();

This is useful for:

refreshing every open shop menu after stock changes
closing or inspecting a player's current menu
syncing all viewers of a shared data source

A Practical Pattern

Use data() to keep the view-specific state close to the UI:

int page = view.data().get(Keys.PAGE).orElse(0);
UUID target = view.data().require(Keys.TARGET);

That keeps the view self-contained instead of scattering temporary menu state across your plugin.

Next: The Menu Handler for lifecycle hooks and click flow.