Sentinal

Sentinal is a lightweight routing and input-control package for Unity UGUI. It gives menus a real navigation stack, automatic keyboard/gamepad selection, cancel/back handling, view-layer isolation, and Input System action-map gating with minimal set-up.

It is built for projects where UI is driven by controllers as much as mouse clicks: pause menus, settings screens, couch co-op lobbies, tabbed panels, modal prompts, and gameplay HUD overlays that must coexist without fighting for focus.

Quick start | Why Sentinal | Components | Installation | Samples

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Why Sentinal

The Sentinal Debug Window (Window > Sentinal > Debug) displaying active view stack history, parent GameObjects, priorities, and input gates.

• Real view routing for UGUI: Mark any menu with ViewSelector, open it directly, or route to it through a ViewAddress ScriptableObject.
• Controller-first focus: Automatically selects the right button when views open, remembers the last selected control, and resolves overlapping views by priority and recency.
• Stack-based back behavior: ViewDismissalInputHandler wires cancel/back input to the top non-root view, so Esc, B, or Circle behaves consistently across screens.
• Layer-safe menus: ViewGroupMask or Root views keeps gameplay HUDs, popups, pause menus, overlays, and tab panels from closing or hiding each other accidentally.
• Input System integration: Gate action maps per focused view, target primary/all/specific players, and bind input actions directly to buttons and tabs.
• No manager prefab required: Views self-register with the static router, and Sentinal resets its static state for Fast Enter Play Mode.

Quick Start

1. Make a panel routable

Add ViewSelector to a UGUI panel or screen.

Set:

• First Selected to the first button, toggle, or selectable control.
• Priority if this view should take focus over other open views.
• Root View for persistent screens such as HUDs or main menu roots.

Then open or close it like any normal GameObject-backed screen:

settingsView.Open();
settingsView.Close();

2. Open views without scene references

Create a ViewAddress asset from Assets > Create > Sentinal > View Address, assign it to the view's Address field, and route to it from anywhere:

using Sentinal;

public sealed class AddressOpener
{
    public ViewAddress address; // assign SettingsAddress, PauseAddress, etc.

    public void Open()
    {
        SentinalViewRouter.OpenView(address);
    }
}

For no-code button navigation, add ViewLink to a UGUI Button and assign the same address.

3. Add controller-friendly back navigation

Add ViewDismissalInputHandler to a persistent UI object, then point it at your cancel action, usually UI/Cancel.

When the action fires, Sentinal closes the focused non-root view and restores the next valid selection.

4. Gate gameplay input while menus are focused

Add ActionMapGate to a view when opening that view should change the active Input System maps.

Common setup:

• Pause menu: enable UI, disable Gameplay.
• Text prompt: use exclusive UI.
• Local multiplayer lobby: target all players, or target a specific SentinalPlayer key.

Component Map

Area	Use these	What they solve
Routing	SentinalViewRouter, ViewSelector, ViewAddress, ViewLink	Open, close, focus, and address UGUI views without brittle scene references.
View layering	ViewGroupConfig, ViewGroupMask	Isolate HUDs, menus, popups, overlays, and tabs by channel.
Input ownership	SentinalPlayer, ViewInputSystemHandler, ActionMapGate, ViewDismissalInputHandler	Route UI input to the right player and toggle action maps by focused view.
Input-driven controls	InputActionButton, InputActionButtonHold, TabbedView, TabbedViewInputHandler, DisplayInputString	Trigger buttons, hold actions, tab switching, and input glyph-style labels from Input Actions.
Text prompts	TextInputGateway, PromptedTextField	Present platform-appropriate text entry flows from normal UGUI buttons.

Read the full component guide here: Components.md.

Installation

Requirements

• Unity 2021.3 or newer.
• UGUI.
• Unity Input System for the Sentinal.InputSystem assembly and input components.
• TextMeshPro for text prompt and display helpers.

Unity Package Manager

1. Open Window > Package Manager.
2. Click +.
3. Choose Add package from git URL....
4. Paste:

https://github.com/Tirtstan/Sentinal.git

Samples

Import Examples from the Package Manager to see configured scenes for routing, input-gated menus, action buttons, and tabbed navigation.

Path in package: Samples/Examples

Debugging

Sentinal includes an editor debug window (Window > Sentinal > Debug) for inspecting active views in history and the hidden stack, displaying each view's name alongside its parent GameObject name, priority, group mask, and input gate status. Use it when a view does not close, focus, or restore the way you expect.

The static router also exposes:

SentinalViewRouter.CurrentView;
SentinalViewRouter.GetViewHistory();
SentinalViewRouter.GetDebugString();