# Hermes TUI React + Ink terminal UI for Hermes. TypeScript owns the screen. Python owns sessions, tools, model calls, and most command logic. ```bash hermes --tui ``` ## What runs The client entrypoint is `src/entry.tsx`. It exits early if `stdin` is not a TTY, starts `GatewayClient`, then renders `App`. `GatewayClient` spawns: ```text python -m tui_gateway.entry ``` Interpreter resolution order is: `HERMES_PYTHON` → `PYTHON` → `$VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/python` → `./.venv/bin/python` → `./venv/bin/python` → `python3` (or `python` on Windows). The transport is newline-delimited JSON-RPC over stdio: ```text ui-tui/src tui_gateway/ ----------- ------------- entry.tsx entry.py -> GatewayClient -> request loop -> App -> server.py RPC handlers stdin/stdout: JSON-RPC requests, responses, events stderr: captured into an in-memory log ring ``` Malformed stdout lines are treated as protocol noise and surfaced as `gateway.protocol_error`. Stderr lines become `gateway.stderr`. Neither writes directly into the terminal. ## Running it From the repo root, the normal path is: ```bash hermes --tui ``` The CLI expects `ui-tui/node_modules` to exist. If the TUI deps are missing: ```bash cd ui-tui npm install ``` Local package commands: ```bash npm run dev npm start npm run build npm run lint npm run fmt npm run fix ``` Tests use vitest: ```bash npm test # single run npm run test:watch ``` ## App model `src/app.tsx` is the center of the UI. Heavy logic is split into `src/app/`: - `createGatewayEventHandler.ts` — maps gateway events to state updates - `createSlashHandler.ts` — local slash command dispatch - `useComposerState.ts` — draft, multiline buffer, queue editing - `useInputHandlers.ts` — keypress routing - `useTurnState.ts` — agent turn lifecycle - `overlayStore.ts` / `uiStore.ts` — nanostores for overlay and UI state - `gatewayContext.tsx` — React context for the gateway client - `constants.ts`, `helpers.ts`, `interfaces.ts` The top-level `app.tsx` composes these into the Ink tree with `Static` transcript output, a live streaming assistant row, prompt overlays, queue preview, status rule, input line, and completion list. State managed at the top level includes: - transcript and streaming state - queued messages and input history - session lifecycle - tool progress and reasoning text - prompt flows for approval, clarify, sudo, and secret input - slash command routing - tab completion and path completion - theme state from gateway skin data The UI renders as a normal Ink tree with `Static` transcript output, a live streaming assistant row, prompt overlays, queue preview, status rule, input line, and completion list. The intro panel is driven by `session.info` and rendered through `branding.tsx`. ## Hotkeys and interactions Current input behavior is split across `app.tsx`, `components/textInput.tsx`, and the prompt/picker components. ### Main chat input | Key | Behavior | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Enter` | Submit the current draft | | empty `Enter` twice | If queued messages exist and the agent is busy, interrupt the current run. If queued messages exist and the agent is idle, send the next queued message | | `Shift+Enter` / `Alt+Enter` | Insert a newline in the current draft | | `\` + `Enter` | Append the line to the multiline buffer (fallback for terminals without modifier support) | | `Ctrl+C` | Interrupt active run, or clear the current draft, or exit if nothing is pending | | `Ctrl+D` | Exit | | `Cmd/Ctrl+G` / `Alt+G` | Open `$EDITOR` with the current draft (use `Alt+G` in VSCode/Cursor — they bind the primary keystroke to Find Next) | | `Ctrl+L` | New session (same as `/clear`) | | `Ctrl+V` / `Alt+V` | Paste text first, then fall back to image/path attachment when applicable | | `Tab` | Apply the active completion | | `Up/Down` | Cycle completions if the completion list is open; otherwise edit queued messages first, then walk input history | | `Left/Right` | Move the cursor | | modified `Left/Right` | Move by word when the terminal sends `Ctrl` or `Meta` with the arrow key | | `Home` / `Ctrl+A` | Start of line | | `End` / `Ctrl+E` | End of line | | `Backspace` | Delete the character to the left of the cursor | | `Delete` | Delete the character to the right of the cursor | | modified `Backspace` | Delete the previous word | | modified `Delete` | Delete the next word | | `Ctrl+W` | Delete the previous word | | `Ctrl+U` | Delete from the cursor back to the start of the line | | `Ctrl+K` | Delete from the cursor to the end of the line | | `Meta+B` / `Meta+F` | Move by word | | `!cmd` | Run a shell command through the gateway | | `{!cmd}` | Inline shell interpolation before send; queued drafts keep the raw text until they are sent | Notes: - `Tab` only applies completions when completions are present and you are not in multiline mode. - Queue/history navigation only applies when you are not in multiline mode. - `PgUp` / `PgDn` are left to the terminal emulator; the TUI does not handle them. ### Prompt and picker modes | Context | Keys | Behavior | | --------------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | approval prompt | `Up/Down`, `Enter` | Move and confirm the selected approval choice | | approval prompt | `o`, `s`, `a`, `d` | Quick-pick `once`, `session`, `always`, `deny` | | approval prompt | `Esc`, `Ctrl+C` | Deny | | clarify prompt with choices | `Up/Down`, `Enter` | Move and confirm the selected choice | | clarify prompt with choices | single-digit number | Quick-pick the matching numbered choice | | clarify prompt with choices | `Enter` on "Other" | Switch into free-text entry | | clarify free-text mode | `Enter` | Submit typed answer | | sudo / secret prompt | `Enter` | Submit typed value | | sudo / secret prompt | `Ctrl+C` | Cancel by sending an empty response | | resume picker | `Up/Down`, `Enter` | Move and resume the selected session | | resume picker | `1-9` | Quick-pick one of the first nine visible sessions | | resume picker | `Esc`, `Ctrl+C` | Close the picker | Notes: - Clarify free-text mode and masked prompts use `ink-text-input`, so text editing there follows the library's default bindings rather than `components/textInput.tsx`. - When a blocking prompt is open, the main chat input hotkeys are suspended. - Clarify mode has no dedicated cancel shortcut in the current client. Sudo and secret prompts only expose `Ctrl+C` cancellation from the app-level blocked handler. ### Interaction rules - Plain text entered while the agent is busy is queued instead of sent immediately. - Slash commands and `!cmd` do not queue; they execute immediately even while a run is active. - Queue auto-drains after each assistant response, unless a queued item is currently being edited. - `Up/Down` prioritizes queued-message editing over history. History only activates when there is no queue to edit. - Queued drafts keep their original `!cmd` and `{!cmd}` text while you edit them. Shell commands and interpolation run when the queued item is actually sent. - If you load a queued item into the input and resubmit plain text, that queue item is replaced, removed from the queue preview, and promoted to send next. If the agent is still busy, the edited item is moved to the front of the queue and sent after the current run completes. - Completion requests are debounced by 60 ms. Input starting with `/` uses `complete.slash`. A trailing token that starts with `./`, `../`, `~/`, `/`, or `@` uses `complete.path`. - Text pastes are inserted inline directly into the draft. Nothing is newline-flattened. - `Cmd/Ctrl+G` (or `Alt+G` in VSCode/Cursor, which intercept the primary keystroke for Find Next) writes the current draft, including any multiline buffer, to a temp file, suspends Ink, launches `$EDITOR`, then restores the TUI and submits the saved text if the editor exits cleanly. - Input history is stored in `~/.hermes/.hermes_history` or under `HERMES_HOME`. ## Rendering Assistant output is rendered in one of two ways: - if the payload already contains ANSI, `messageLine.tsx` prints it directly - otherwise `components/markdown.tsx` renders a small Markdown subset into Ink components The Markdown renderer handles headings, lists, block quotes, tables, fenced code blocks, diff coloring, inline code, emphasis, links, and plain URLs. Tool/status activity is shown in a live activity lane. Transcript rows stay focused on user/assistant turns. ## Prompt flows The Python gateway can pause the main loop and request structured input: - `approval.request`: allow once, allow for session, allow always, or deny - `clarify.request`: pick from choices or type a custom answer - `sudo.request`: masked password entry - `secret.request`: masked value entry for a named env var - `session.list`: used by `SessionPicker` for `/resume` These are stateful UI branches in `app.tsx`, not separate screens. ## Commands The local slash handler covers the built-ins that need direct client behavior: - `/help` - `/quit`, `/exit`, `/q` - `/clear` - `/new` - `/compact` - `/resume` - `/copy` - `/paste` - `/details` - `/logs` - `/statusbar`, `/sb` - `/queue` - `/undo` - `/retry` Notes: - `/copy` sends the selected assistant response through OSC 52. - `/paste` with no args asks the gateway to attach a clipboard image. - Text paste remains inline-only; `Cmd+V` / `Ctrl+V` handle layered text/OSC52/image fallback before `/paste` is needed. - `/details [hidden|collapsed|expanded|cycle]` controls thinking/tool-detail visibility. - `/statusbar` toggles the status rule on/off. Anything else falls through to: 1. `slash.exec` 2. `command.dispatch` That lets Python own aliases, plugins, skills, and registry-backed commands without duplicating the logic in the TUI. ## Event surface Primary event types the client handles today: | Event | Payload | | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | | `gateway.ready` | `{ skin? }` | | `session.info` | session metadata for banner + tool/skill panels | | `message.start` | start assistant streaming | | `message.delta` | `{ text, rendered? }` | | `message.complete` | `{ text, rendered?, usage, status }` | | `thinking.delta` | `{ text }` | | `reasoning.delta` | `{ text }` | | `reasoning.available` | `{ text }` | | `status.update` | `{ kind, text }` | | `tool.start` | `{ tool_id, name, context? }` | | `tool.progress` | `{ name, preview }` | | `tool.complete` | `{ tool_id, name }` | | `clarify.request` | `{ question, choices?, request_id }` | | `approval.request` | `{ command, description }` | | `sudo.request` | `{ request_id }` | | `secret.request` | `{ prompt, env_var, request_id }` | | `background.complete` | `{ task_id, text }` | | `error` | `{ message }` | | `gateway.stderr` | synthesized from child stderr | | `gateway.protocol_error` | synthesized from malformed stdout | ## Theme model The client starts with `DEFAULT_THEME` from `theme.ts`, then merges in gateway skin data from `gateway.ready`. Current branding overrides: - agent name - prompt symbol - welcome text - goodbye text Current color overrides: - banner title, accent, border, body, dim - label, ok, error, warn `branding.tsx` uses those values for the logo, session panel, and update notice. ## File map ```text ui-tui/ packages/hermes-ink/ forked Ink renderer (local dep) src/ entry.tsx TTY gate + render() app.tsx top-level Ink tree, composes src/app/* gatewayClient.ts child process + JSON-RPC bridge theme.ts default palette + skin merge constants.ts display constants, hotkeys, tool labels types.ts shared client-side types banner.ts ASCII art data app/ createGatewayEventHandler.ts event → state mapping createSlashHandler.ts local slash dispatch useComposerState.ts draft + multiline + queue editing useInputHandlers.ts keypress routing useTurnState.ts agent turn lifecycle overlayStore.ts nanostores for overlays uiStore.ts nanostores for UI flags gatewayContext.tsx React context for gateway client constants.ts app-level constants helpers.ts pure helpers interfaces.ts internal interfaces components/ appChrome.tsx status bar, input row, completions appLayout.tsx top-level layout composition appOverlays.tsx overlay routing (pickers, prompts) branding.tsx banner + session summary markdown.tsx Markdown-to-Ink renderer maskedPrompt.tsx masked input for sudo / secrets messageLine.tsx transcript rows modelPicker.tsx model switch picker prompts.tsx approval + clarify flows queuedMessages.tsx queued input preview sessionPicker.tsx session resume picker textInput.tsx custom line editor thinking.tsx spinner, reasoning, tool activity hooks/ useCompletion.ts tab completion (slash + path) useInputHistory.ts persistent history navigation useQueue.ts queued message management useVirtualHistory.ts in-memory history for pickers lib/ history.ts persistent input history messages.ts message formatting helpers osc52.ts OSC 52 clipboard copy rpc.ts JSON-RPC type helpers text.ts text helpers, ANSI detection, previews types/ hermes-ink.d.ts type declarations for @hermes/ink __tests__/ vitest suite ``` Related Python side: ```text tui_gateway/ entry.py stdio entrypoint server.py RPC handlers and session logic render.py optional rich/ANSI bridge slash_worker.py persistent HermesCLI subprocess for slash commands ```