TUI Guide
Holon's terminal UI (holon tui) is the primary interactive interface for
day-to-day work. It runs inside your terminal and supports agent switching,
model selection, event inspection, and remote daemon connections.
Starting the TUI
holon tui
Start with alternate screen disabled (useful when the terminal renders incorrectly):
holon tui --no-alt-screen
Connect to a remote Holon daemon:
holon tui --connect https://your-server:8787 --token "your-token"
holon tui --connect https://your-server:8787 --token-file ~/.holon/token
holon tui --connect https://your-server:8787 --token-profile my-profile
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--no-alt-screen | Disable alternate screen buffer |
--connect <URL> | Connect to a remote daemon |
--token <TOKEN> | Bearer token for remote connection |
--token-file <FILE> | Read token from a file |
--token-profile <PROFILE> | Use a stored token profile |
Basic Navigation
The TUI is keyboard-driven. Type your message in the prompt area at the bottom
and press Enter to send. Use Shift+Enter to insert a newline without
sending.
Key bindings:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Enter | Send message |
Shift+Enter | Insert newline |
↑ / ↓ | Navigate input history |
Esc | Dismiss overlay or slash menu |
Ctrl+C | Quit |
/ | Open slash command menu |
Slash Commands
Type / in the prompt to open the slash command menu. Use ↑/↓ to navigate
and Enter to select. Press Esc to dismiss.
Agent Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/agents | Open agent picker overlay |
/agent switch <id> | Switch to a different agent |
/agent create <name> | Create a new agent |
/agent start [id] | Start an agent |
/agent stop [id] | Stop an agent |
/model | Open model picker for selected agent |
/state | Open agent state overlay |
/abort | Abort current agent run |
Navigation Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/help | Show slash command help |
/events | Open raw events overlay |
/transcript | Open transcript overlay |
Runtime Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/tasks | Open task overlay |
/refresh | Refresh selected agent |
/clear-status | Clear local status line |
/display <mode> | Set chat display mode (info, verbose, debug, or numeric 3–5) |
Skills Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/skills | Show installed skills |
/skill-install <name> | Install a builtin skill |
/skill-uninstall <name> | Uninstall a skill |
Debug Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/debug-prompt | Open debug prompt dialog |
Event Log
Use /events to open the raw event log overlay. This shows the underlying
runtime events (agent messages, task lifecycle, control-plane operations) as
they flow through the system. The overlay supports paging through event history.
Model Selection
Use /model to open the model picker overlay. It lists available models and
lets you switch the selected agent's model without leaving the TUI. Model
changes take effect on the next agent run.
The model picker respects your configured providers. Manage them with:
holon config providers list
holon config models list
Display Modes
Use /display <mode> to control how much internal detail appears in the chat
view:
| Mode | What you see |
|---|---|
info | User-facing responses only |
verbose | Includes tool calls and intermediate steps |
debug | Full internal traces, events, and diagnostics |
3–5 | Numeric verbosity levels (3 = info, 4 = verbose, 5 = debug) |
Remote Connection
When Holon runs as a daemon on a remote machine, connect with --connect:
holon daemon start --access tunnel # on the remote machine
holon tui --connect https://your-server:8787 --token "your-token"
The daemon must be started with an access mode that accepts remote connections
(tunnel or public). Use --access local for local-only TUI connections.
Troubleshooting
See the Troubleshooting guide for common TUI issues including garbled display and daemon connection problems.