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hermes-agent/ui-tui/README.md
Brooklyn Nicholson 9931d1d814 chore: cleanup
2026-04-15 10:35:08 -05:00

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# 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 |
| `Ctrl+G` | Open `$EDITOR` with the current draft |
| `Ctrl+L` | New session (same as `/clear`) |
| `Ctrl+V` / `Alt+V` | Paste clipboard image (same as `/paste`) |
| `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.
- `Ctrl+G` writes the current draft, including any multiline buffer, to a temp file, temporarily swaps screen buffers, 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 for clipboard image attachment state.
- `/paste` does not manage text paste entries; text paste is inline-only.
- `/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 }` |
| `btw.complete` | `{ 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
```
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