Terminal TUI (`zagens-tui`)

zagens-tui is Zagens’ full-screen terminal UI — a ratatui three-column agent shell with the same Kernel V3 engine and SQLite session store as the desktop app.

Shipped in v0.8.0 for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Ideal when you want the full agent experience without the Tauri desktop, or on platforms where only CLI/TUI binaries are published today.

Not the same as the embedded xterm terminal inside the desktop Code workspace — that panel is WebView + PTY; zagens-tui is a standalone binary.

Layout

Region	Role
Left rail	Session list — switch threads, `--fresh` for a clean workspace session
Center	Streaming transcript (assistant, thinking/THK blocks, tool cards) + composer + activity marquee
Right inspector	Files, diff, checklist, sub-agents, MCP — toggle with `i`
LHT lower pane	Objective, plan phases, checklist gates — toggle with `l`

Themes (cool-blue, dracula-tint, high-contrast, …) persist in ~/.zagens/tui-layout.toml.

Install

Prebuilt (recommended): download zagens-tui for your OS from GitHub Releases alongside the desktop zip and zagens CLI.

From source (Rust toolchain):

cargo build -p zagens-cli --features tui --bin zagens-tui --release
./target/release/zagens-tui

First run walks through onboarding (welcome, API key, default task type) — same settings as desktop in ~/.zagens/settings.toml. Skip with --skip-onboarding.

Quick start

zagens-tui                  # resume last workspace session
zagens-tui --fresh          # new session
zagens-tui --skip-onboarding

Configure API key via onboarding, /api-key, /login, or ~/.zagens/config.toml (shared with CLI).

Composer essentials

Input	Behavior
Enter	While assistant streams → queue next message; during tool/wait gaps → steer (CodeWhale-style)
Ctrl+Enter	Force steer even when streaming
↑ (empty composer)	Pull last queued message back for editing
Shift+Enter	New line in multiline prompt

Slash commands: /model (/m), /lht, /locale / /language, /api-key, /key, /login, /logout.

Approval: modal + footer policy cycle (Ctrl+A). Same four-tier tool approval concept as desktop.

i18n: reads locale from ~/.zagens/settings.toml — auto, en, ja, zh-Hans, pt-BR. Switch at runtime with /locale.

vs desktop vs CLI

	Desktop	`zagens-tui`	`zagens` CLI
UI	WebView panels, diff, replay	Full-screen TUI	Terminal text only
Runtime	Local sidecar	In-process	In-process
Engine	Kernel V3	Kernel V3	Kernel V3
Office mode	Yes	Task type supported	Limited / headless
Best for	Daily Windows coding + Office	Terminal-first all OSes	CI one-shots, `serve --http`

zagens-tui does not implement exec, serve, or doctor subcommands — use the zagens binary for those.

Limits

Mouse wheel optional: --mouse-capture
Debugging terminal embedding: --no-alt-screen
Windows desktop installer still the only GUI installer; macOS/Linux users typically use TUI + CLI

Related: Kernel V3 · Headless CLI · Install guide · LHT overview

Terminal TUI (zagens-tui)