Documentation

TUI ↔ Web feature parity

Comparison of the Rust terminal client (personal-agent-org/pa) against the Quasar/Vue web app (personal-agent-org/frontend), plus a prioritised roadmap to close the gaps. Snapshot: 2026-06-15.

Update 2026-06-15 (commit b1c1bc2): P1 partially shipped - TUI now has a security-mode picker (F7 / /security) and the /main, /rename, /summarize, /proofread commands. /edit was dropped (awkward in a TUI); the context/budget chip is deferred (needs model-context-window plumbing the TUI doesn’t track yet).

Update 2026-06-23: most of P1-P2 has since shipped (verified against personal-agent-org/pa). The TUI now has: the context/budget telemetry strip (model

  • context fill % + cumulative tokens + cost + run timer, from GET /chats/{id}/context); the integrations picker (F8 / /integrations, per-chat disabled_tools deny-list); the memory-access picker (F9 / /memory, run_config.memory_access); /steer mid-run course-correction; full ↑/↓ input history; and markdown rendering of message bodies (tui-markdown). The tables below are kept as the 2026-06-15 record; deltas are noted inline. Still open: /goal, collaboration/classification pickers, inbox extras, the standalone pages, a settings view, voice, and org switching (still --org-at-login only).

Legend: ✅ present · ⚠️ partial · ❌ missing

Chat core

Feature Web TUI
Send + streaming (text / thinking / tool calls / usage) ✅ ✅
Load history, switch / create / rename chats ✅ ✅
Pinned main chat (auto-open) ✅ ✅ (Ctrl+M / F6)
Mid-run follow-up queue ✅ ✅
Cancel run ✅ ✅ (Ctrl+X)
Regenerate last turn ✅ ✅ (/retry)
/btw side question (ephemeral) ✅ ✅
Edit a user message ✅ ❌
Rewind / fork (branch from a message) ✅ ❌
Attachments (max 6) ✅ ✅ (Ctrl+O)
Input history (↑/↓) ✅ ✅
Mid-run steer (/steer, inject at tool boundary) ✅ ✅
Markdown rendering of bodies ✅ ✅

Model & run controls

Feature Web TUI
Model picker (grouped / searchable) ✅ ✅ (F2)
Reasoning effort (off/low/med/high) ✅ ✅ (/think)
Built-in tools on/off ✅ ✅ (Ctrl+T)
Security mode (autonomous/approve_each/judge) ✅ ✅ (F7 / /security)
Collaboration mode (plan/execute/pair) ✅ ❌
Data classification (confidential) ✅ ❌
Memory-access policy (full/none/scoped) ✅ ✅ (F9 / /memory)
Per-run integrations / tool selection ✅ ✅ (F8 / /integrations, disabled_tools deny-list)

Slash commands

  • Web: /new /rename /btw /goal /main /summarize /proofread + coding (/terminal /review /explain /fix /tests /init)
  • TUI: /btw /retry /steer /model /think /tools /integrations /memory /security /attach /agents /new /main /rename /summarize /proofread /inbox /logout /help (/int aliases /integrations)
  • Custom commands (from GET /commands, mode-filtered): ✅ both
  • Missing in TUI: /goal, coding prompts (/review /explain /fix /tests /init)

Coding mode

Feature Web TUI
Shell in workspace ✅ (terminal panel) ✅ (!cmd via PTY WS)
Monaco editor + file tree ✅ ❌
Workspace snapshot / revert ✅ ❌
Diff rendering for file tools ✅ (cards) ✅ (unified diff in stream)

Agents & HITL

Feature Web TUI
Sub-agent panel (live status / usage) ✅ ✅ (F5)
Sub-agent transcript ✅ ✅
Tool approval (allow / remember / reject) ✅ ✅
ask_user / agent-question cards (multi, custom) ✅ ✅
Background-resume auto-attach ✅ ✅

Inbox

Feature Web TUI
List + detail + reply + suggest ✅ ✅ (F3)
Status filter, resolve / dismiss ✅ ✅
Star / snooze / bulk / reply-all / forward ✅ ❌
Live refresh ✅ ✅

Other pages (web) — all ❌ in TUI

Notes, Files, Knowledge/Entities, Contacts, Calendar, Agenda/Commitments, Logbook, Scenes, Skills, Tasks, Dashboards, Workflows. TUI surfaces only Chat + Sessions + Inbox + Agents.

Cross-cutting

Feature Web TUI
Auth: Keycloak OIDC ✅ (Auth-Code+PKCE) ✅ (device grant)
Realtime: SSE stream + control WS ✅ ✅
Adopt accent colour (ui.accent) ✅ (source) ✅ (reads it)
Settings UI (profile/appearance/behavior/devices/MCP tokens/usage/budget) ✅ ❌ (CLI flags / config only)
Voice (STT / TTS) ✅ ❌
Context / budget gauges ✅ ✅ (status-bar strip, GET /chats/{id}/context)
Org switching ✅ ⚠️ (pinned via --org at login; no in-app switch)

Summary

The TUI has a solid chat foundation at genuine parity: streaming, model/reasoning, follow-ups + /steer, /btw, sub-agents, HITL (approvals + question cards), inbox basics, coding shell with diffs, the integrations + memory-access pickers, security mode, the context/budget telemetry strip, and markdown rendering; shares auth/realtime/accent. The remaining gaps are voice, the coding editor, message lifecycle (edit/rewind/fork), inbox extras, the standalone pages, /goal, collaboration/classification pickers, and a settings UI.

Roadmap (prioritised)

Ordered by value-to-effort for a terminal user. Each item notes the backend it already has (most are pure TUI work — the API exists).

P1 — cheap, high-impact (run controls + lifecycle)

  1. Security mode picker — DONE (b1c1bc2): F7 / /security, passed as security_mode, shown as a 🔒 composer chip.
  2. Edit a user message — DROPPED: awkward in a TUI (no in-place message editing UX); /retry covers regeneration.
  3. Missing global slash commands — DONE (b1c1bc2): /main [msg], /rename <t>, /summarize, /proofread.
  4. Context / budget chip - DONE (2026-06-23): a status-bar telemetry strip shows the model + context fill % (colour-banded vs the model window, ⟲ when compacted) + cumulative session tokens + cost + the active run’s elapsed timer, seeded from GET /chats/{id}/context and refreshed after each run.

P2 — moderate (governance + tools)

  1. Per-run integrations / tool selection - DONE (2026-06-23): F8 / /integrations opens the per-chat tool catalogue (GET /chats/{id}/integrations-catalog); Space toggles a tool or a whole group, persisted as the chat’s disabled_tools deny-list (PATCH /chats/{id}).
  2. Memory-access + collaboration + classification pickers - PARTIAL: the memory-access picker shipped (F9 / /memory, run_config.memory_access); collaboration mode and data classification are still missing.
  3. /goal autonomous-goal mode - start a goal loop in a session chat (chat.startGoal equivalent endpoint); render goal turns. Higher value for unattended terminal use. Still open.

P3 — larger surfaces

  1. Inbox extras — star/snooze/bulk/reply-all/forward (endpoints exist from the upstream inbox work). Incremental key bindings on the existing inbox view.
  2. Notes page — list/create/edit notes (/notes API). Small, self-contained, useful in a terminal.
  3. Settings view — at least appearance (accent/language) + MCP token mint, read/write via /me/preferences and /me/api-tokens.

P4 — heavy / maybe out of scope for a TUI

  1. Coding editor — a Monaco-equivalent in a terminal is a big lift; !cmd + diffs may be enough. Consider a read-only file viewer + $EDITOR handoff instead of a full editor.
  2. Voice (STT/TTS) — needs audio capture/playback; low priority for a terminal client.
  3. Workspace snapshot/revert, Dashboards, Knowledge/Contacts/Calendar/Workflows — port only if a concrete terminal use-case emerges.

P1 (1-4) is done; the per-run integrations picker (P2.5) and memory-access picker (part of P2.6) have also shipped. The next high-value slice is /goal (P2.7) for unattended terminal use, then the remaining run-settings pickers (collaboration/classification) and inbox extras (P3.8).