TUI Overview

When running llmist agent in an interactive terminal, you get access to a rich Terminal User Interface (TUI) that helps you monitor and interact with the agent’s execution.

Features

Interactive Blocks

Each LLM call and gadget execution is displayed as a collapsible block:

• LLM calls show the streaming response in real-time
• Gadget executions show parameters, status, and results
• Expand/collapse any block to see full details

Real-time Status Bar

The status bar at the bottom shows:

Metric	Description
Mode	Current mode: BROWSE, INPUT, or FOCUSED
Profile	Active profile name (when using custom profiles)
Tokens	Input/output tokens used (↑ input, ↓ output, ⤿ cached)
Cost	Estimated cost in USD
Time	Elapsed time for current operation
Throttled	Rate limiting active: ⏸ Throttled Xs shows delay
Retry	Retry in progress: 🔄 Retry N/M shows attempt
Activity	Active LLM calls and gadget executions with spinner

Rate Limiting & Retry Indicators

Throttling Indicator: When proactive rate limiting delays a request, you’ll see:

⏸ Throttled 3s | ...

This appears when approaching configured rate limits (RPM/TPM). A conversation entry shows:

[Rate limit] Waiting 3s (RPM: 45/50, TPM: 38K/40K)

Retry Indicator: When automatic retry is active after an error, you’ll see:

🔄 Retry 2/3 | ...

This shows the current attempt and total retries configured. Retry reason appears in conversation history.

Configuration:

• Control rate limits via TOML [rate-limits] section or --rate-limit-rpm flag
• Control retry via TOML [retry] section or --max-retries flag
• See CLI Configuration for details

Raw Request/Response Viewer

Debug LLM interactions by viewing:

• Raw JSON request sent to the provider
• Full response payload received

Tip

Press r to view the raw request and R to view the raw response for the selected block.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
↑ / k	Select previous block
↓ / j	Select next block
Enter	Toggle expand/collapse selected block
r	View raw request
R	View raw response
Ctrl+B	Toggle browse/input mode
Ctrl+C (×2)	Quit agent

Note

Vim-style navigation with j/k is supported for users familiar with that workflow.

Browse vs Input Mode

The TUI has two modes:

1. Input Mode (default) - Type messages to send to the agent
2. Browse Mode - Navigate through execution history

Toggle between modes with Ctrl+B. In browse mode, you can:

• Navigate blocks with arrow keys or j/k
• Expand blocks to see full content
• Inspect raw LLM payloads

Non-Interactive Mode

When running without a TTY (e.g., in scripts or CI), the TUI is disabled and output is streamed directly to stdout:

    # Runs without TUI
    echo "How many floppies for DOOM.ZIP?" | npx @llmist/cli agent -g ./floppy.ts

    # Use --quiet to suppress all output except gadget results
    npx @llmist/cli agent "Check my high score" -g ./arcade.ts --quiet