TUI

What is the TUI?

The TUI is Cline's interactive terminal interface. It is designed for conversational, in-terminal work: ask questions, review plans, approve actions, and iterate quickly.

Prerequisites

Install the CLI:

npm install -g @cline/cli
# or
bun install -g @cline/cli

Launch the TUI

# default interactive launch
cline

# explicit TUI mode
cline -i

Core TUI Actions

• Tab to toggle Plan/Act
• Shift+Tab to toggle auto-approve all
• Ctrl+C to abort a running turn; press again to exit
• Ctrl+D to exit when the prompt is empty and idle
• Ctrl+L to clear the chat view or current conversation
• /settings, /model, /account, /mcp, /compact, /undo, /clear, /history, /help, /quit
• @file mentions for workspace context

The status area shows the active model, context usage, cost, workspace/branch, git diff stats, Plan/Act state, and whether auto-approve all is enabled.

When to Use TUI vs Headless

• Use TUI when you want collaboration and approvals.
• Use headless (--json, piped stdin/stdout, CI scripts) for automation.

See: CLI Headless Mode

Next Steps

• CLI Overview
• CLI Reference