TUI Applications

The aitasks framework includes several terminal-based user interfaces (TUIs) built with Textual, all with full mouse support (click, drag, scroll). Together they form the core of the ait tmux-based development environment: you launch them inside a single tmux session (typically via ait ide) and hop between them with a single keystroke.

Available TUIs

• App Linker (ait applink) — Pairs the mobile companion app (separate aitasks_mobile repo) to your local workspace over LAN, bootstrapped by a QR code rendered in the terminal. Experimental — the pairing-bootstrap skeleton ships first; full WebSocket transport is a follow-up.
• Monitor (ait monitor) — Dashboard of every pane across every aitasks tmux session on the current tmux server by default, categorized into code agents, TUIs, and other panes, with a live preview of the focused pane and keystroke forwarding. This is the home screen of the ait IDE.
• Minimonitor (ait minimonitor) — Narrow sidebar variant of monitor, designed to sit next to a code agent pane so you can watch every running agent (across every aitasks session) and launch follow-up work without giving up screen real estate.
• Board (ait board) — Kanban-style task board for triaging tasks, setting priorities, organizing work into columns, and deciding what to implement next.
• Code Browser (ait codebrowser) — Code navigation and diff review with task-aware annotations that show which aitasks contributed to each section, plus a completed tasks history screen (press h) for browsing archived work. Useful when onboarding to unfamiliar code. Also lets you create new tasks that reference specific line ranges in specific files (press n on a selected range), with optional automatic merge of existing tasks referencing the same file — see Creating Tasks from Code.
• Settings (ait settings) — Configuration editor for code agent defaults, board settings, available models, and execution profiles. Also hosts the Tmux tab for editing integration settings.
• Stats (ait stats-tui) — Pane-based viewer for archived task completion statistics: summary, daily/weekly trends, label and issue-type breakdowns, code agent / LLM model histograms, and verified model score rankings. Swappable built-in layouts plus user-defined custom layouts.
• Syncer (ait syncer) — Tracks remote desync state for main and aitask-data with one-keystroke pull, push, and sync actions plus an agent-based escape hatch when an action fails. Optionally auto-launched by ait ide.
• Brainstorm (ait brainstorm) — Interactive planning/brainstorming TUI for drafting new tasks. Dedicated documentation is pending.

All TUIs require the shared Python virtual environment installed by ait setup.

Navigating between TUIs

When you run the TUIs inside tmux, pressing j in any main TUI opens the TUI switcher dialog. The switcher lists the core integrated TUIs (Monitor, Board, Code Browser, Settings, Stats, Syncer) plus your configured git TUI, and appends any running code agent and brainstorm windows discovered in the tmux session. Selecting a target either focuses the existing tmux window running that TUI or creates a new window and launches it — in one keystroke, without leaving tmux. Minimonitor is not listed in the switcher itself — it is auto-spawned alongside other TUIs when configured.

The switcher only works inside tmux. If you are not running inside tmux yet, see Terminal Setup for how to set it up and launch the session via ait ide.

When more than one aitasks tmux session is running on the same tmux server, the switcher also shows a session row at the top. The attached session is marked with ▶, and the selected session is highlighted. Use Left/Right to pick a different session; the list below refreshes to show that session’s TUIs and windows. Enter (or any shortcut key like b for board, y for syncer, n for a new task) acts on the selected session — if it differs from your attached session, the switcher teleports your tmux client there automatically.

Customizing keyboard shortcuts

Every keyboard shortcut shown across these TUIs can be rebound to a key of your choosing.

In any TUI

Press ? in any TUI to open the in-place shortcut editor. It lists that TUI’s actions (plus the global shared actions) in a table; from there:

• Enter on a row — rebind the action (press the new key when prompted).
• r — revert the unsaved edit on the current row.
• d — reset the action to its default key (remove your override).
• s — save your changes.
• Esc — close without saving.

Saved rebinds take effect the next time you launch the TUI.

Browse and edit across all TUIs

The Settings → Shortcuts tab shows every TUI’s bindings in one place, so you can review and edit keys without opening each TUI. It also resets a whole scope to defaults, lints for cross-TUI coherence, and exports/imports your bindings.

Where customizations live

Overrides are stored per-user in aitasks/metadata/userconfig.yaml (gitignored, never shared) under the shortcuts: key, mapping each TUI scope and action to your chosen key:

email: you@example.com
shortcuts:
  board:
    pick: o
  monitor:
    refresh: g

Labels follow the current key

Button and footer labels that highlight a mnemonic — such as (P)ick — reflect the key currently bound to that action. After you rebind and relaunch the TUI, the highlighted letter updates to match.

Coherent shared actions

Actions shared across every TUI — the j TUI switcher and the ? shortcut editor — stay on the same key everywhere. The Settings → Shortcuts tab’s Lint coherence button reports any drift between TUIs for actions that should match.

Next: Board — start here for daily triage and task organization.