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The TUI is Polpo’s interactive terminal interface, providing real-time monitoring and control. 
polpo tui
# or just:
polpo

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Tabs

The TUI has 6 tabs, navigable with keyboard:
TabShortcutContent
Dashboard1Overview of tasks, agents, live activity
Tasks2Detailed task list with status and scores
Missions3Mission groups and progress
Agents4Agent configuration and availability
Logs5Real-time event log
Chat6Message agents, create tasks, generate missions

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Input Modes

The Chat tab supports three input modes that control how free-text input is handled:
ModeCommandBehavior
Chat/chatFree text is a conversation with Polpo — it can create tasks, generate missions, manage the team, and answer questions using its 37 built-in tools
Task/taskFree text creates a new task directly
Plan/planFree text generates a mission with AI
The default mode is Chat. Polpo handles most requests conversationally — use Task and Plan modes as shortcuts when you know exactly what you want.

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Slash Commands

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Task Management

CommandDescription
/statusShow task count summary (pending, running, done, failed)
/tasksBrowse all tasks with an interactive picker — view details, retry, kill
/abort <group>Abort all tasks in a mission group
/clear-tasksClear all tasks from the registry

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Mission Management

CommandDescription
/missionsBrowse, create, execute, and resume missions via interactive picker
/planSwitch to plan mode (free text generates missions with AI)

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Playbooks

CommandDescription
/playbookBrowse available playbooks via interactive picker
/playbook listShow a summary of all available playbooks
/playbook <name> [key=value ...]Execute a playbook with parameters
# Browse and select a playbook interactively
/playbook

# Run a code review directly
/playbook code-review module=src/auth focus=security
See Playbooks for details on the playbook system.

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Skills

CommandDescription
/skillsBrowse installed skills via interactive picker
/skills listShow a summary of skills with agent assignments
/skills add <source>Install skills from a GitHub repo or local path
/skills assign <skill> <agent>Assign a skill to an agent
/skills remove <name>Remove a skill from the pool
# Browse skills interactively
/skills

# Install skills from a repo
/skills add vercel-labs/agent-skills

# Assign to an agent
/skills assign frontend-design frontend-dev
See Skills for details on the skill system. In plan mode, type a natural language description and Polpo will:
  1. Generate a mission with AI
  2. Ask clarifying questions if needed
  3. Show a preview for review
  4. Let you execute, edit, or refine with feedback

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Team Management

CommandDescription
/teamManage agents — add, remove, edit, rename team, or generate with AI

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Sessions & Logs

CommandDescription
/sessionsBrowse past chat sessions, view messages, delete sessions
/logsView the event log stream
/inspectView current session events

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Memory & Config

CommandDescription
/memoryView project memory. /memory edit opens the editor.
/configView configuration. /config edit opens interactive settings editor.

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System

CommandDescription
/helpShow all available commands
/chatSwitch to chat mode (default)
/taskSwitch to task mode (shortcut for direct task creation)
/clearClear the stream output
/quitExit Polpo

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@ Mentions

Reference agents, tasks, and missions by typing @ followed by the name. Use quotes for names with spaces:
EntityExample
Agent@backend-dev fix the tests
Task@"Create database schema" retry this
Mission@"feature-auth" abort
All mentions use the @ prefix — the category is resolved automatically based on the name. Mentions are parsed and passed as context to the action.

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Voice Input

The TUI supports voice input via microphone recording and transcription:
  • Records audio using sox (auto-installed if missing)
  • Transcribes via OpenAI’s speech-to-text API
  • Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable
Env VariableDefaultDescription
OPENAI_API_KEY—Required for transcription
POLPO_STT_MODELgpt-4o-mini-transcribeTranscription model
POLPO_STT_LANGautoLanguage (ISO 639-1 code)

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Team Generation

The /team command lets you create agent teams with AI:
  1. Select “Generate with AI”
  2. Describe what you need: “Build a full-stack web app”
  3. Preview the generated team with roles and skills
  4. Execute, edit, or refine with feedback

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Keybindings

KeyAction
1-6Switch tabs
TabCycle tabs forward
Shift+TabCycle tabs backward
EnterSubmit input
Ctrl+CQuit
The TUI uses Ink 5 (React for CLI) for terminal rendering. It requires a terminal that supports ANSI escape codes.Alternative TUIs:
  • --legacy — Use the legacy blessed-based TUI
  • --opentui — Use OpenTUI (Bun-only, Zig-based rendering)