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TUI Mode

Magic Shell’s TUI mode provides an interactive command workspace for translating and executing commands. In v1.0, commands, slash actions, models, providers, themes, safety levels, and thinking levels all use the same modal picker pattern.

Terminal window
mshell
Area Purpose
Header Current model, provider, and mode indicators
Output Command translations, safety analysis, and execution results
Input Multi-line prompt for natural-language requests or slash commands
Status bar Provider, model, safety level, thinking level, and mode
Shortcut Action
Ctrl+P Open command palette
Ctrl+X M Open model picker
Ctrl+X T Open theme picker
Ctrl+Y Open safety level picker
Ctrl+T Open thinking level picker
Esc Close the active modal
Ctrl+C Close the active modal, then exit when no modal is open
Ctrl+D Exit
Ctrl+X Q Exit TUI

Typing / opens a slash command menu. Use arrow keys to select, then press Tab to complete or Enter to run the selected action.

Command Action
!help or /help Show help
!model or /models Open model picker
!provider or /providers Open provider picker
!theme or /themes Open theme picker
/safety Open safety level picker
!thinking or /thinking Open thinking level picker
!dry or /dry Toggle dry-run mode
!config or /config Show config
!history or /history Show history
!clear or /clear Clear chat
!exit or /exit Exit TUI

The slash command palette and Ctrl+P command palette use the same command metadata, so descriptions and actions stay in sync.

Ctrl+Y and /safety open the safety picker so you can choose strict, moderate, or relaxed.

Ctrl+T and /thinking open the thinking picker so you can choose off, low, medium, or high.

Dry-run mode translates and analyzes commands without executing them:

Terminal window
!dry

Press Ctrl+P and choose Show History, or type /history, to review prior commands and outputs.

Press Ctrl+P and choose Switch Provider, or type /providers.

  1. Use dry-run for complex or destructive commands.
  2. Check history for similar past commands.
  3. Switch models if translations are not accurate.
  4. Use Ctrl+P or / to discover available actions.