Overview

What the TUI is

The Dreadnode TUI is the full-screen terminal app you get when you run dreadnode or dn.

Use it in three modes:

• type a normal message to chat with the current agent
• start a line with / to run a TUI command
• start a line with @agent-name to route one prompt to a specific agent
• start a line with ! to run a shell command on the connected runtime

If you do not specify an @agent-name, the runtime uses its configured default capability. In a normal SDK runtime, that default is the bundled @dreadnode agent. It is tuned for Dreadnode platform workflows first, then routes to more specialized capability agents when the task calls for them.

Bare quit, exit, and :q also leave the app.

Note

The TUI is screen-first. Use a command when you want a direct action, and use a screen when you want to browse, inspect, or switch state.

High-value shortcuts

Key	What it does
Enter	send the current message
Shift+Enter	insert a newline
\ + Enter	insert a newline
/	open the built-in slash-command flow
@	mention an agent for one prompt
!	switch the composer into shell mode
?	show inline help
Esc	dismiss overlays, clear search, or interrupt when possible
Up / Down	browse prompt history
j / k	scroll the conversation
Ctrl+U / Ctrl+D	half-page scroll
g / G	jump to the top or bottom
Tab	cycle focus
Ctrl+N	start a new session
Ctrl+A	open the agent picker
Ctrl+K	open the quick model picker
Ctrl+Shift+K	cycle reasoning effort
Ctrl+B	open the session browser
Ctrl+W	open the workspace and project browser
Ctrl+O	toggle tool output mode
Ctrl+P	open capabilities
Ctrl+R	open runtimes
Ctrl+T	open traces
Ctrl+E	open evaluations
F5	open console logs
F9	run the updater
y	copy the last assistant response

Session flow

Most day-to-day work starts with a normal message in the composer, then branches into a few common control points:

• /new for a clean session
• /sessions or Ctrl+B to search or resume older sessions
• /rename to keep sessions recognizable
• /export to save the transcript
• /compact [guidance] when a long thread needs to shrink before the next step

The session browser supports quick keyboard flow:

• type to search sessions by preview text or ID
• Enter to open the highlighted session
• N to create a new one
• D to queue the current session for deletion
• Esc to back out

The browser also acts as the live session-status surface for the current runtime. Expect badges for:

• the active session
• background sessions that are still running
• sessions waiting on approval or human input
• unread activity, queued messages, or stale replay state after reconnect

The header keeps the model and current session visible, and shows a compact background summary when other sessions are still busy or blocked.

Slash commands at a glance

Session and agent commands

Command	What it does
/help	show inline help
/new	create a new session
/reset, /clear	reset the current session
/sessions	browse and resume sessions
/rename title	rename the current session
/export [filename]	export the current transcript
/compact [guidance]	compact older conversation history
/agents	list loaded agents
/agent name	start a session with a specific agent
/model [provider/model]	inspect or change the active model
/models	open the full model browser
/pull <type://[org/]name[@version]>	cache or install a Hub artifact for local reuse
/thinking <level>	change reasoning effort
/reload	rebuild the runtime capability registry

Identity and context commands

Command	What it does
/login [api-key] [--server url]	authenticate and restart the runtime
/logout	disconnect the active profile
/whoami	show the current identity
/profile	open the saved-profile picker
/workspace key	switch workspace and restart the runtime
/workspaces	list available workspaces
/projects [workspace]	list projects in the current or named workspace

Screens and operations

Command	What it does
/runtimes	inspect workspace runtimes
/environments	browse and filter available environments and tasks
/capabilities	manage runtime capabilities
/skills	browse packaged skills
/mcp	inspect MCP server health
/secrets	inspect provider presets and secrets
/traces	browse project traces
/spans	browse raw local session spans
/sandboxes	inspect active sandboxes
/evaluations	inspect evaluations
/console	view backend logs
/tools <mode>	change tool rendering detail
/version	show the installed Dreadnode version
/update	update the installed CLI
/copy	copy the last assistant response
/quit	exit the TUI

Use /thinking on|off|low|medium|high|max to change reasoning effort and /tools compact|expanded to switch between dense and verbose tool rendering.

The / slash-command flow is reserved for built-in TUI commands. Skills are browsed from /skills, then inserted into the composer as /<skill-name>.

/skills includes packaged capability skills from currently enabled capabilities plus native SDK skills. The built-in /dreadnode-cli skill is useful when you want the default agent to answer in exact dn or dreadnode commands, keep the CLI group boundaries straight, and point you to the nearest TUI surface when that helps.

Practical operator flow

When you are working inside a repo or target environment, this is the shortest path through the TUI:

1. Launch dreadnode.
2. Authenticate if needed.
3. Ask the first question in plain language.
4. Add a capability with Ctrl+P if you need more agents, tools, or skills.
5. Switch models with Ctrl+K when the task changes.
6. Use /traces, /evaluations, /sandboxes, or /console when you need to inspect what the runtime actually did.
7. Use /spans when you want the raw local spans_<session>.jsonl file for the active session.
8. Use /compact before a long session gets too large.

From here, use Sessions and Traces for transcript and trace review, Authentication for profiles and workspace changes, Models and Selection for live model switching, Capabilities for runtime extensions, Runtimes for environment state, and Evaluations for job monitoring.