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TUI commands and keys

Enter /help in Colossus for the command list supported by your running version. Start with the Terminal UI guide if you are new to the interface. The default view fills the alternate screen. Add the global --no-alt-screen flag to use an inline view with native terminal scrollback.

Keys

Compose and navigate

Key Action
Enter Send the prompt.
Shift-Enter Insert a newline if your terminal reports the modifier.
Ctrl-J Insert a newline, including when Shift-Enter is indistinguishable from Enter.
Ctrl-R Search earlier submitted prompts.
Up / Down Move through wrapped or multiline draft rows. Up from the first row browses submitted prompts; Down past the newest restores your draft.
Tab / Right Accept a visible completion.
Up / Down / Shift-Tab Move through completion suggestions.
Terminal scroll shortcuts Read finalized output when using --no-alt-screen.
PageUp / PageDown Scroll the transcript in the default full-screen view.
End Return to live output in the full-screen view.
Ctrl-C Exit when idle. During a run, request cancellation; press again to exit.
Ctrl-D Exit from an empty, idle composer.

If Shift-Enter submits instead of inserting a newline, use Ctrl-J or open /multiline and select Enter adds a newline. In that mode, Enter inserts a line and Ctrl-D submits a nonempty prompt. Ctrl-Enter and Alt-Enter also submit when your terminal reports them distinctly. /multiline off restores the default; /multiline toggle switches modes.

Typing / at the start of a draft offers slash-command completion. Typing @ at a skill token offers active plugin skills as @PLUGIN/SKILL. Esc closes suggestions.

Approvals and pickers

Key Context Action
Up / Down Approval dock Select a decision without confirming it.
A / D Effect approval Select Allow once or Deny.
S / R / P Approval dock Show Summary, Exact request, or Protections.
Tab / Shift-Tab Approval dock Move between detail sections.
PageUp / PageDown Approval dock Scroll the active section.
Enter Approval dock Confirm the selected decision; nothing is preselected.
Esc Approval dock Dismiss and deny the request.
/ Session or theme browser Search. Esc leaves search before closing the browser.
Up / Down Session or theme browser Select a session or preview a theme.
PageUp / PageDown Session or history browser Scroll the selected preview.
Up / Down History browser Select an earlier prompt; typing filters the list.
Enter History browser Place the selected prompt in the composer for editing.
Esc History browser Close and preserve the draft.
Enter Session or theme browser Resume the session or save the selected theme.
Esc Theme browser Cancel and restore the original theme.
D / G Plan execution dock Select Direct or Goal Mode; Enter confirms.

Session, theme, and history browsers fill the screen with a list on the left and an inspecting view on the right. Narrow terminals show the list without the view. Closing a browser restores the conversation and draft.

The approval dock preserves the composer draft. Cancelling, timing out, or disconnecting does not grant approval. For the browser workflows, see Sessions and Theme.

Commands

Slash commands run in the terminal UI; unknown commands are not sent to the model. Use /help for arguments and commands available in your installed version.

Family Commands
Help and exit /help, /exit
Sessions /sessions, /session show, /session new, /session resume, /resume
Permissions /permissions opens a chooser; /permissions deny\|ask\|risk-auto\|full-access sets a mode directly
Tools and work /tools, /work, /tasks, /decisions, /plans, /goals, /goal, /goal resume GOAL_ID, /agents, /agents drain
Planning /plan, /plan on, /plan off, /plan status, /plan new, /plan list, /plan use PLAN_ID, /plan show [PLAN_ID], /plan approve, /plan discard, /plan execute [direct\|goal [ITERATIONS]]
Context /context status, /context list, /context compact, /context restore
Memory and research /memories, /memory search, /research, /research list
Skills and plugins /plugins, /plugins show, /plugin skills, /plugin active, /plugin use, /plugin clear, /plugin show, /plugin resources, /plugin read
MCP and integrations /mcp servers, /mcp tools, /mcp auth login SERVER, /mcp auth complete SERVER CALLBACK_URL, /mcp auth status SERVER, /mcp auth logout SERVER, /integrations, /integration show, /integration call, /integration disconnect
Images /attach PATH, /attachments, /detach INDEX, /detach all
Theme /theme, /theme list, /theme preview, /theme validate, /theme scaffold, /theme reset
Display /stream, /events, /reasoning, /transcript, /multiline open setting choosers; direct value arguments remain supported. /trace toggles compact events.
Preferences /tui prefs, /tui save, /tui reset
Telemetry and diagnostics /telemetry, /telemetry metrics, /audit verify, /projection status, /models doctor [PROFILE], /provider doctor [PROFILE], /provider diagnostics
Workflows /workflow list, /workflow status; schedule list, show, enable, disable, tick; webhook list, show, enable, disable; subscription list, show, enable, disable, tick
Bundles /bundle verify

/decisions lists active workspace decisions. /tasks and /plans show records in the current session. /resume without an ID opens a searchable browser; pass an exact session ID when you know it. /research QUESTION uses standard depth with repository, web, and MCP sources; use the CLI research run route to choose depth or sources explicitly.

/context status shows the current session's model input budget and active snapshot. See Context and snapshots to interpret it.

Plan workflow

The Planning guide shows the full Draft → approval → execution journey. These commands control Plan Mode and the selected plan in the current TUI process:

Command Behavior
/plan new Enter Plan Mode with no plan selected; the next prompt creates a Draft.
/plan use PLAN_ID Select a Draft or Approved plan from the current session.
/plan show [PLAN_ID] Inspect the selected or named plan.
/plan status Show the mode and selected plan revision.
/plan approve Approve the selected Draft and open the execution choice.
/plan execute Choose Direct or Goal Mode; neither is preselected.
/plan execute direct Run the Approved plan once.
/plan execute goal [ITERATIONS] Run a bounded goal loop; default 5, range 1–50.
/plan discard Discard the selected Draft or Approved plan.
/plan off Return to Execute mode without discarding the selection.
/goal resume GOAL_ID Continue an Active goal with its remaining budget.

/plan toggles Execute and Plan modes; /plan on enters Plan Mode. Mode and selection are local to the TUI process. They reset after restart, and switching sessions clears the selection. The plan record itself remains durable. Approval of a plan does not preapprove tools used during execution.

Attachments and diagnostics

/attach PATH queues a supported image from an absolute path or one relative to the workspace; quote paths with spaces. /attachments lists pending images, and /detach INDEX or /detach all removes them. Execute and Plan modes accept images; Research mode does not. The model profile must enable imageInputs.

Use /events compact for shorter tool-result previews or /events verbose to inspect more released detail. /models doctor [PROFILE] and /provider doctor [PROFILE] run diagnostic probes. If a provider error only appears later in a conversation, /provider diagnostics on exposes the next provider-facing request in the error card until you turn it off or exit. That request may contain conversation content, so review it before sharing.

While a run is active, the composer can queue up to eight future turns. A failure or cancellation pauses the queue for your decision. Finalized output remains in the transcript viewport; an active run does not move you away from older content you are reading. With --no-alt-screen, finalized output goes to native terminal scrollback.