Chat

Full-featured terminal chat interface for AI agents

Quick Start

main.py
python
from connectonion import Agent
from connectonion.tui import Chat

agent = Agent("assistant", tools=[search, analyze])

chat = Chat(agent=agent)
chat.run()
output
🤖 Assistant    ● Ready    co/gpt-4  0 tok  $0.0000
 
Welcome! How can I help?
 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Type a message... (/ for commands)      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
/ commands  •  Enter send  •  Ctrl+D quit

Installation

code
bash
pip install connectonion[tui]
# or
pip install textual textual-autocomplete

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
agent	Agent	ConnectOnion agent instance
handler	Callable	Custom message handler (alternative to agent)
title	str	Window title
welcome	str	Welcome message (markdown supported)
hints	list[str]	Footer hints
triggers	dict	Autocomplete triggers (/, @)
on_error	Callable	Custom error handler

Thinking Indicator

Shows real-time progress during LLM calls and tool execution:

During LLM thinking:

⠹ Thinking... 5s (usually 3-10s)

During tool execution:

⠹ Search emails in inbox
  └─ search_emails("aaron")

Shows description (what's happening) and function call (technical detail).

Autocomplete Triggers

main.py
python
from connectonion.tui import Chat, CommandItem
from textual_autocomplete import DropdownItem

chat = Chat(
    agent=agent,
    triggers={
        "/": [
            CommandItem(main="/help", prefix="?", id="/help"),
            CommandItem(main="/clear", prefix="⌫", id="/clear"),
            CommandItem(main="/quit", prefix="→", id="/quit"),
        ],
        "@": [
            DropdownItem(main="John", id="@john@example.com"),
            DropdownItem(main="Jane", id="@jane@example.com"),
        ],
    }
)

Status Bar

Shows real-time information in a three-column layout:

🤖 Assistant    ◐ Thinking (1/10)    co/gpt-4  1,234 tok  $0.0012

Left: Agent name
Center: Current status with iteration
Right: Model, token count, cost

Customizing

Copy and modify the Chat component:

code
bash
# Copy to ./tui/chat.py
co copy chat

# Then customize
from tui.chat import Chat, ThinkingIndicator

class MyThinkingIndicator(ThinkingIndicator):
    frames = ["◐", "◓", "◑", "◒"]  # Custom spinner

Example: Gmail Agent

main.py
python
from connectonion import Agent
from connectonion.tui import Chat, CommandItem
from connectonion.useful_tools import Gmail

gmail = Gmail()
agent = Agent("gmail-agent", tools=[gmail])

chat = Chat(
    agent=agent,
    title="Gmail Agent",
    welcome="**Gmail Assistant**\n\nI can search, read, and send emails.",
    hints=["/ commands", "@ mentions", "Enter send"],
    triggers={
        "/": [
            CommandItem(main="/inbox", prefix="📥", id="/inbox"),
            CommandItem(main="/sent", prefix="📤", id="/sent"),
            CommandItem(main="/compose", prefix="✏️", id="/compose"),
        ]
    }
)

chat.run()

Included Widgets

Widget	Purpose
ChatStatusBar	Top status bar
HintsFooter	Bottom hints
WelcomeMessage	Initial welcome
UserMessage	User message bubble
AssistantMessage	Agent response
ThinkingIndicator	Processing animation
TriggerAutoComplete	Trigger-based autocomplete

main.py
python
from connectonion.tui import (
    Chat,
    ChatStatusBar,
    ThinkingIndicator,
    TriggerAutoComplete,
)

TUI

Providers

Debug

Interactive Debugging