Terminal UI

The terminal UI is the default chat interface for Kiro CLI. It provides syntax-highlighted markdown rendering, interactive overlay panels, visual tool progress, and a full set of keyboard shortcuts for navigating your session.

Quick start

Launch a chat session:

kiro-cli chat

To use the classic interface instead:

kiro-cli --classic

Chat experience

Messages stream incrementally as the agent works. Responses render with full markdown support: syntax-highlighted code blocks, tables, lists, blockquotes, and nested formatting. Terminals that support synchronized output get flicker-free updates.

Use arrow keys to scroll through long responses.

Tool display

Each tool type has a dedicated visual component (shell commands, file operations, grep, glob, code intelligence, and more). While a tool executes, you see:

• A descriptive title and spinner
• A status icon on completion: ✓ for success, ✗ for error, ⏸ when awaiting approval
• Collapsible output (press Ctrl+O to toggle between summary and full output)
• Progress bars for long-running MCP operations

Sessions

The /chat command opens a fuzzy picker showing previous sessions with titles and timestamps. Sessions are scoped to the current working directory, and sessions from the classic interface load in the terminal UI without issues.

You can also resume a specific session by ID:

kiro-cli chat --resume-id <SESSION_ID>

For full details on session management, see Session management.

Interacting with the agent

Approval UX

When a tool requires permission, a notification bar appears above your input with Yes, Trust, and No options. If multiple tools need permission at the same time, approvals queue and appear one at a time. You can drill into an approval to provide feedback instead of a binary yes/no.

For shell commands, trust can be scoped at different levels: exact command, command prefix, or base command. See Permissions for the full trust model.

Input

The terminal UI supports several input methods beyond standard text entry.

Shell escape

Run shell commands without going through the agent by prefixing with !:

!npm run build

Output streams in real time. Long output collapses to a head + tail view. Press Ctrl+O to expand.

UI components

Overlay panels

Commands like /help, /context, /tools, /mcp, /knowledge, and /code open as overlay panels. Each panel is searchable, scrollable, and dismissible with Esc.

Activity tray

Press Ctrl+X to see task progress and queued messages at a glance without scrolling through conversation history.

Crew monitor

Press Ctrl+G to monitor subagent activity in real time during multi-agent sessions. Navigate between subagents with Ctrl+D/Ctrl+U and press q to close.

Themes

Three built-in themes ship with the terminal UI: dark, light, and safe (an ANSI fallback for SSH or constrained terminals). The UI auto-detects your terminal background and selects the appropriate theme. Use /theme to customize colors with a live preview.

Slash commands

Slash commands open interactive panels or trigger actions. All panels support fuzzy search and close with Esc.

For the full command reference, see Slash commands.

Terminal features

The terminal UI detects your terminal's capabilities and adapts automatically.

Configuration

UI engine precedence

The UI engine is determined in this order (highest to lowest priority):

1. CLI flag: --tui or --classic
2. Environment variable: KIRO_CHAT_UI
3. Setting: chat.ui
4. Default: tui

Disabling individual features

Opt out of specific terminal features with environment variables:

KIRO_NO_HYPERLINKS=1 kiro-cli chat    # Disable clickable links
KIRO_NO_PROGRESS=1 kiro-cli chat      # Disable progress indicator
KIRO_NO_SYNCHRONIZED=1 kiro-cli chat  # Disable synchronized output

Using the classic interface

Switch to the classic interface permanently:

kiro-cli settings chat.ui "classic"

Or for a single session:

kiro-cli --classic

Keyboard shortcuts

Text editing

Core editing shortcuts, including a full Emacs-style kill ring.

Navigation and history

Move through your session and search previous inputs.

Panels and views

Open and navigate the overlay interfaces.

Agent interaction

Control the agent and manage your session.

Platform support

The terminal UI is supported on macOS and Linux.

Limitations

• Requires embedded assets in the build. If unavailable, Kiro falls back to the classic interface.
• Agent shell tool output is buffered and doesn't support interactive commands. See the shell escape section for details and workarounds.
• External diff tools (chat.diffTool setting) are not yet supported. All diffs use the built-in viewer.
• Some terminal emulators may not support all features (hyperlinks, progress indicators, synchronized output). Use the environment variables in Configuration to disable specific features.

Troubleshooting

Terminal UI not loading

Verify your setting:

kiro-cli settings list | grep chat.ui

If the setting is correct but the terminal UI still doesn't load, update to the latest version of Kiro CLI.

Rendering issues

If you see visual artifacts or broken rendering:

1. Try a different terminal. iTerm2, WezTerm, kitty, and Ghostty provide the best experience.
2. Disable synchronized output: KIRO_NO_SYNCHRONIZED=1 kiro-cli chat
3. Check that your terminal supports truecolor (most modern terminals do).

Related

• Terminal UI vs classic — Detailed comparison for users choosing between the two interfaces
• Chat — Chat usage and options
• Settings reference — Full settings reference
• Custom agents — Create custom agents with welcome messages