Agent skill · operations · google-gemini
agent-tui
Main Agents: Do NOT use this skill directly. If you need to test the TUI, invoke the `tui_tester` subagent. Drive terminal UI (TUI) applications programmatically for testing, automation, and inspection. Use when: automating CLI/TUI interactions, regression testing terminal apps, or verifying interactive behavior. Also use when: user asks "what is agent-tui", "what does agent-tui do", "demo agent-tui", "show me agent-tui", "how does agent-tui work", or wants to see it in action.
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific commands and configurations for automating CLI/TUI interactions that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires npm installed locally. About 8k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 106,400 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
🚨 CRITICAL: macOS Daemon Workaround & Gemini CLI Usage 🚨 When using agent-tui in this macOS environment, the default background daemonization process crashes, causing Connection refused (os error 61) errors. You MUST start the daemon manually shielded from TTY hangups before running any agent-tui commands. Using nohup is insufficient; you must use tmux to provide a fully isolated pseudo-terminal. To support parallel runs, only restart the daemon if it is not currently running: Session ID vs PID (Crucial for Reconnection) When agent-tui run returns JSON, it includes both a sessionid and a pid. The pid is purely informational (the OS process ID of the child command). You do not use the pid to reconnect or issue commands. You must always use the sessionid (e.g., --session <id>). If the daemon crashes (os error 61), the pseudo-terminal is destroyed. Even if the child pid survives as an orphan, you cannot reconnect to it. You must restart the daemon using the workaround above and start a completely new session. Testing the Gemini CLI When testing the Gemini CLI with agent-tui, there are several strict requirements to ensure deterministic and accurate behavior: 1. Build Before Running: agent-tui runs the built JS files, not TypeScript. You MUST run npm run build or npm run build:all after making code changes and before launching the CLI with agent-tui. 2. Bypass Trust Modals: Always pass GEMINICLITRUSTWORKSPACE=true in the environment. If you don't, any new project-level agents or extensions will trigger a full-screen "Acknowledge and Enable" modal. This modal steals focus, swallows automation keystrokes, and causes agent-tui wait commands to time out. 3. Isolated Environments: If you need to test without real user credentials or existing agents interfering, isolate the global settings using GEMINICLIHOME=<some-test-dir>. 4. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills google-gemini/agent-tui