Interactive Mode

Run anode with no subcommand when you want a real working session: chat, plans, diffs, approvals, provider switching, saved sessions, and change tracking in one place.

anode

The TUI starts on Chat. The composer keeps normal typing behavior; from any non-chat screen, or after tab focuses the chat content pane, press 1-9 to switch screens. ctrl+p opens the command palette, which also includes entries for each screen.

Screens

Key	Screen	Use
1/2	Chat	Main conversation.
3	Plan	Active plan and execution state.
4	Diff	Pending/proposed changes.
5	Terminal	Shell event output.
6	Files	Workspace file view.
7	Connections	Provider connection status.
8	Settings	Theme, model, and profile controls.
9	Logs	Runtime logs.

Slash Commands

Type these in the chat composer.

Command	Use
/help	Show available commands.
/status	Show screen, connection, theme, profile, model, web, tools, queue, and repo.
/clear	Clear chat transcript.
/theme	Toggle theme.
/mode	Cycle craft, quick, study.
/mode <name>	Switch to a built-in, custom, or alias profile name.
/model	Open model picker.
/config	Open profile/model configuration panel.
/effort	Cycle reasoning effort.
/approval	Cycle approval display mode.
/plan <task>	Ask the agent to plan without editing.
/execute	Show execution mode commands.
/execute full	Start full execution mode.
/execute medium	Start medium execution mode.
/execute status	Show execution status.
/execute validate	Run validation for execution state.
/execute review	Show execution review.
/execute stop	Stop execution mode.
/queue <message>	Queue a follow-up while the agent is busy.
/steer <message>	Add guidance at the next safe interruption point.
/cancel	Cancel the current run.
/tasks	Show current task list.
/threads	Search/read local thread history.
/harness	Show all-history harness runs, check/smoke/bench/replay reports, and TUI tool diagnostics.
/harness status [all|latest|current-head]	Show all-history, latest-evidence, or current-commit harness status in the TUI.
/harness check	Run a tool-contract check against the current TUI registry and save a check artifact with environment provenance.
/harness smoke	Run deterministic tool smoke coverage against the current TUI registry and save a smoke artifact with changed-file and environment summaries.
/harness bench [validation|heldout] [--case <id>]	Dry-run all benchmark fixtures, one validation/held-out split, or a focused fixture and save the benchmark report.
/harness context	Show compact harness run and diagnostic artifact context.
/harness inspect <run-id>	Show a compact run ledger summary in the TUI.
/harness replay <run-id>	Show a non-executing replay plan with receipt safety labels.
/mcp	Show MCP server status.
/connect	Open provider connection flow.
/disconnect	Disconnect provider.
/handoff [goal]	Start a fresh session with context.
/new	Start a new session.
/sessions	Browse saved sessions. Press d on a row to delete it (y/n confirm).
/resume	Same session browser as /sessions.
/changes	Show Anode-tracked changes.
/changes summary	Show change summary.
/changes review	Show summary and per-file risk notes.
/changes files	List tracked changed files.
/commit or /commit message	Generate a commit message.
/commit prepare	Show commit plan.
/commit confirm	Stage tracked files and create the commit.
/revert	Show Anode-owned changes and whether they are revertible.
/revert all	Revert all revertible Anode-owned changes.
/index	Build or refresh repository index.
/repo	Show repository map.
/memory	Show or manage project memory.
/context	Show context pack summary.

When a run cannot start because the active provider is invalid, the chat error keeps the /connect hint and includes the exact active-model failure, such as a missing active model, malformed provider/model value, missing provider, or removed model.

While Anode Works

While Anode is working:

• Type a normal message to queue it for after the active run.
• Use /queue <message> to queue explicitly.
• Use /steer <message> to guide the active run at a safe point.
• Use /cancel to stop the active run.

Partial file changes remain in the workspace. Use /changes to inspect them. Harness receipts for TUI tool calls are written under .anode-harness/runs/ and can be inspected with anode harness inspect <run-id>.

Approval And Effort

TUI sessions start in auto approval mode.

Mode	Meaning
ask	Ask before risky tool calls.
auto	Auto-approve safe shell calls; still protect writes and destructive commands.
unrestricted	Skip confirmation. Use only in disposable workspaces.

Use /approval or ctrl+a to cycle approval mode.

Use /effort or ctrl+e to cycle reasoning effort. Effort is clamped to the selected model’s capability range.

Change Tracking

Anode records file changes made through its tools. The change ledger powers:

• /changes
• /commit
• /revert

Files Anode created can be reverted. Edited files can be reverted when the change ledger captured the pre-edit content and the current file still matches Anode’s recorded after-state.

Sessions

Sessions are saved locally by default.

{
  "session": {
    "autoSave": true,
    "storePath": "~/.config/anode/sessions"
  }
}

Use /sessions, /resume, and /threads for saved work. See Sessions and history.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Use
ctrl+c	Quit.
?	Help.
ctrl+p	Command palette.
ctrl+a	Cycle approval mode.
ctrl+e	Cycle reasoning effort.
esc	Close/cancel UI state.
tab / shift+tab	Move focus.
pgup / pgdn	Scroll chat while typing.
ctrl+up / ctrl+down	Scroll chat one line.
ctrl+home / ctrl+end	Jump chat top/bottom.
j / k	Scroll focused transcript.
ctrl+y	Copy full transcript.
1 / 2	Switch to Chat.
3 through 9	Switch to Plan, Diff, Terminal, Files, Connections, Settings, or Logs.

Keep going:

• Quickstart
• Profiles
• Permissions
• Plan and execute