VibeAI Docs
Operate

Chat & Console

Two lightweight ways to talk to an agent — chat bubbles and a REPL terminal.

Both pages connect to the same backend socket, /api/chat/ws, which bridges the browser to an aios tui-backend subprocess — the same JSON-RPC agent process the TUI drives. That means both get the full harness for free: routing, cache, skills, tools, and session persistence. The difference is purely presentation.

Chat

Chat page

Web UI → Chat — a conventional message-bubble UI.

  • agent / project selectors in the header pick which agent you’re talking to and (optionally) ground answers in a project’s documents. Changing agent closes and reopens the socket against /api/chat/ws?agent=<name>.
  • Replies stream in as markdown, token by token.
  • Attach files (📎) uploads to ~/.aios/uploads/ via POST /api/chat/upload and points the agent’s read_file tool at them.
  • 🎙 LISTEN / 🔊 VOICE toggle hands-free speech in/out through the VibeAI OS Desktop Voice Bridge.
  • ⟲ REALIGN rebuilds the session’s context from your request history and any meta-review corrections, starting a fresh session without touching the old one.

Console

Web UI → Console — a terminal-style REPL over the same connection.

  • A colored prompt shows the current agent and project context.
  • Plain text is sent to the agent, same as Chat.
  • Slash commands: /help, /agent [name] (switch agent, or list them), /project [name] (set or clear project context), /clear (clear the screen).
  • /api/ui/mode decides the console’s mode. In operator mode, a line starting with ! runs a raw shell command via /api/vibe/shell and prints its output — this is not available in restricted mode.
  • Command history via ↑/↓.

Which one to use

  • Chat — everyday conversation with an agent; attachments, voice, and a project selector make it the better default for most people.
  • Console — faster for quick agent switches, project switches, or operator shell one-liners without leaving the keyboard.
  • Vibe Code panel (/vibe-code) — for anything beyond a conversation: running real Claude Code CLI sessions against a repo, multiple session tabs, task tracking, proxy/traffic tools, and skill/agent creation. Chat and Console are the “just talk to the agent” surfaces; Vibe Code is the full coding workstation.