First Ten Minutes

This chapter walks through what happens when you open CommandUI for the first time.

Launch

The app opens with a single shell session. The header shows:

CommandUI v1.0.0 — ~/projects

The terminal area occupies the left side. The plan panel on the right shows “No semantic plan yet.” The composer sits at the bottom with two mode buttons: Command and Ask.

Try a raw command

1. Click the composer (or press Ctrl+J)
2. Make sure Command mode is selected (Ctrl+1)
3. Type ls and press Enter

The command executes in your real shell. Output appears in the terminal. A history item is created with status success.

Try a semantic request

1. Switch to Ask mode (Ctrl+2)
2. Type “show me changed files” and press Enter

The planner generates a command plan. The plan panel shows:

• Intent: your original words
• Command: the generated shell command (editable)
• Risk: low / medium / high
• Explanation: why this command was chosen

You can now:

• Run Plan — execute the command as shown
• Edit the command field, then Run Plan — execute your modified version
• Reject — dismiss the plan, nothing executes
• Save Workflow — store this command for future reuse

Explore history

Press Ctrl+H to open the history drawer. Every command you ran or rejected is listed with:

• Input text and source type (raw vs semantic)
• Status (success, failure, rejected, planned)
• Duration and timestamp
• Rerun, Copy, View Plan, and Save Workflow actions

Click any item to expand its details.

Open settings

Press Ctrl+, to open settings. Key options:

• Mode: Classic (minimal chrome) vs Guided (plan panel always visible)
• Default input: Command or Ask
• Confirm medium-risk: whether medium-risk commands need explicit approval

What to notice

After ten minutes you should have seen:

1. A real shell that executes real commands
2. An AI translation step that you fully control
3. History that accurately reflects what happened
4. The ability to edit any generated command before execution
5. Risk indication on every generated plan