What Is CommandUI

CommandUI is an AI-native shell environment. It gives you a real terminal with a second input path: describe what you want in natural language, and an AI planner translates your intent into a shell command. You review, edit, approve, or reject before anything executes.

What it is

A desktop app (Tauri v2 + React 19) with a real PTY shell
Two input paths: direct terminal typing and structured composer
Semantic mode: intent in, command plan out, you decide
Risk-tiered confirmation: low-risk commands flow, high-risk commands require acknowledgment
History with rerun, plan inspection, and workflow saving
Project-scoped memory that learns your preferences from repeated edits
Multi-session tabs with independent terminal streams
Local-first persistence via SQLite

What it is not

Not a chatbot. It does not converse. It translates intent to commands.
Not an autonomous agent. Nothing executes without your approval.
Not a terminal emulator replacement. It wraps a real shell, it does not simulate one.
Not a cloud service. Everything runs locally. Your data stays on disk.

The core promise

You always know three things:

What you asked — your original intent is preserved
What the system plans to do — the exact command, with explanation and risk assessment
How to stop it — reject, edit, or close the plan before execution

If any screen state hides one of those three, it is a bug.

The bidirectional moat

CommandUI works in both directions:

Beginners: describe intent in natural language, see the real command, learn what it does
Experts: type commands directly, save proven sequences as workflows, accelerate repetitive work

This is the product thesis. A shell that teaches and a shell that accelerates are the same shell.