TUI Commands

The TUI supports vim-style : commands for runtime configuration and control. Type : at the beginning of a line to enter command mode.

Quick Reference

Command	Description
:set option=value	Set configuration option
:set option?	Query current value
:set option??	Show modification history
:set option!	Toggle boolean option
:set option&	Reset to default
:set	Show modified options
:set all	Show all options
:model	Open model picker
:model <name>	Switch to model
:clear	Clear conversation
:undo [N]	Undo the last N agent turns (default 1)
:export <path>	Export session to markdown
:messages	Toggle the notification drawer (aliases: :msgs, :notifications)
:palette	Open command palette (alias: :commands, key: F1)
:pick [source]	Open a fuzzy picker (notes, files, commands)
:mcp	Show MCP server status
:plugins	Show loaded plugins
:reload [name]	Reload a plugin (no name = all)
:config	Show current configuration
:lua <expr>	Evaluate Lua daemon-side (shorthand: := <expr>)
:quit / :q	Exit chat
:help [topic]	Show help (alias: :h)

An unknown : command shows a warning with a did-you-mean suggestion.

The :set Command

Crucible’s :set command follows Vim conventions for runtime configuration.

Setting Values

:set option=value       # Set string/number option
:set option:value       # Alternative syntax
:set option value       # Space-separated (if unambiguous)

Examples:

:set model=claude-3-5-sonnet
:set thinkingbudget=high

Boolean Options

:set option             # Enable boolean option
:set nooption           # Disable boolean option (prefix with 'no')
:set option!            # Toggle option
:set invoption          # Toggle option (alternative)

Examples:

:set thinking           # Enable thinking display
:set nothinking         # Disable thinking display
:set precognition!      # Toggle precognition

Querying Values

:set option?            # Show current value
:set option??           # Show modification history
:set                    # Show all modified options
:set all                # Show all options with values

Resetting Values

:set option&            # Reset to default value
:set option^            # Pop one modification (undo last change)

Available Options

Model

Option	Type	Description
model	string	Current LLM model (e.g., claude-3-5-sonnet, gpt-4o)

Thinking / Reasoning

Option	Type	Description
thinking	bool	Show thinking/reasoning tokens in this client (TUI-local)
thinkingbudget	preset	Token budget for extended thinking (presets only)

Thinking Budget Presets:

Preset	Tokens	Description
off	0	Disable extended thinking
minimal	512	Brief reasoning
low	1024	Light reasoning
medium	4096	Moderate reasoning
high	8192	Thorough reasoning
max	unlimited	Maximum reasoning

thinkingbudget accepts presets only — a raw token count like :set thinkingbudget=8000 is rejected with the list of valid presets.

Examples:

:set thinkingbudget=high        # Use preset
:set thinkingbudget=off         # Disable thinking

Display

Option	Type	Description
syntax_theme	string	Syntax highlighting theme for code blocks and diffs. Validated against the loaded theme set; derived follows the UI colorscheme
show_diffs	bool	Render inline diffs for file-edit tool calls
completion_style	enum	Popup presentation: auto (minimal anchored boxes for @/[[ completions, full-width panel for / and :), panel, or minimal

Agent Loop

These sync to the daemon and are session-scoped:

Option	Type	Description
maxiterations	number/none	Cap on agent loop iterations per turn
executiontimeout	seconds/none	Tool execution timeout
outputvalidation	string	Output validation mode
validationretries	number	Retries when output validation fails

Context Management

Option	Type	Description
contextbudget	number/none	Context token budget (alias: context_budget)
contextstrategy	enum	truncate, sliding_window, or summarize
contextwindow	number/none	Sliding window size in message pairs
autocompact_threshold	0.0–1.0/off/default	Auto-compaction trigger as a fraction of the context budget

Precognition

Option	Type	Description
precognition	bool	Toggle precognition (auto-RAG context injection, daemon-side)
precognition.results	number	Number of precognition results to inject (1–20, default: 5)

Permissions

Option	Type	Description
perm.show_diff	bool	Show diffs in permission modals by default
perm.autoconfirm_session	bool	Auto-approve all permissions for the session
perm.full_commands	bool	Show the full command/args (wrapped) in permission prompts; off = compact one-line view. Default: on

Unknown Keys

A key the classifier doesn’t recognize is not an error: it is stored locally (so :set key? round-trips) and mirrored into the daemon’s app-config store, so :lua cru.config.get(key) and plugins see the same typed value.

The :model Command

Switch models at runtime:

:model                  # Open model picker popup
:model <name>           # Switch directly to model

The model picker shows available models from your configured provider. Navigate with arrow keys, select with Enter.

Examples:

:model claude-3-5-sonnet
:model gpt-4o
:model llama3.2

Model changes persist for the session and sync to the daemon.

The :pick Command

Open a fuzzy picker popup:

:pick                   # Pick from notes, files, and commands
:pick notes             # Notes from your kiln
:pick files             # Workspace files
:pick commands          # Slash and REPL commands

Selecting a note inserts a [[wikilink]], a file inserts an @path attachment, and a command puts the command in the input. (:pick sessions is accepted but currently lists nothing — sessions aren’t tracked in TUI state yet.)

Other Commands

:quit                   # Exit chat (alias: :q)
:help [topic]           # Show help (alias: :h; topics: commands, keys, config, tools)
:clear                  # Clear conversation (start fresh)
:undo [N]               # Undo the last N agent turns (also /undo)
:export <path>          # Export session to markdown (~ expands)
:messages               # Toggle notification drawer
:palette                # Open command palette (F1)
:mcp                    # MCP servers with connection status and tool counts
:plugins                # Loaded plugins with state and version
:reload [name]          # Reload one plugin, or all when no name given
:config                 # Show current configuration summary
:lua <expr>             # Evaluate a Lua expression in the daemon's plugin
                        # runtime; result renders as a system message (:= works too)

Configuration Layers

The :set command modifies a runtime overlay on top of your base configuration:

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│  :set commands (runtime)    │ ← Highest priority
├─────────────────────────────┤
│  Environment variables      │
├─────────────────────────────┤
│  ~/.config/crucible/        │
│  config.toml (user)         │
├─────────────────────────────┤
│  Built-in defaults          │ ← Lowest priority
└─────────────────────────────┘

Runtime changes do not persist to config files. They last for the current session only.

Modification Tracking

Use :set option?? to see where a value came from:

:set thinkingbudget??
# Output:
# thinkingbudget = high
#   [Command] high (2025-01-20 14:30:00)
#   [File] medium (base config)

Option Shortcuts

Some options have short aliases:

Shortcut	Full Path
model	(dynamic — resolved per provider)
thinking	(virtual, TUI-only)
thinkingbudget	llm.thinking_budget
syntax_theme	cli.highlighting.theme

Examples

Quick Model Switch

:model gpt-4o

Enable Extended Thinking

:set thinking
:set thinkingbudget=high

Check Current Config

:set model?
:set thinkingbudget?

Reset to Defaults

:set thinkingbudget&

Debug Configuration

:set all                # See everything
:set                    # See what you changed
:set model??            # See modification history

See Also

• Index — TUI overview
• Keybindings — Keyboard shortcuts
• Sessions — Session management
• Configuration — Config file reference
• llm — LLM provider configuration