Terminal UI
Use eve locally or connect to a deployed agent from an interactive terminal UI.
eve dev starts a local development server and opens an interactive terminal UI. Use it to talk to your agent, approve tool calls, answer its questions, and configure local development.
eve devThe transcript remains in your terminal scrollback after you exit. Run /help in the UI to see the commands available in the current session.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/model | Configure the model and its provider. Pass a model ID to set it directly: /model provider/model-id. |
/add | Browse and install channels, MCP connections, extensions, and observability integrations. Pass an item address to open it directly: /add channel/slack. |
/deploy | Deploy the agent to Vercel production. Links the directory first if needed. |
/vc:install | Install the Vercel CLI. |
/vc:login | Log in to Vercel or restore access to a remote deployment. |
/info | Show the resolved application, compiled artifacts, discovery diagnostics, and messaging routes. |
/loglevel | Choose which server and agent logs appear in the transcript. |
/traces | Open the local trace viewer. Pass a trace ID prefix to open a specific trace. |
/reset | Start a fresh session. |
/cancel | Cancel the current turn without discarding settled context. |
/clear | Clear the session's model-message history. /new is an alias. |
/compact | Compact the current session's context. |
/exit | Quit the UI. |
/help | List available commands. |
/model, /add, /deploy, /info, and /traces are available when eve dev runs locally. They are unavailable when the UI connects to a server with --url.
Add an integration
Bare /add opens the categorized registry browser. Pass an item address — <category>/<name>, where category is channel, connection, extension, or instrumentation — to skip the category and search screens and open that item directly:
/add channel/slack
/add extension/agent-browserEither way the UI shows the item's details and asks to confirm before installing, then runs the same installation and setup prompts. Choosing Back on a directly addressed item returns to the registry browser.
Work with the agent
Type a message and press Enter to send it. When the agent asks a question or requests tool approval, respond in the prompt shown by the UI. Connection authorization can open a browser; keep local eve dev running until the browser returns to it.
While a turn is running, Enter queues a follow-up message. Press Esc or Ctrl+C to cancel the turn; when messages are queued, this uses the oldest queued message as the next turn instead. At an idle prompt, press Ctrl+C twice to exit.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Enter | Send the current message or answer. |
Shift+Enter | Insert a newline. Requires a terminal that reports modified keys. |
Esc | Cancel a running turn, or steer with the oldest queued message. |
Ctrl+C | Cancel or steer during a turn; clear input, then exit on a second press, when idle. |
↑ / ↓ | Move through input lines or sent-message history. |
Ctrl+L | Cycle log display modes. |
Ctrl+R | Redraw the screen. |
Logs and traces
By default, the UI shows stderr logs. Use /loglevel <all|stderr|sandbox|none> to change the display; bare /loglevel reports the current setting. Ctrl+L cycles the same modes.
Every eve dev process writes diagnostic logs to .eve/logs/, regardless of the display mode. Read them with eve logs.
Use /traces to inspect traces recorded during local development. See Instrumentation for trace capture and retention settings.
Display options
Use eve dev flags to control tool calls, reasoning, subagents, connection authorization, response statistics, context usage, and logs:
eve dev --tools full --reasoning collapsed --logs allUse --host and --port to bind the local server, or --no-ui to run without the terminal UI. See the eve dev CLI reference for the complete option list, accepted values, and defaults.
Connect to a deployment
Pass a URL to use the terminal UI with an existing eve server instead of starting one locally:
eve dev https://your-app.vercel.appThe URL form is shorthand for --url. To send credentials or custom request headers, use a URL with HTTP Basic credentials or repeat -H, --header:
eve dev https://user:pass@your-app.example.com
eve dev https://your-app.example.com -H 'Authorization: Bearer your_token_here'For a Vercel deployment that needs authentication, run /vc:login and follow the prompt. Remote sessions do not modify the local project's Vercel link or .env.local.
What to read next
- Instrumentation: traces, OpenTelemetry, and diagnostics.
- CLI: commands and flags.
- Agent Client Protocol (ACP): drive the same agent from ACP clients such as Zed instead of the TUI.