CLI vs TUI vs Desktop: Choosing Your Interface

Hermes Agent does not force a single way to talk to it. Depending on whether you live in a terminal, want a richer interactive shell, or prefer a polished desktop application, you can choose from three interfaces — the CLI, the TUI, and the Desktop app. They share the same agent underneath, so your choice is really about workflow, not capability. Here is how to tell them apart and pick one.

The CLI: Fast and Scriptable

The CLI is the terminal interface and the most direct surface. The documentation describes it as the place to master Hermes' terminal experience — commands, keybindings, and personalities. It is the natural default for people who already work in a shell, want to chain agent calls into scripts, or need the lowest-overhead path to a session.

• Everything is reachable from the terminal you already use.
• You get the full set of commands and keybindings for driving sessions.
• It is the interface assumed by most of the rest of the documentation.

If you are starting out and value speed and scriptability over chrome, the CLI is the right entry point.

The TUI: Richer, Mouse-Friendly, Non-Blocking

The TUI is the modern terminal UI, built on Ink — and it is a step up in polish while staying in the terminal. Its defining traits, per the docs, are being mouse-friendly, offering rich overlays, and supporting non-blocking input. That last point matters: you can keep typing and interacting while Hermes is working, instead of staring at a frozen prompt.

• Finished with the same terminal deployment, but with overlays and mouse support.
• Non-blocking input keeps you productive while the agent streams its work.
• A good middle ground for people who want more than raw CLI but do not want to leave the terminal.

The Desktop App: Polished and Self-Contained

For a fully graphical experience, the native Hermes Desktop app is a professional, polished interface for chatting with Hermes. It offers streaming tool output, side-by-side previews, a file browser, voice, cron, profiles, skills, and settings — a much richer surface than a text window. It runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

• See tool output stream live, with side-by-side previews of what the agent produces.
• Built-in file browser, voice, cron, profiles, skills, and settings in one place.
• Available on all three major desktop platforms.

This is the interface to choose if you want chat-plus-context in a familiar application rather than a terminal.

How to Decide

There is no wrong answer, and you can switch as your comfort grows:

• Choose the CLI if you live in a shell, want the fastest and most scriptable path, or are following docs that assume a terminal.
• Choose the TUI if you want a richer, mouse-friendly, non-blocking terminal experience without leaving your window.
• Choose the Desktop app if you prefer a polished native application with previews, file browsing, voice, and settings in one place.

All three drive the same agent with the same memory, skills, and tools — so your choice is ergonomics, not lock-in. You can even extend the TUI/CLI with custom widgets and keybindings if you want an interface tailored to you.

Key Takeaways

• The CLI is fast, scriptable, and the default surface with full commands and keybindings.
• The Ink-based TUI adds mouse support, rich overlays, and non-blocking input while staying in the terminal.
• The native Desktop app offers streaming output, side-by-side previews, a file browser, voice, cron, and settings on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• All three share the same agent, so pick based on how you like to work — not on missing features.