> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.papermap.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Terminal UI Overview

> Use Papermap directly from your terminal with keyboard-first analytics, streamed insights, workspaces, model switching, and shell mode.

Papermap TUI gives you terminal-native access to Papermap. Sign in once, launch `papermap`, choose your workspace, ask questions, and watch streamed insight responses render without leaving your command line.

<Frame hint="Papermap TUI" caption="The terminal interface keeps analytics close to your development workflow.">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/papermap/dDWVu_I__tdPPnH3/documentation/tui/images/start-page.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=dDWVu_I__tdPPnH3&q=85&s=c12957a7ee5e45d82129a19b232902a9" alt="Papermap TUI start page" width="5120" height="2880" data-path="documentation/tui/images/start-page.png" />
</Frame>

## Why use the TUI?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Keyboard-first analytics" icon="keyboard">
    Stay in the terminal, ask natural-language data questions, and move through workspaces, chats, models, and tools with shortcuts.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Streamed insight responses" icon="bolt">
    See progress while Papermap works. Narrative answers, tables, tiles, charts, and reasoning traces render as the request completes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Unified workspace flow" icon="layer-group">
    Launch into your unified workspace by default, then switch to any visible workspace with a searchable picker.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Terminal-native utilities" icon="terminal">
    Run one-shot shell commands, copy transcript selections, browse conversation history, and switch LLM models in place.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Typical workflow

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install the CLI">
    Install `papermap` with Homebrew, the install script, `go install`, or a source build. See [Install the TUI](/documentation/tui/install).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Sign in once">
    Run `papermap auth login`. The default flow opens Papermap in your browser and returns a short-lived CLI code to your local terminal callback.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Launch the TUI">
    Run `papermap`. If your session is valid, Papermap opens directly into the chat workspace.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Ask questions and navigate">
    Submit prompts with `Enter`, use `/` for the command palette, `Ctrl+W` to switch workspaces, and `Ctrl+P` to reopen prior conversations.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What the TUI can do

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Ask data questions" icon="message-lines" href="/documentation/tui/navigation">
    Send prompts from the chat input and receive streamed Papermap answers in your terminal.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Review charts and tables" icon="chart-column">
    Papermap renders structured responses as readable terminal tables, tiles, and chart summaries.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Browse conversation history" icon="clock-rotate-left" href="/documentation/tui/navigation#conversations-history">
    Open prior chats for the active dashboard, page through history, and load the conversation you need.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Create database workspaces" icon="database" href="/documentation/tui/workspaces">
    Create Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, and Supabase workspaces from interactive CLI forms.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Info>
  The TUI is intentionally focused on terminal workflows: login, workspace selection, conversations, streamed insights, model selection, and shell mode. Use the Papermap web app for broader workspace administration, OAuth integrations, CSV or Sheets uploads, billing, and visual dashboard editing.
</Info>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install the TUI" icon="download" href="/documentation/tui/install">
    Choose the install path that matches your machine and launch `papermap`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Authenticate" icon="key" href="/documentation/tui/authentication">
    Learn browser login, password fallback, credential storage, and logout behavior.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Navigate the TUI" icon="compass" href="/documentation/tui/navigation">
    Master shortcuts, command palette, streaming, conversations, model switching, and shell mode.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configure the TUI" icon="gear" href="/documentation/tui/configuration">
    Set API URLs, frontend URLs, default thinking traces, selected model, and Windows shell behavior.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>