February 13, 2026
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Building a TUI is easy now
Coders split over “easy” Terminal UIs: love, hate, and eye-rolls
TLDR: Hatchet says building a terminal app is now simple with Claude Code and Charm, and shipped a fast-feeling demo in days. Commenters split: some cheer keyboard-first tools, others slam TUIs as pointless next to web pages or plain command lines, with mobile keyboard chaos and “if it’s easy, why fumble Claude?” fueling the fight.
Hatchet’s cofounder just threw a gauntlet: building a terminal app—aka a TUI (text-based user interface)—is “easy now,” thanks to Anthropic’s Claude Code assistant and the cutesy-but-powerful Charm stack. He says their TUI shipped in a few days, feels faster than the website, and there’s a live demo to prove it. Cue the comment cage match.
On one side, Team TUI: folks who love info-dense, keyboard-first tools living right next to your code. There’s curiosity too—one commenter asked which Python TUI library is worth it, hinting at real interest. On the other, Team Are-We-Sure?: a chorus of skeptics and eye-rolls. One user blasted the “easy” claim by pointing at Anthropic’s shaky rollout of Claude Code, basically saying, “If it’s easy, why’d they fumble?” Another declared TUIs offer no edge over normal web pages, praising plain-old CLIs (command-line tools) that chain together like Lego bricks. And the mobile crowd came in hot: virtual keyboards in browsers make terminal behavior “massively stupid,” said one frustrated commenter.
The vibe? TUI vs GUI vs CLI is the new holy war. Some want slick terminal dashboards, others want simple command lines, and a few just want everyone to stop calling it “too-ee.” Drama level: high, with a side of Bubble Tea and Lip Gloss.
Key Points
- •Hatchet built and shipped a terminal user interface (TUI) for its product in a few days, largely assisted by Claude Code.
- •The team previously abandoned an agent-first frontend refactor but found TUI development with Claude Code successful and fast.
- •TUIs were chosen to align with developer workflows by being text-first, information-dense, and reducing context switching.
- •Early user feedback indicated the Hatchet CLI’s TUI felt more performant than the web UI, despite using the same API.
- •The TUI stack relied on Charmbracelet libraries—Bubble Tea, Lip Gloss, and Huh—with cohesive styling reused across the CLI.