Multimodal Support

The TUI recognises image, video and audio files, classifies them by extension, and carries the reference into the conversation so a multimodal model can be asked about them.

It does not render them. Inline image display is intended, not present: the source contains no kitty, iterm or sixel support. What follows describes attaching and referencing files, not viewing them in the terminal. See TUI Guide.

Supported Formats

Media Browser

Access the Media Browser from the Chat tab by pressing m or switching to tab 3.

Layout

┌────────── Files ──────────┬──────── Preview ────────┐
│  photo.jpg                │  Path: ./photo.jpg      │
│  diagram.png          ✓   │  Type: Image            │
│  recording.mp3            │  Size: 1920×1080        │
│  demo.mp4                 │                         │
│                           │  [Image Preview]        │
└───────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┘

• Left panel: File list with ✓ markers for selected files
• Right panel: Metadata and preview for the highlighted file

Controls

Image Preview

Images are rendered directly in the terminal using Unicode block characters. The preview adapts to your terminal size and supports:

• Inline rendering: Images displayed within the TUI layout
• Automatic thumbnailing: 64×64 pixel thumbnails for the file list
• Full preview: Larger rendering in the preview panel

Tip: Image quality depends on your terminal emulator. Modern terminals like iTerm2, Kitty, and WezTerm provide the best results.

Attaching Media to Chat

To send images or other media with your chat message:

1. Press m to open Media Browser
2. Select files with Space (multiple selections allowed)
3. Press b to return to Chat
4. Type your message and press Enter

The selected media is sent as context to the AI model:

📎 Attached: photo.jpg, diagram.png

👤 What differences do you see between these two images?
🤖 The first image shows... while the second...

Media Analysis

When enable_media_analysis is enabled (default), the TUI automatically analyzes attached media:

• Images: Sent to a vision-capable model for description
• Audio: Duration and format metadata extracted
• Video: Duration and format metadata extracted

Analysis results appear as annotations in the conversation:

[Media Analysis: The image shows a flowchart diagram with 5 nodes connected by arrows...]

Multimodal Agents

Agents in the TUI support different modalities:

Supported modalities:
• Text ✓
• Image ✓ (requires vision model)
• Audio ✓ (model-dependent)
• Video ✓ (model-dependent)

Each agent declares which modalities it supports. When you assign a task involving media, the system validates that the selected agent can handle the required modality.

Display Info

Files show contextual information in the browser:

Terminal Compatibility

Image rendering quality varies by terminal:

For the best multimodal experience, use a terminal that supports inline image protocols.