feat: arbor-tui — ratatui-based terminal dashboard

[edmondop]

Summary

Arbor currently has two frontends: the GPUI native desktop app (arbor-gui) and the web UI (arbor-web-ui). Both require either a desktop environment or a browser. For users who work primarily in the terminal (tmux-based workflows, SSH sessions, headless servers), a ratatui-based TUI would be a valuable third frontend.

Proposal

Add a new arbor-tui crate to the workspace — a terminal dashboard that talks to the arbor-httpd daemon over its existing HTTP + WebSocket API (via arbor-daemon-client).

Key views

• Agent activity — live working/waiting status for Claude Code, Codex, Pi, OpenCode sessions (via /api/v1/agent/activity/ws)
• Repositories — tracked repos with worktree status
• Terminals — list daemon-managed terminal sessions with live snapshots (via /api/v1/terminals/{id}/snapshot)
• Processes — managed process status

Architecture

arbor-tui
  ├── depends on: arbor-daemon-client (typed HTTP client)
  ├── uses: ratatui + crossterm
  ├── talks to: arbor-httpd daemon (same as arbor-cli and arbor-gui)
  └── binary: arbor-tui (or `arbor-cli tui` subcommand)

No GPUI dependency. Builds on any platform with a terminal.

Why ratatui

• De facto standard for Rust TUIs (same ecosystem as Zed's terminal work)
• Active community, well-documented
• Pairs naturally with crossterm for cross-platform terminal handling
• Used by OpenViking's CLI, gitui, lazygit-rs, and many others

Use case

I manage multiple Claude Code sessions in tmux across several projects. The web UI is great for monitoring from a browser, but when I'm already in a terminal session, switching to a browser breaks flow. A TUI that I can open in a tmux pane alongside my agents would be ideal.

Willingness to contribute

I'm happy to implement this. Would like to understand if this aligns with the project's direction before forking — would you accept a PR for this, or would you prefer it lives as a separate project?

[penso]

It's a big piece but I would totally accept this in the repo. There are potentially security concern and there is thinking about the UI should look at, but I totally want a tui.