tuirnr

A modern terminal-based process manager with an interactive TUI (Text User Interface). Run and monitor multiple processes simultaneously with real-time output, full PTY interaction, and an intuitive keyboard-driven interface.

Built with OpenTUI and Solid.js.

Features

• Multi-process management - Run and monitor multiple commands simultaneously
• Interactive sessions - Full PTY support with insert mode for direct process interaction
• Real-time ANSI output - Proper terminal emulation with colors, formatting, and cursor support
• Flexible layouts - Task list can be positioned on left, right, top, or bottom
• Command palette - Quick access to all commands with fuzzy filtering
• Status monitoring - View PIDs, exit codes, restart counts, and timing information
• Task control - Start, stop, restart, add, and remove tasks on the fly
• Zoom mode - Hide task list for focused output viewing
• Auto-restart - Configure tasks to automatically restart on crash
• Modal interface - Vim-inspired modes (normal, insert, command palette)

Installation

bun install

Usage

Basic Usage

Run tuirnr with one or more commands as arguments:

tuirnr "bun dev" "bun test:watch"

Each command will be parsed and started as a separate task.

# Monitor log files
tuirnr "tail -f /var/log/app.log" "tail -f /var/log/error.log"

# Development servers
tuirnr "bun frontend" "bun backend" "bun db"

# Long-running processes
tuirnr "docker compose up" "ngrok http 3000"

Interface

┌──────Tasks───────┐┌─bun dev──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  ││Starting server on port 3000                              │
│ ▶ bun dev       ││                                                          │
│                  ││                                                          │
│ ▶ cypress       ││                                                          │
│                  ││                                                          │
│ ▶ typecheck     ││                                                          │
│                  ││                                                          │
│ ▶ lint          ││                                                          │
│                  ││                                                          │
│ ■  bun test      ││                                                          │
│                  ││                                                          │
└──────────────────┘└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
[NORMAL] 5 tasks | bun dev (running) | OUTPUT | S:toggle view

UI Components

• Task List (left panel) - Shows all tasks with status indicators

  • ▶ Running task
  • ■ Stopped task
  • ⏵ Starting task
  • ○ Idle task

• Output Panel (right panel) - Displays the active task's terminal output

  • Supports full ANSI escape sequences
  • Real-time scrolling output
  • Can switch to status view with S

• Status Bar (bottom) - Shows current mode, task count, and available actions

Keyboard Controls

Normal Mode

Navigation and task management mode (default).

Key	Action
j / ↓	Select next task
k / ↑	Select previous task
a	Add new task
d	Delete active task
r	Restart active task
s	Stop active task
i	Enter insert mode (if task is running)
S	Toggle status/output view
l	Rotate layout (left → top → right → bottom)
z	Toggle zoom mode (hide/show task list)
Space or :	Open command palette
q or Ctrl+C	Quit application

Insert Mode

Direct interaction with the active task's PTY (like being inside the process).

Key	Action
Esc	Return to normal mode
Ctrl+C	Send SIGINT to running process
All other keys	Forwarded to the process stdin

Use insert mode to interact with processes that require user input, send commands to shells, or control interactive programs.

Command Palette

Fuzzy-searchable command interface.

Key	Action
Type	Filter commands
↑ / ↓ or Ctrl+P / Ctrl+N	Navigate commands
Enter	Execute selected command
Esc	Close palette

Add Task Mode

Interactive task creation.

Key	Action
Type	Enter command or name
Tab	Switch between command and name fields
Enter	Next field or create task
Esc or Ctrl+C	Cancel
Backspace	Delete character

Task Status Information

Toggle to status view with S to see detailed task information:

• Task name and full command
• Current status (running/stopped/crashed/starting/idle)
• Process ID (PID) when running
• Exit code and signal (when stopped)
• Start/stop timestamps
• Restart count

Workflow Examples

Development Server Monitoring

# Start multiple dev servers
tmux new -s dev "bun src/tuirnr.tsx 'bun frontend' 'bun backend' 'bun worker'"

# Inside tuirnr:
# - Use j/k to navigate between services
# - Press i to interact with a service (e.g., send commands to a REPL)
# - Press r to restart a crashed service
# - Press S to check PIDs and status
# - Press q to quit all services

Log Monitoring

bun src/tuirnr.tsx "tail -f app.log" "tail -f error.log" "tail -f access.log"

# Use j/k to switch between log files
# Use z to zoom into a single log
# Use S to see when log files were last updated

Interactive Shell Sessions

bun src/tuirnr.tsx "bash" "python3" "node"

# Select a shell with j/k
# Press i to enter insert mode
# Type commands directly
# Press Esc to return to normal mode

Tips

• Zoom mode for focused work - Press z to hide the task list when you need more screen space
• Layout switching - Press l to find the layout that works best for your workflow
• Status view for debugging - Press S to see detailed process information like PIDs and exit codes

Requirements

• Bun runtime
• Terminal with ANSI support
• (Optional) tmux for session management

Architecture

• OpenTUI - Terminal UI rendering framework
• Solid.js - Reactive state management
• ghostty-opentui - Terminal buffer rendering with full ANSI support
• Bun.Terminal - PTY (pseudo-terminal) process management