hangs on first startup , TextualInputOutput exception, cecli 0.95.7

[CoolCold]

Issue

waited at least 4 minutes while getting coffee, and it didn't resolve - stuck like

ubuntu@ub24-aiderce:~$ cecli
Starting cecli TUI...

with --debug -v shows:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "cecli", line 7, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
             ^^^^^^
  File "main.py", line 505, in main
    return asyncio.run(main_async(argv, input, output, force_git_root, return_coder))
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "runners.py", line 194, in run
    return runner.run(main)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "runners.py", line 118, in run
    return self._loop.run_until_complete(task)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "base_events.py", line 687, in run_until_complete
    return future.result()
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "main.py", line 638, in main_async
    io, output_queue, input_queue = create_tui_io(args, editing_mode)
                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "__init__.py", line 30, in create_tui_io
    io = TextualInputOutput(
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "io.py", line 26, in __init__
    super().__init__(**kwargs)
  File "io.py", line 399, in __init__
    self.tool_warning(
  File "io.py", line 1419, in tool_warning
    self._tool_message(message, strip, self.tool_warning_color)
  File "io.py", line 1371, in _tool_message
    self.stream_print(message, style=style)
  File "io.py", line 120, in stream_print
    self.output_queue.put(
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: 'TextualInputOutput' object has no attribute 'output_queue'

version:

ubuntu@ub24-aiderce:~$ cecli --version
cecli 0.95.7

installed for testing as:

• pipx

ubuntu@ub24-aiderce:~$ pipx install cecli-dev
  installed package cecli-dev 0.95.7, installed using Python 3.12.3
  These apps are now globally available
    - aider-ce
    - ce.cli
    - cecli

• UV:

aidertest@ub24-aiderce:~$ uv tool install --native-tls --python python3.12 cecli-dev

ubuntu@ub24-aiderce:~$ cecli
Starting cecli TUI...
^C^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/bin/cecli", line 7, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
             ^^^^^^
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/pipx/venvs/cecli-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cecli/main.py", line 505, in main
    return asyncio.run(main_async(argv, input, output, force_git_root, return_coder))
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/runners.py", line 194, in run
    return runner.run(main)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/runners.py", line 118, in run
    return self._loop.run_until_complete(task)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/base_events.py", line 674, in run_until_complete
    self.run_forever()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/base_events.py", line 641, in run_forever
    self._run_once()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/base_events.py", line 1987, in _run_once
    handle._run()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/events.py", line 88, in _run
    self._context.run(self._callback, *self._args)
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/pipx/venvs/cecli-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cecli/main.py", line 768, in main_async
    selected_model_name = await select_default_model(args, io)
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/pipx/venvs/cecli-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cecli/onboarding.py", line 115, in select_default_model
    await io.offer_url(urls.models_and_keys, "Open documentation URL for more info?")
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/pipx/venvs/cecli-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cecli/io.py", line 1136, in offer_url
    if await self.confirm_ask(
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/ubuntu/.local/share/pipx/venvs/cecli-dev/lib/python3.12/site-packages/cecli/tui/io.py", line 514, in confirm_ask
    result = self.input_queue.get(timeout=0.1)
             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/queue.py", line 180, in get
    self.not_empty.wait(remaining)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/threading.py", line 359, in wait
    gotit = waiter.acquire(True, timeout)
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/asyncio/runners.py", line 157, in _on_sigint
    raise KeyboardInterrupt()
KeyboardInterrupt

my blind guess for now - it tries to connect somewhere:

[pid  1348] futex(0x3c8b8760, FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET_PRIVATE, 0, {tv_sec=1506140, tv_nsec=661257388}, FUTEX_BITSET_MATCH_ANY) = -1 ETIMEDOUT (Connection timed out)
[pid  1348] epoll_wait(3, [], 1, 100)   = 0
[pid  1348] epoll_wait(3, [], 1, 0)     = 0
[pid  1348] futex(0x3c8b8760, FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET_PRIVATE, 0, {tv_sec=1506140, tv_nsec=865715549}, FUTEX_BITSET_MATCH_ANY) = -1 ETIMEDOUT (Connection timed out)
[pid  1348] epoll_wait(3, [], 1, 100)   = 0
[pid  1348] epoll_wait(3, [], 1, 0)     = 0
[pid  1348] futex(0x3c8b8760, FUTEX_WAIT_BITSET_PRIVATE, 0, {tv_sec=1506141, tv_nsec=70168885}, FUTEX_BITSET_MATCH_ANY) = -1 ETIMEDOUT (Connection timed out)
[pid  1348] epoll_wait(3, [], 1, 100)   = 0
[pid  1348] epoll_wait(3, [], 1, 0)     = 0

Version and model info

cecli 0.95.7

no model, no anything, fresh 1st start in almost empty homedir

mitigation

seems like it just cannot handle empty configs (though, I'm not sure why object/attributes missing from the traceback anyway), if you run it like cecli --no-check-update --api-key openrouter=sk-or-v1-5xxxxxxxxx - then it starts

more info

seems to be trying to connect to github for unknown reason

21:37:51.733286 IP 127.0.0.1.38350 > 127.0.0.53.53: 16625+ [1au] A? raw.githubusercontent.com. (54)
21:37:51.733324 IP 127.0.0.1.38350 > 127.0.0.53.53: 54012+ [1au] AAAA? raw.githubusercontent.com. (54)

and

[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("185.199.109.133")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_UNSPEC, sa_data="\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("185.199.110.133")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_UNSPEC, sa_data="\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("185.199.111.133")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_UNSPEC, sa_data="\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("185.199.108.133")}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET6, sin6_port=htons(443), sin6_flowinfo=htonl(0), inet_pton(AF_INET6, "2606:50c0:8001::154", &sin6_addr), sin6_scope_id=0}, 28) = -1 ENETUNREACH (Network is unreachable)
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_UNSPEC, sa_data="\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET6, sin6_port=htons(443), sin6_flowinfo=htonl(0), inet_pton(AF_INET6, "2606:50c0:8002::154", &sin6_addr), sin6_scope_id=0}, 28) = -1 ENETUNREACH (Network is unreachable)
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_UNSPEC, sa_data="\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET6, sin6_port=htons(443), sin6_flowinfo=htonl(0), inet_pton(AF_INET6, "2606:50c0:8003::154", &sin6_addr), sin6_scope_id=0}, 28) = -1 ENETUNREACH (Network is unreachable)
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_UNSPEC, sa_data="\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"}, 16) = 0
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET6, sin6_port=htons(443), sin6_flowinfo=htonl(0), inet_pton(AF_INET6, "2606:50c0:8000::154", &sin6_addr), sin6_scope_id=0}, 28) = -1 ENETUNREACH (Network is unreachable)
[pid  1505] connect(3, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(443), sin_addr=inet_addr("185.199.109.133")}, 16) = -1 EINPROGRESS (Operation now in progress)

[CoolCold]

ubuntu@ub24-aiderce:~/blabla$ cecli --no-check-update --debug -v
Config files search order, if no --config:
  - /home/ubuntu/blabla/.cecli.conf.yml
  - /home/ubuntu/.cecli.conf.yml
fzf not found, fuzzy finder features will be disabled. Install it for enhanced file/history search.
Starting cecli TUI...

# Uncaught AttributeError in io.py line 120

cecli version: 0.95.7
Python version: 3.12.3
Platform: Linux-6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2-x86_64-with-glibc2.39
Python implementation: CPython
Virtual environment: Yes
OS: Linux 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2 (64bit)
Git version: git version 2.43.0

Configuration:
35turbo: False
4: False
4_turbo: False
4o: False
add_gitignore_files: False
agent_config: None
alias: None
analytics: None
analytics_disable: False
analytics_log: None
analytics_posthog_host: None
apply: None
apply_clipboard_edits: False
assistant_output_color: #0088ff
attribute_author: None
attribute_co_authored_by: True
attribute_commit_message_author: False
attribute_commit_message_committer: False
attribute_committer: None
auto_accept_architect: True
auto_commits: True
auto_lint: True
auto_load: False
auto_save: False
auto_save_session_name: auto-save
auto_test: False
cache_keepalive_pings: 0
cache_prompts: False
cecli_ignore: .cecli.ignore
chat_history_file: .cecli/chat.history
chat_language: None
check_model_accepts_settings: True
check_update: False
code_theme: default
command_prefix: None
commit: False
commit_language: None
commit_prompt: None
completion_menu_bg_color: None
completion_menu_color: None
completion_menu_current_bg_color: None
completion_menu_current_color: None
config: None
context_compaction_max_tokens: None
context_compaction_summary_tokens: 4096
copy_paste: False
custom: None
dark_mode: False
debug: True
deepseek: False
detect_urls: True
dirty_commits: True
disable_playwright: False
disable_scraping: False
dry_run: False
edit_format: None
editor: None
editor_edit_format: None
editor_model: None
enable_context_compaction: True
encoding: utf-8
env_file: .env
exit: False
fancy_input: True
file: None
files: []
git: True
git_commit_verify: False
gitignore: True
haiku: False
input_history_file: .cecli/input.history
install_main_branch: False
just_check_update: False
light_mode: False
line_endings: platform
linear_output: True
lint: False
lint_cmd: []
list_models: None
llm_history_file: None
load: None
map_cache_dir: .
map_max_line_length: 100
map_memory_cache: False
map_multiplier_no_files: 2
map_refresh: auto
map_tokens: None
max_chat_history_tokens: None
mcp_servers: None
mcp_servers_file: None
mcp_transport: stdio
message: None
message_file: None
mini: False
model: None
model_metadata_file: .cecli.model.metadata.json
model_overrides: None
model_overrides_file: .cecli.model.overrides.yml
model_settings_file: .cecli.model.settings.yml
multiline: False
notifications: False
notifications_command: None
o1_mini: False
o1_preview: False
openai_api_base: None
openai_api_deployment_id: None
openai_api_type: None
openai_api_version: None
openai_organization_id: None
opus: False
preserve_todo_list: False
pretty: True
read: None
reasoning_effort: None
restore_chat_history: False
set_env: []
shell_completions: None
show_diffs: False
show_model_warnings: True
show_prompts: False
show_release_notes: None
show_repo_map: False
show_speed: False
skip_sanity_check_repo: False
sonnet: False
stream: True
subtree_only: False
suggest_shell_commands: True
test: False
test_cmd: []
thinking_tokens: None
timeout: None
tool_error_color: #FF2222
tool_output_color: None
tool_warning_color: #FFA500
tui: True
tui_config: None
tweak_responses: False
upgrade: False
use_enhanced_map: False
user_input_color: #00cc00
verbose: True
verify_ssl: True
vim: False
voice_format: wav
voice_input_device: None
voice_language: en
watch_files: False
weak_model: None
yes_always: None
yes_always_commands: False

An uncaught exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "cecli", line 7, in <module>
    sys.exit(main())
             ^^^^^^
  File "main.py", line 505, in main
    return asyncio.run(main_async(argv, input, output, force_git_root, return_coder))
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "runners.py", line 194, in run
    return runner.run(main)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "runners.py", line 118, in run
    return self._loop.run_until_complete(task)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "base_events.py", line 687, in run_until_complete
    return future.result()
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "main.py", line 638, in main_async
    io, output_queue, input_queue = create_tui_io(args, editing_mode)
                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "__init__.py", line 30, in create_tui_io
    io = TextualInputOutput(
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "io.py", line 26, in __init__
    super().__init__(**kwargs)
  File "io.py", line 399, in __init__
    self.tool_warning(
  File "io.py", line 1419, in tool_warning
    self._tool_message(message, strip, self.tool_warning_color)
  File "io.py", line 1371, in _tool_message
    self.stream_print(message, style=style)
  File "io.py", line 120, in stream_print
    self.output_queue.put(
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
AttributeError: 'TextualInputOutput' object has no attribute 'output_queue'

Please consider reporting this bug to help improve cecli!
Open a GitHub Issue pre-filled with the above error in your browser? (Y/n)

[CoolCold]

likely separate issue - tries to connect to internet (github) on --version invokation

aidertest@ub24-aiderce:~$ strace -ffF -s 1024 cecli --version |& fgrep 'raw.githubusercontent'
[pid  1937] write(3, "\26\3\1\2\0\1\0\1\374\3\3U\307R\255\302\353\273\315\313\323\251Fr\37&\10\314\257\375\244\270\272\\\22'\323r8\355Y!h )*o|\257\261\206\30\0\317Pl\273J\202[\227_\23\211\\G\2678\10\234\344\325Q\32\326\311\0>\23\2\23\3\23\1\300,\3000\0\237\314\251\314\250\314\252\300+\300/\0\236\300$\300(\0k\300#\300'\0g\300\n\300\24\09\300\t\300\23\0003\0\235\0\234\0=\0<\0005\0/\0\377\1\0\1u\0\0\0\36\0\34\0\0\31raw.githubusercontent.com\0\v\0\4\3\0\1\2\0\n\0\26\0\24\0\35\0\27\0\36\0\31\0\30\1\0\1\1\1\2\1\3\1\4\0#\0\0\0\20\0\v\0\t\10http/1.1\0\26\0\0\0\27\0\0\0\r\0*\0(\4\3\5\3\6\3\10\7\10\10\10\t\10\n\10\v\10\4\10\5\10\6\4\1\5\1\6\1\3\3\3\1\3\2\4\2\5\2\6\2\0+\0\5\4\3\4\3\3\0-\0\2\1\1\0003\0&\0$\0\35\0 \325SDm\373\242\371\266\7awNLP\3765\357\221\21\7n\2570\257\242h\30\244\360\263c\t\0\25\0\253\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 517) = 517

[CoolCold]

have not checked the fix, just for sake of test run, tried to address this exact issue to deepseek

ubuntu@ub24-aidertest:~/blabla/cecli$ git show
commit 42450e6b69d879cd2911ba63b53af2454c1b63b6 (HEAD -> main)
Author: Your Name <you@example.com>
Date:   Mon Jan 5 22:39:29 2026 +0000

    refactor: Reorder queue initialization and add experimental warning in TextualInputOutput

    Co-authored-by: cecli (openrouter/deepseek/deepseek-chat)

diff --git a/cecli/tui/io.py b/cecli/tui/io.py
index 6ae017eae..ecb908d08 100644
--- a/cecli/tui/io.py
+++ b/cecli/tui/io.py
@@ -19,15 +19,21 @@ class TextualInputOutput(InputOutput):
             input_queue: queue.Queue for receiving input from TUI
             **kwargs: Passed to InputOutput parent class
         """
+        # Store queues first
+        self.output_queue = output_queue
+        self.input_queue = input_queue
+
         # Lazy-initialized console for TUI rendering
         self._tui_console = None

         # Initialize parent (fancy_input should already be False from caller)
         super().__init__(**kwargs)

-        # Store queues
-        self.output_queue = output_queue
-        self.input_queue = input_queue
+        # Show warning if queues are available
+        if output_queue:
+            self.tool_warning(
+                "Textual TUI is experimental. Please report any issues to the cecli team."
+            )

         # Current task tracking
         self.current_task_id = None

[dwash96]

The main issue is that we need to pop open a confirmation on completely empty configuration to see if someone wants to configure open router and the TUI initialization obstructs that.

The verbose mode error is separate from this and it's because we attempt to send output during the initialization of the io system itself if fzf is not installed.

Both will be addressed