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Using the TUI

rettui starts the terminal UI: seven tabs (Messages, Channels, Network, Browser, Node, Status, Reticulum) with keyboard and mouse control. Terminals narrower than 110 columns get a sidebar of icons and narrower side lists, so 80×24 works well.

Colours, times and dates are settings (Status): Terminal colours is dark (for a dark terminal, the default), light (for a light one) or basic (16 colours, for a terminal without full colour); Clock is 24-hour or 12-hour, and Dates month-day (Oct 07), day-month (07 Oct) or year-month-day (2025-10-07). Clock and Dates go for the web UI too, and for exported conversations.

Keys

The footer shows the most used keys of what's on screen, as many as fit, and ? keys at its right edge: ? lists them all, with those that work in every tab. While typing, ? is typed, so it says F1 keys instead, and F1 lists them. Any key, or a click, closes the list.

Tab Keys
All tabs 1–7 switch tab, A announce, S sync with the propagation node, ? list the keys of what's on screen (F1 while typing), Ctrl-L redraw the screen, q / Ctrl-C quit
Messages ↑↓ pick a conversation, Enter write, / search messages (Tab this conversation or all, Enter open the one picked), r reply to their newest message, m pick a message, c contact card, X delete the conversation, n new conversation by address, y copy the peer's address, a attach a file, o open the newest attachment, d cycle delivery mode, p read a paper message, P show the newest paper message written, N turn the conversation's notifications off or on, H read its archived messages, L share a location (live 1h shares it live; L again stops that), M the map of locations shared, * pin it to the top (or unpin it), R mark every conversation read, E export the conversation as text, PgUp/PgDn scroll a page, Home/End the oldest or newest
A picked message (m) ↑↓ pick another, r / Enter reply, e react, y copy its text, f forward it, o open its file or location, t send it again if it failed, x delete it, Esc done
The map (M) ↑↓ pick a place, +/- or the wheel zoom in on it and out, 0 all of them, Enter open the conversation, o open the place on OpenStreetMap, Esc close
Contact card (c) r your name for them, e notes, t trust (or stop), l leave an unknown sender as is, b block (or unblock), y copy their address, X delete the conversation, Esc close
Writing a message Enter send, Esc stop writing (or first stop replying), Ctrl-R reply (again: to the one before), ↑↓ while replying another message, Ctrl-E emoji, :name an emoji by name, Ctrl-V paste, Ctrl-O attach, Ctrl-X clear attachments, Ctrl-P cycle delivery mode
Emoji picker (Ctrl-E while writing a message or in a channel, e on a picked message) type to search, arrows choose, Tab/Shift-Tab next or previous group, Enter put it in (or react with it), Esc close; click one to put it in
An emoji name typed after : ↑↓ choose, Tab/Enter put it in, Esc close the list
A paper message's QR code y copy the link, s save the code as an SVG image, any other key (or a click) closes it
Channels ↑↓ pick a hub, room or whisper conversation, Enter write (text or /commands), / search what was said, n add a hub, c connect or disconnect, a toggle auto-connect, J show or hide joins and leaves, N next notification choice for the hub, room or whisper conversation, x leave a room, close a whisper conversation, or remove a hub, y copy an rrc:// link, m message a user in the room, PgUp/PgDn scroll a page, Home/End the oldest or newest
User menu (click a name, or m) w open your whisper conversation, l LXMF message, Enter pick (also copy their LXMF address or identity), Esc close
Network ↑↓ select, y copy the selected address, Enter message a peer, browse a node, or pick a propagation node; p use the selected propagation node; b block or unblock an LXMF peer; P find a path to the selected address (or one typed), D forget its path, T probe it; f filter (all, LXMF peers, NomadNet nodes, propagation nodes, blocked); s sort (last heard, name, nearest); i keep to one interface (through each in turn, then any); / search by name or address (Enter done, Esc clear); a announces as they're heard (again, or Esc, for the list)
Browser (both panes) ←/→ move between the node pane and the page, t switch Saved/Nodes, / search both lists (Enter done, Esc clear), g go to an address, y copy the current address, s save the current page, b back, r refresh from the network, R clear the whole cache, I identify to this node (toggle), H home, u view the page's Micron source (toggle), Esc cancel loading
Browser, node pane ↑↓ select, Enter open beside the list, s save the selected node's home page (Nodes), x remove a saved page (Saved), Esc clear the search
Browser, page Tab/Shift-Tab move between links and fields, Enter follow a link or edit a field, f (or Ctrl-F) find in the page (Enter/↓ next, ↑ previous, Esc done), L copy the selected link, Y copy the whole page (the raw source when viewing source), Ctrl-V paste into the selected field, Esc clear the selection or leave the source view, ↑↓ / PgUp/PgDn scroll
Node Enter edit the selected page, n new page, r rename, x delete, h start or stop hosting, a announce the node, b open it in the Browser, y copy its address, p switch view (editor and preview, editor only, preview only)
Editing a page Ctrl-S save (live on the node), Esc back to the pages, Alt + the underlined letter formats (see the ribbon), Shift+arrows select, Ctrl-A select all, Ctrl-Z / Ctrl-Y undo and redo, Ctrl-P switch view, Ctrl-V paste; with the preview alone, ↑↓ / PgUp / PgDn scroll it
Status ↑↓ select a setting, Enter edit it (or toggle), e edit display name, y copy your LXMF address, c show it as a QR code, g the getting-started guide, b back up your identity, B back up everything, i use another identity (from the next start), x hide the first steps, u check for a newer release now, U install one found, Ctrl-R restart Reticulum
Reticulum Tab sections / options, ↑↓ select, Enter edit (toggles flip, choices open a list), d back to the default, a add an interface, Space enable or disable it, r rename, x delete, t edit the file as text, R reload the file, Ctrl-R restart Reticulum
Reticulum as text Ctrl-S save (refused while the file can't load), Esc close, Ctrl-Z / Ctrl-Y undo and redo, Ctrl-V paste

A file asked for in a prompt (an attachment, a picture of a paper message, an identity file, where to save a backup) can be dragged onto the terminal: the quotes, \ escapes or file:// address the terminal adds are understood. A path that names a file as typed is always taken as it is.

The footer confirms what keys did: ✓ (green) when something is done, ! (yellow) when it can't be done right now, and ✗ (red) when it failed. Problems stay up a little longer.

Mouse

  • Click a section in the left sidebar to switch to it.
  • Click a conversation to open it, the compose box to start writing, and an attachment to open it with your desktop's default app. Click the name line of a message to pick it, then its buttons to reply, react, copy, retry or delete it. Click a reply's quote to see what it answers, and a location to see it on a map.
  • In Channels, click a hub or room to open it, the input box to write, a public room in a hub's view to join it, and a name to message that user.
  • In the Network tab, click a row to select it and double-click to open it. Click the search bar to start searching.
  • In the browser, click a saved page or node on the left to open it beside the list. Click the Saved and Nodes headers to switch lists.
  • On a page, click links and form fields, click the address bar to go to an address, and right-click to go back.
  • Click view source in the page's title bar to see its Micron source, and back to page to return.
  • Drag across page text to select it. It's copied when you release the button, and dragging past the top or bottom edge scrolls the page.
  • In the Status and Reticulum tabs, click a row to select it and double-click to edit it. In the editors, click to place the cursor and drag to select; click a ribbon button to format.
  • The scroll wheel scrolls whatever is under the pointer.
  • Click the version beside the name (top left) to open rettui's project page in your browser. In the web UI it opens in a new tab.

Copy and paste

  • Copied text goes to the system clipboard (X11 or Wayland). It's also sent through the terminal's OSC 52 clipboard escape, so copying works over SSH in terminals that support it. Set RETTUI_CLIPBOARD=osc52 to use only OSC 52.
  • Your terminal's paste shortcut (for example Ctrl-Shift-V) and Ctrl-V both paste into whatever is being edited: a message, a prompt, the selected form field on a page, or an editor. Line breaks become spaces in the single-line inputs, and are kept in the editors.
  • rettui captures the mouse, so the terminal's own selection usually needs a modifier. Most terminals use Shift+drag.