Navigate the console TUI

@@ -1,77 +1,67 @@
---
schema: foundry-doc-v1
title: "How to navigate the console TUI"
title: "Navigate the console TUI"
slug: navigate-console-tui
short_description: "Navigates the os-console terminal interface by keyboard — switching between F-key slots, reading the status bar for identity and SLM tier, and tracking which slot is active."
short_description: "Navigates os-console by keyboard — the F-key strip at the top, the status bar's real fields at the bottom, and switching slots without losing state."
category: how-to
content_type: how-to
type: how-to
quality: complete
status: active
last_edited: 2026-06-14
audience: "Engineers (hands on keyboard); customer operators"
last_edited: 2026-08-06
editor: pointsav-engineering
paired_with: navigate-console-tui.es.md
research_trail:
  sources: [pointsav-monorepo app-console-keys (chassis layout, status bar widget, F-key strip widget)]
  verification_method: "independently source-verified against pointsav-monorepo on 2026-08-06 by reading the Rust source directly, with file:line citations recorded per claim; corrected the guide's own prior layout error (status bar and F-key strip positions were reversed) and its status bar field claims, both against the actual chassis render function"
---

`os-console` is a full-screen terminal application that organises platform functions into numbered F-key slots. Navigating the console means switching between slots, reading the status bar, and understanding what the active slot is showing you. No mouse is required — the keyboard model is complete.

For the architecture behind this model, see [[app-console-keys]] and [[os-console-platform]].

## Prerequisites

- A paired device (see [[pair-a-new-device]])
- `os-console` installed and launched
- An active session (see [[open-first-totebox-session]])

## Layout
## Purpose

Learn the console's real screen layout and status bar fields well enough to navigate confidently — a few minutes, and it stays accurate for every cartridge you'll use later.

## Procedure

1. Launch `os-console` and observe the three fixed regions, top to bottom: a one-row F-key strip, the active cartridge's content filling the rest of the screen, and a one-row status bar at the very bottom.

The console occupies the full terminal window with three persistent regions:
2. Read the F-key strip. It shows a label for every F-key slot, with the currently active one highlighted and unloaded slots dimmed.

| Region | Location | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Status bar | Top of screen | Identity label, authorization state, active slot name, SLM tier, session duration |
| Slot area | Main body | Output from whichever slot is currently active |
| Navigation strip | Bottom of screen | F-key labels showing which slots are loaded |
3. Read the status bar. Left to right: your identity as `username@tenant`; the Machine-Based Authorization link state (`MBA LINK ACTIVE`, `MBA LINK INACTIVE: <reason>`, or `MBA LINK PENDING`); the active slot's full label (e.g. `F9: SLM`, not a bare number); and elapsed session time. A `[N pending]` badge appears only when you have pending pairing requests.

The navigation strip displays the slot names bound to each F-key. Unloaded slots appear dimmed.
   > **Note:** there is no SLM-tier indicator in the status bar. Inference tier and circuit state are shown inside the F9 dashboard itself, not in the persistent status bar.

## Switching slots with F-keys
4. Press any F-key to switch to that slot. The content area updates immediately, and the F-key strip's highlight and the status bar's active-slot field both confirm which slot is live.

Press any labelled F-key to activate that slot. The slot area updates immediately. The active slot name in the status bar confirms which slot is live.
5. Switch away from a slot and back. Cartridges hold their own state — a document you were editing or a dashboard you were viewing is exactly as you left it.

Loaded slots hold their state when you switch away — an email inbox you scrolled to a particular message stays at that position when you return to F3.
6. Check each cartridge's own hint line for its specific key bindings. They aren't universal — F9's dashboard responds to **R** (refresh) and **?** (help), for example, but a different cartridge's bindings are its own and shown in its own interface, not in a shared reference table.

## Reading the status bar
## Expected outcome

The status bar updates continuously. Left to right:
You can read every field in the status bar correctly, switch between loaded F-key slots without losing a cartridge's state, and know to check each cartridge's own hint line for bindings specific to it.

- **Identity** — the paired device identity and its permission tier
- **Auth state** — `LINKED` when machine-based authorization is active; `LINK INACTIVE` when unavailable
- **Active slot** — the name of the currently displayed cartridge (e.g., `INPUT`, `EMAIL`, `SLM`)
- **SLM tier** — the Doorman circuit state: `A` (DataGraph live), `B` (SLM only), or `C` (local fallback) (Correction, 2026-08-02, verified against canonical `origin/main`: the real status bar, `app-console-keys/src/widgets/status_bar.rs`, has no SLM-tier field at all — it shows `username@tenant │ MBA LINK state │ active-slot │ elapsed time [pending pairs]`. Real Tier A/B/C semantics (confirmed in `app-console-slm/src/health.rs` and the Doorman systemd unit description) are Tier A = local on-prem model, Tier B = Yo-Yo GPU burst, Tier C = external API fallback — DataGraph availability (`entity_count`) is a separate, unrelated field, not a tier. Same systemic defect found across several `how-to/` articles this sweep. Flagged, not resolved.)
- **Session duration** — elapsed time since the session was opened
## Verification

## Key bindings that work in every slot
Switch to at least two different loaded slots and confirm both the F-key strip's highlighted label and the status bar's active-slot field update to match each time.

| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F1–F12 | Switch to that slot |
| ? | Show contextual help for the active slot |
| q or Esc | Exit the active slot back to the home view (slot-dependent) |
| Ctrl-C | Quit `os-console` |
## Rollback

Slot-specific bindings are shown in the navigation strip of the active slot.
Navigation has no state to roll back — switching slots or exiting the console changes nothing persistent by itself. If a cartridge's own action does write something (submitting input at F12, for example), that cartridge's own guide covers its own rollback.

## Key takeaways
## Next steps

- Navigation is entirely keyboard-driven — F-key number = slot number
- Slots hold their state; switching away and back is non-destructive
- The status bar is the ground truth for authorization state and SLM availability
- F12 is the Input Machine; it is always present and cannot be reassigned
- [[use-f-key-model]] — what each default cartridge actually does, corrected against real source
- [[explore-the-console]] — a guided first tour combining layout, F9, and F12

## See also

- [[app-console-keys]] — the chassis and Cartridge trait that all slots implement
- [[os-console-platform]] — the full F-key taxonomy and which cartridge occupies each slot
- [[use-f-key-model]] — how to work with the F-key cartridge model
- [[machine-based-auth]] — what the `LINKED`/`LINK INACTIVE` auth state means
- [[app-console-keys]] — the chassis, the Cartridge trait, and the status bar's implementation
- [[machine-based-auth]] — what the MBA link states mean
- [[pair-a-new-device]] — register a device before opening the console