--- title: "Tour the TUI" url: "https://docs.alisx.com/tutorials/tour-the-tui/" --- # Tour the TUI In this tutorial you launch the `alis` TUI, walk through its screens with the keyboard, build one of your services and watch the build run, read its logs, and quit. At the end you know where everything is and how to get back. It is for builders who prefer a screen to a prompt. You need the CLI installed and signed in ([Install the CLI](https://docs.alisx.com/tutorials/install-the-cli.md)), and access to a product with at least one service. The key names below are case-sensitive: ++b++ and ++shift+b++ do different things. ## 1. Launch ```bash title="Terminal" alis ``` The TUI fills the terminal. The title bar reads `Home`; the body says "Pick a build environment to start building." and lists your build environments. The footer reads: ```text Enter open · m herdr · u share · s specialist · Esc back · q quit · . more alis ``` On first launch a short Tour opens instead. Press ++enter++ to page through it or ++esc++ to skip; you can replay it any time with ++shift+g++. ## 2. Learn the footer The footer is your map. Filled key badges are this page's actions; the quiet items after them are always there: ++s++ specialist, ++esc++ back, ++q++ quit, and ++period++ for more. Press ++period++. A centred menu titled `Home shortcuts` lists every other key on this page and then the app-wide keys, sorted by key. Move with ++up++/++down++ and press ++enter++ to run one, or press ++esc++ to close it. You can also press any listed key directly while the menu is open. ## 3. Open a build environment Move to a build environment with ++j++/++k++ (or the arrow keys) and press ++enter++. The title becomes `Build environment` with the build environment's id, and the body lists its products. The footer shows `Enter open · o quick open · y copy path · u share`. ## 4. Open a product Select a product and press ++enter++. The title becomes `Product` with `.`. The body is a grid: services run down the first column; every further column is a deployment environment. Move with ++h++/++j++/++k++/++l++. With a service selected in the first column the footer reads: ```text o open · d define · b build · i install packages · y copy path · + new service ``` Move right with ++l++ onto a deployment environment cell and it changes to: ```text o open · d deploy · e env vars ``` Move back left with ++h++ onto the service. ## 5. Start a build With the service selected, press ++b++. A panel opens in the centre: select the commit to build, then, if it asks, the images to rebuild, and the build starts. The panel shows the operation's steps and a log tail, and a row appears in the notification strip under the frame. The panel's hints read `Esc background · l logs · w hide · y copy`. Press ++esc++. The panel closes but the build keeps running: the strip row stays, with its elapsed time ticking and the hint `W open`. This is how you carry on working while operations run. ## 6. Watch it finish Press ++shift+w++ to reopen the panel whenever you like. When the build completes the row reads `· done` and the panel hint changes to `enter close`. If the terminal was not focused, a desktop notification tells you. Press ++l++ in the panel to open the full build log in your browser, then ++enter++ to close the panel. If the build fails, the row reads `· failed at `. ## 7. Find it again later Press ++shift+n++. The `Activity` page lists recent activity, newest first. Select the build and press ++enter++ to expand its details, ++l++ to view its logs, ++y++ to copy. Press ++shift+n++ again to go back. ## 8. Look at the deployment environment Press ++l++ to select a deployment environment cell and press ++e++. The `Environment variables` editor opens: one row per variable, one column per deployment environment. Press ++a++ to add a variable, ++enter++ to edit a value, ++s++ to save, or ++shift+e++ to close without saving. Close it now. Still on the deployment environment cell, press ++shift+e++. The `ENVIRONMENT OPTIONS` menu offers "Set active deployment environment", "Rename deployment environment" and "Designated branches". Choose **Set active deployment environment**: it writes the deployment environment's variables and credentials to the product's `.alis/.env`, which ++m++ (run the service locally) and `alis run` load. Press ++esc++ to leave the menu. ## 9. Ask for help Press ++s++. The `Build specialist` page lists your support conversations; ++plus++ starts a new one and ++enter++ opens one. Press ++s++ again to return. Press ++a++. The `Ask` page answers questions from your own sessions, conversations and skills: press ++slash++, type a question, press ++enter++, then ++1++ to ++9++ to open a cited source. Press ++a++ again to return. ## 10. Quit Press ++q++. The TUI closes and the terminal prints a one-line sign-off, for example: ```text Alis Build ● 6m in the flow — keep building. ``` ## What you have - You know the footer, the ++period++ shortcuts menu and ++esc++ to go back. - You opened a build environment, a product and its grid, and started a build from the ++b++ key. - You backgrounded an operation with ++esc++, reopened it with ++shift+w++, read its logs with ++l++ and found it again under ++shift+n++. - You know where environment variables (++e++), the active deployment environment (++shift+e++), support (++s++) and Ask (++a++) live. For what a build is and where its version goes next, read [Define, Build, Deploy](https://docs.alisx.com/explanation/define-build-deploy.md).