Helicon vs the muse terminal TUI

At a glance

What each one is

The muse TUI is the interface that ships with Muse Code. You run muse in a directory, it starts a session in that working directory, and the whole conversation lives in that terminal tab. It is the reference implementation, it gets features first, and it is what every Muse Code doc assumes you are using.

Helicon does not replace it. Helicon starts muse serve per workspace and speaks the Muse Code Session Protocol to it through Meta's MIT licensed SDK, which is the supported way to build a client. Your authentication stays in your own muse login. Both interfaces can be open at once against the same machine.

Where they actually differ

History survives the tab

In the TUI, a session is as durable as the terminal it runs in. Close the tab or reboot and the thread is gone from view even when the underlying session still exists. Helicon keeps a local SQLite index of projects, sessions and turns, so every thread is one click away, including threads you started in the TUI.

Parallel work has a home

Running four agents means four terminal tabs and remembering which is which. Helicon groups threads by working directory, isolated git worktrees included, and shows which ones are running, which finished, and which are blocked on you.

Approvals stop being a race

A terminal approval prompt only helps if you are looking at that tab. Helicon surfaces every approval request as it arrives, maps onRequest, promptUnmatched and denyUnmatched one to one, and never batches or bypasses them.

Diffs sit next to the sentence that caused them

The TUI prints a patch. Helicon renders the edit as a diff in the thread at the point the agent made it, and opens the touched file in a viewer beside the conversation.

You can see what the subscription did

Helicon shows what each thread would have cost at Meta's published per token rates, broken down by day, model and thread. It is a meter reading, not a bill. The TUI does not surface this.

Choose the muse terminal TUI if

• You are doing one focused task in one repo and want zero extra software.
• You are on a remote box over SSH with no desire to forward a port.
• You want the first build of every new Muse Code feature, the day it ships.
• You script Muse Code from CI or a Makefile, where a GUI has nothing to add.

Choose Helicon if

• You run several agent threads across repos and lose track of which needs you.
• You want to reopen last Tuesday's session with its full history.
• You are on Windows and want an installer rather than terminal plumbing.
• You want approvals and costs visible instead of implied.

Can you use both?

Most people end up using both. Start a quick one off in the terminal, then open Helicon when you want the history, the diffs or the approval queue. Sessions started in the TUI show up in the Helicon sidebar automatically, and you can resume them there without losing context.