Toonise

Toonise is a local-first AI developer assistant with both a terminal UI (TUI) and browser UI (GUI), powered by Ollama.

It is built for coding workflows where you want fast iteration, file-aware tooling, and streaming output without leaving your project directory.

Why Toonise

• Local model support through Ollama
• Two interfaces: terminal-first and browser-based
• Agent switching for planning, coding, review, and architecture work
• Built-in file operations, patching, shell execution, and search tools
• Live tool feedback and git-style diffs for edits

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Ollama installed and running
• At least one available Ollama model (default model is llama3)

Example setup:

ollama serve
ollama pull llama3

Install

npm install -g toonise

Quick Start

Start the terminal interface:

toonise tui

Start the browser interface:

toonise gui

The GUI binds to a local random port on 127.0.0.1 and opens in your default browser.

Alias also supported:

toonsise tui
toonsise gui

CLI Commands

| Command | Description | | --- | --- | | toonise | Start TUI (default command) | | toonise tui | Start terminal UI | | toonise gui | Start browser GUI |

In-App Slash Commands

| Command | Description | | --- | --- | | /agent [name] | Switch active agent | | /models [name] | Switch LLM model | | /host [url] | Change Ollama host | | /clear | Clear chat history | | /new | Start a new session | | /compact | Compact conversation to reduce token usage | | /abort | Stop current AI processing | | /help | Show help manual | | /exit | Exit application |

Available Agents

• build: Coding agent for writing and editing files
• develop: Full-stack build and debugging agent
• plan: Read-only planning agent
• code: Debugging and refactoring agent
• review: Read-only code review agent
• chat: General assistant chat mode
• general: Versatile general-purpose mode
• architect: Architecture and system design mode

TUI Features

• Streaming responses and thinking output
• Command list and command history
• Sidebar with activity and status
• Tool previews and diff rendering
• File mention support using @path/to/file

TUI Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl+B: Toggle sidebar
• Up/Down: Command history
• /: Open command list
• @: Trigger file suggestions
• Tab: Complete file paths

GUI Features

• Chat panel with streaming assistant output
• Files panel with project tree and code editor
• Settings panel for host, model, and theme
• Run-state indicators, iterations, and tool status
• Diff panel for tool-driven file modifications

Built-In Tools

Toonise agents can call the following tools:

| Tool | Description | | --- | --- | | read | Read text, PDF, DOCX, and XLSX files | | write | Create or overwrite files | | edit | Targeted string replacement in files | | patch | Apply unified diff patches | | search | Project-wide pattern search | | grep | Regex search in files | | glob | Find files by glob pattern | | list | List files and directories | | bash | Execute shell commands | | websearch | Search the web | | webfetch | Fetch content from a URL |

Configuration

Toonise persists preferences such as model, host, and conversation history using the local config store for your OS.

You can update settings from the GUI Settings panel or through slash commands like /models and /host.

Development

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/anomaly/toonise.git
cd toonise

# Install
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Build distributable output
npm run build

Troubleshooting

Ollama is not reachable

• Ensure Ollama is running: ollama serve
• Confirm host is correct (default: http://localhost:11434)
• Use /host http://localhost:11434 inside Toonise to reset

No models available

• Pull at least one model: ollama pull llama3
• Verify installed models: ollama list

GUI does not open automatically

• Copy the local URL printed in the terminal and open it manually
• Confirm local browser access to 127.0.0.1

License

MIT

Links

• Issues: https://github.com/anomaly/toonise/issues
• Repository: https://github.com/anomaly/toonise