Terminal use findings, Day 1

Ok, I’m not sure TUI Claude is better. It’s different.

TUI is fast. It’s light, lean, and responsive. Being able to set the theme to your taste adds to the enjoyment (I’m using Ghostty).

I also really like all the context Claude gives in the terminal. I think most of this is there in the desktop app too, but it is hidden behind clicks. It is easier to scan the messages and keep up with the flow in the terminal.

All the same, the graphical presentation of the desktop app just feels more natural. Part of this, I’m sure, is that I have 30+ years of GUI habit built up. That’s a lot of inertia for one day of TUI experimentation to push against.

In the terminal, I’m finding it hard to conceptualize where I am in the overall context of all the things I’m working on. Each thread is a tab, without a clear hierarchy. The way the Claude desktop app groups multiple threads under each collapsible project/repo section in the nav bar is super intuitive to me.

I get the idea of keyboard-driven work. That part I like. I already use a ton of keyboard shortcuts. Learning ten thousand more is still intimidating.

In any case, I learned a bunch today.