Repository navigation
TUI: No way for plugins to customize tool rendering — need extensible TUI #21018
Description
Problem
The web UI has ToolRegistry.register() — plugins can register custom renderers for any tool. The TUI has nothing like this. Tool rendering is a hardcoded Switch block.
Plugin tools always render as a plain ⚙ tool_name [args...] text line. No click, no interactivity, no custom UI.
What the web UI can do that the TUI can't
The web UI lets plugins register renderers per tool name:
ToolRegistry.register({
name: "my_tool",
render(props) { /* full SolidJS component */ }
})The TUI has zero extensibility for tool parts. Every plugin tool falls through to GenericTool.
Concrete example
The native task tool gets a clickable renderer — shows progress, click navigates to child session. A plugin tool that does the exact same thing (spawns a child session, sets metadata.sessionId) renders as flat text because only tool === "task" gets the nice renderer.
Request
Make the TUI extensible for tool rendering. Some options:
- Tool registry in TUI — like the web UI's
ToolRegistry, let TUI plugins register custom renderers per tool name - Metadata-aware GenericTool — if any tool sets
metadata.sessionId, make it clickable (navigate to child session on click). Simplest possible fix, ~5 lines - Slot for tool parts — add a TUI plugin slot so plugins can inject custom tool part UI
Any of these would make the TUI fully extensible for plugins. Right now plugins can add tools, commands, sidebar content, routes — but can't touch how their tools render in the timeline.
Activity
github-actions commentedon Apr 4, 2026
This issue doesn't fully meet our contributing guidelines.
What needs to be fixed:
[FEATURE]:and include the required verification checkbox.Please edit this issue to address the above within 2 hours, or it will be automatically closed.
This issue might be a duplicate of existing issues. Please check:
fromPluginwrapper discards custom metadata set by plugin tools viacontext.metadata()#12527:fromPluginwrapper discards custom metadata — directly related root cause (metadata set by plugin tools is lost before it reaches the renderer)sessionIdnavigation aspect described in this issueIf you believe this was flagged incorrectly, please let a maintainer know.
[-]TUI: Plugin tools can't customize tool part rendering (no tool registry like web UI)[/-][+]TUI: No way for plugins to customize tool rendering — need extensible TUI[/+]github-actions commentedon Apr 4, 2026
Thanks for updating the issue — the content itself looks good and specific. However, it still needs a couple of template requirements addressed:
[FEATURE]:— please update the title to begin with[FEATURE]:(e.g.,[FEATURE]: TUI: No way for plugins to customize tool rendering)Once those two items are addressed, this will be fully compliant.
Pantkartik commentedon Apr 4, 2026
[FEATURE]: Extensible Tool Rendering System for TUI
Summary
Introduce an extensible tool rendering system in the TUI to allow plugins to define custom UI for their tools, similar to the web UI’s ToolRegistry.
Motivation
Currently, the TUI uses a hardcoded switch-based renderer. Plugin tools fall back to a generic text-based output with no interactivity or customization.
Limitations:
No way for plugins to customize tool rendering
No support for interactive behaviors (e.g., click navigation)
Metadata (e.g., sessionId) is ignored in rendering
Inconsistent behavior compared to the web UI
Proposed Solution
Provide extensibility through one or more of the following:
Tool Registry (Preferred)
Add a registry in the TUI where plugins can register custom renderers per tool:
ToolRegistry.register({
name: "my_tool",
render(props) {
// custom TUI renderer
}
});
Metadata-aware Generic Renderer (Minimal Fix)
Enhance the default renderer:
If metadata.sessionId exists → make the tool clickable
Enable navigation to the related session
Plugin Rendering Slot
Introduce a plugin hook/slot to inject custom UI into tool rendering
Benefits
I am willing to work on an initial implementation, starting with the metadata-based enhancement and extending it to a full registry system.