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Stop Making TUIs
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Thomas Ptacek argues developers should stop building TUIs and use AI agents to create native GUIs. The debate questions whether terminal interfaces are obsolete in the age of AI coding.
Background
Thomas Ptacek, a well-known security researcher and blogger, wrote a post titled 'Stop Making TUIs' on his blog sockpuppet.org. He argues that with the rise of AI coding agents, building native user interfaces has become as easy as building terminal interfaces, making TUIs unnecessary for many personal tools. The post sparked discussion on Hacker News, Lobsters, and other tech communities, with some agreeing and others defending TUIs.
How it unfolded
- Aug 20, 2026Thomas Ptacek publishes 'Stop Making TUIs' on sockpuppet.org, advocating for native UI development with AI assistance.
- Aug 21, 2026Simon Willison links to the post on his blog, noting his own experience with vibe-coded macOS apps and encouraging others to try native UI.
- Aug 22, 2026Discussion spreads to Hacker News and Lobsters, with developers debating the merits of TUIs vs. GUIs.
Who’s saying what
- Proponent
- Thomas Ptacek argues that AI agents make native UI development so easy that TUIs are no longer necessary for personal tools.
- Skeptic
- Some developers, like ratatui maintainer joshka, push back, saying TUIs still have advantages like scriptability and network transparency.
- Critic
- Others like fiatjaf argue that both TUIs and GUIs have flaws, and that GUI development still suffers from fragmentation and poor design.