Installing bext-tui
bext-tui is a single static binary in the bext workspace. There are no system dependencies beyond a working terminal.
From source#
bext-tui lives in crates/bext-tui inside the bext monorepo. Build it with cargo:
cd /path/to/bext
cargo build --release -p bext-tui
The binary is then at target/release/bext-tui. Copy it to a directory on your PATH:
sudo cp target/release/bext-tui /usr/local/bin/
bext-tui --version
Requirements#
| Rust | 1.85+ (the bext workspace pins a nightly toolchain — bext-tui itself only needs stable but inherits the workspace's .cargo/config.toml) |
| Terminal | any terminal that supports a 256-color palette and the alternate screen — xterm, iTerm2, WezTerm, Alacritty, kitty, modern GNOME Terminal, modern Konsole. No support for the legacy Linux framebuffer console. |
| Locale | UTF-8 locale (status icons use Unicode block characters) |
What it installs#
A single statically-linked binary, ~10–14 MB stripped. No daemon, no config files needed for the default remote mode.
Verifying#
bext-tui --help
You should see the CLI usage. To verify it can connect to a running bext instance:
bext-tui --host 127.0.0.1 --port 4000 --token "$BEXT_ADMIN_TOKEN"
Press q to quit.
Where the binary connects#
By default bext-tui polls these admin API endpoints under your bext instance:
GET /__bext/admin/api/overviewGET /__bext/admin/api/requestsGET /__bext/admin/api/cacheGET /__bext/admin/api/workersGET /__bext/admin/api/proxyGET /__bext/admin/api/wafGET /__bext/admin/api/sites(falls back to/apps)GET /__bext/admin/api/certsGET /__bext/admin/api/deploymentsGET /__bext/admin/api/licenseGET /__bext/admin/api/configWS /__bext/admin/ws/logsfor the live request stream
The bearer token must have admin access. For tenant-scoped tokens, the TUI will only see data for the tenant the token belongs to — that's enforced server-side.
Troubleshooting#
broken pipe (os error 32) — your SSH session was killed without a clean shutdown. Re-launch the TUI; nothing is persisted server-side.
failed to enable raw mode — the terminal isn't a TTY. bext-tui needs an interactive terminal — it can't be piped or run inside non-PTY CI.
The screen is full of escape sequences — the panic hook didn't restore the terminal cleanly. Run reset or tput reset to clean it up.
certificate verify failed — bext-tui accepts self-signed certs in remote mode by default. If you're seeing this, rebuild with the workspace toolchain to make sure the rustls roots are up to date.
For tenant-scoped tokens the TUI will only show data for that tenant — admin-level tokens are required to see the full fleet view.
Related#
- TUI Overview — feature summary and comparison table
- TUI Connection Modes — how to point the TUI at a bext instance
- TUI Configuration — CLI flags and environment variables
- Architecture → Crate Reference — the
bext-tuicrate within the monorepo