using a TUI is like moving to Miami to find a tech job -A user on X.com

Switchyard

Switchyard is a terminal-native operator workbench workspace for local operations and multi-site terminal applications. The repository already contains the platform contracts, daemon/runtime layers, reusable Workbench TUI stack, first-party Execution Plane and Jido site surfaces, and runnable daemon, CLI, and TUI entrypoints.

Current State

• non-umbrella Elixir workspace with 20 Mix projects: root workspace, 13 core/* packages, 3 site packages, and 3 runnable apps
• typed contracts, site catalog derivation, daemon transport, and runtime packages for processes, jobs, logs, and snapshot storage
• a unified execution plane in core/workbench_process_runtime that brokers managed processes onto the real execution_plane transport surface with explicit placement and sandbox metadata
• first-party operator sites for raw Execution Plane state and durable Jido state, plus a retained site_local reference package for focused local flows
• backend-neutral Workbench node IR, reusable widgets, and a BEAM-native TUI runtime bridged onto ex_ratatui
• Switchyard product TUI that already supports site navigation, app routing, generic list/detail flows, live daemon-backed refresh/actions, and custom framework-native app components
• headless CLI and daemon entrypoints that prove meaningful behavior exists beneath the UI, including generic action execution, structured process lifecycle requests, logs, streams, and recovery inspection
• Weld projection metadata and tracked projection flow for the internal switchyard_foundation artifact
• governed route authority contracts that split standalone env/config compatibility from authority-materialized process env, target routing, daemon site routing, and operator transport

Switchyard is no longer just a scaffold. The baseline architecture is in place, the package boundaries are explicit, and the current work is about extending and hardening those seams rather than inventing them.

What You Can Run Today

• apps/terminal_workbenchd starts the local daemon with the first-party site catalog.
• apps/terminal_workbench_cli exposes a JSON-oriented control surface: sites, apps <site-id>, actions, action run, snapshot, recovery, process lifecycle commands, streams, and logs.
• apps/terminal_workbench_tui boots the Switchyard shell on top of the reusable Workbench runtime and serves operators locally or through the execution_plane_operator_terminal ingress package.
• sites/site_execution_plane maps live runtime substrate state into generic processes, operator-terminal, and job views.
• sites/site_jido maps durable Jido runs, boundary sessions, and attach grants into the same product shell.

Repository Layout

• core/* reusable platform packages such as contracts, platform catalog, daemon, runtime layers, shell state, node IR, TUI framework, widgets, and devtools
• sites/* built-in site adapters; the active first-party operator catalog is site_execution_plane plus site_jido, with site_local retained as a focused local reference site
• apps/* runnable entrypoints for the TUI shell, headless CLI, and daemon
• guides/* and docs/* workspace architecture, workflow, and delivery references used for HexDocs and handoff

Quick Start

From the repo root:

mix deps.get
mix mr.deps.get
mix ci

Run the daemon:

cd apps/terminal_workbenchd
iex -S mix

Inspect the platform headlessly:

cd apps/terminal_workbench_cli
mix escript.build
./switchyard_cli sites
./switchyard_cli apps execution_plane
./switchyard_cli actions --site execution_plane
./switchyard_cli snapshot
./switchyard_cli recovery
./switchyard_cli process start --id echo --command "printf 'hello\n'"
./switchyard_cli process stop echo --confirm
./switchyard_cli action run jido.review.refresh --site jido --input-json '{"force":true}'

Run the TUI:

cd apps/terminal_workbench_tui
mix escript.build
./switchyard --debug

Serve the same TUI over SSH for remote operators:

./switchyard --ssh --ssh-user demo --ssh-password demo

Run the TUI over the distributed ex_ratatui transport in a trusted BEAM environment:

./switchyard --distributed

ex_ratatui transport is only the operator-access layer for the UI. Managed process execution still goes through Switchyard's execution plane using execution surfaces such as :local_subprocess and :ssh_exec, while remote operator serving flows through execution_plane_operator_terminal.

Standalone CLI, TUI, daemon, and process-runtime calls may still pass explicit env, target, and operator transport settings at boot/config boundaries. When a Switchyard.Contracts.GovernedRouteAuthority is present, Switchyard rejects direct env, target-routing, credential, singleton-client, daemon-site, and operator-transport fields and materializes those values from the authority packet. Daemon snapshots keep env summaries only, command previews and process logs redact materialized env values, and persisted receipts never store the secret values themselves.

Workspace Commands

The repo root is authoritative for workspace-wide quality gates:

• mix mr.deps.get
• mix mr.format --check-formatted
• mix mr.compile
• mix mr.test
• mix mr.credo --strict
• mix mr.dialyzer
• mix mr.docs --warnings-as-errors
• mix weld.verify
• mix release.prepare
• mix release.track
• mix release.archive
• mix ci

Internal Artifact Flow

switchyard_foundation is still an internal welded artifact, not a published Hex package. The release lifecycle is therefore bundle- and projection-oriented:

1. mix release.prepare
2. mix release.track
3. mix release.archive

mix release.prepare builds the prepared artifact bundle under dist/. mix release.track updates the orphan-backed projection/switchyard_foundation branch from that bundle so downstream repos can pin a real generated-source ref before any formal release boundary exists. mix release.archive snapshots the prepared bundle after validation.

The committed workspace dependency stays on the released Hex Weld line. If a coordinated prerelease Weld validation run is needed, do it with an ordinary prerelease version bump rather than with repo-local path or git override logic.

Documentation

Start here if you are orienting yourself in the codebase:

• Guide Index
• Current State
• Vision
• Monorepo Strategy
• Package Boundaries
• Runtime Model
• Workspace Workflow
• Testing And Delivery
• Implementation Checklist

License

Switchyard is released under the MIT License.