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Relay Chat

Relay Chat is a reusable terminal interface for conversations with language models. It provides multiline input, streamed replies, readable Markdown, conversation history, save and export commands, and the controls needed to revise a turn without choosing a model provider for the application using it.

Try the demo

npm install
npm run demo

The demo streams deterministic replies without downloading a model or contacting a service. Write a message and press Enter. Ctrl+J adds a line, Escape cancels a reply, Ctrl+G opens the complete keyboard reference, and Ctrl+C exits while idle.

For a demonstration that prints one reply and exits:

npm run demo:plain

Connect a model command

Relay Chat can launch a local command and exchange a conversation through JSON Lines:

relay-chat -- node my-model-adapter.mjs

The command receives one request on standard input. It streams text, model metadata, token usage, completion, or a deliberate error on standard output. Diagnostic output belongs on standard error.

{"type":"delta","text":"The first part of the reply"}
{"type":"usage","usage":{"inputTokens":18,"outputTokens":7}}
{"type":"done"}

The included adapter demonstrates the complete exchange:

npm run demo:command

See the command protocol for the request and response shapes.

Conversation controls

Key Action
Enter Send the current draft
Ctrl+J Insert a newline
↑, ↓ Browse submitted drafts
Page Up, Page Down Move through the conversation
Escape Cancel a reply or leave edit mode
Ctrl+E Edit and resend the latest user message
Ctrl+R Regenerate the latest assistant reply
Ctrl+Y Retry a failed or cancelled reply
Ctrl+S Save the conversation
Ctrl+N Start a new conversation
Ctrl+G Toggle help
Ctrl+C Cancel an active reply, or quit while idle

Slash commands manage titles, system prompts, model labels, themes, files, exports, retry, and regeneration. The complete list is in the slash-command reference.

Use the package

Applications can render the complete interface or assemble their own from the exported store, session, transport, and message components.

import {render} from 'ink';
import {ChatApp, ChatSession, ChatStore, EchoTransport} from '@relay-cli/chat';

const store = new ChatStore();
const transport = new EchoTransport();
const session = new ChatSession(store, transport);

const app = render(
  <ChatApp
    store={store}
    session={session}
    transportName={transport.name}
    onQuit={() => app.unmount()}
  />,
);

Implement ChatTransport to connect model code inside the same process. Use CommandTransport when the model runs behind another executable.

Conversation files

/save writes versioned JSON with an atomic replacement. /load restores that record, and /export creates a Markdown transcript. The default conversations/ directory is ignored by Git because prompts and replies may contain private information.

Documentation

Scope

This release covers conversations. Agent execution, tool activity, and approval interfaces will be designed as a separate layer after the chat behavior is established.

Development

npm install
npm run check

npm run check verifies formatting, linting, strict types, tests, and the distributable package.

License

MIT