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Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

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Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#61

I don't understand the trend of forcing everything into terminals. It's needlessly constraining and it's much more work that just using Qt (or any other UI framework).

For me it’s that why do I need another application open? I have my coding agents in the terminal, I should also be able to traverse and read a codebase in the terminal as well

Why do you want you coding agents to be in a terminal? A terminal is missing latex rendering, inline images, a browser showing what the agent is clicking on, being able to view a spreadsheet and then select a region to reference in the conversation, clickable links when it references a specific line number with mouse-over previews, and interactive inline visualisations. A coding agent missing any of those is a significantly worse experience, yet people are for some reason willing to give up all of them to have their coding agents run in a terminal. It's not even like you get a familiar environment to work in, nothing that you set up in your terminal carries over into your agent or IDE.

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it’s that why do I need another application open? I have my coding agents in the terminal, I should also be able to traverse and read a codebase in the terminal as well

Why do you want you coding agents to be in a terminal? A terminal is missing latex rendering, inline images, a browser showing what the agent is clicking on, being able to view a spreadsheet and then select a region to reference in the conversation, clickable links when it references a specific line number with mouse-over previews, and interactive inline visualisations. A coding agent missing any of those is a signif…

Exactly.

We need this terminal TUI nonsense trend to completely die.

Stop using TUIs! They are garbage.

Honestly, the GUI is more intuitive and everyone can use it.

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making these kinds of AI projects with fancy READMEs give you a veneer of authority, but the lack of earned wisdom tends to stick out once a few people glance at it.

Yeah maybe not the best wording. It’s more meant that ideally toast can be fully used with a cursor for interactions. I don’t think you can exit vim or emacs just by clicking on a button?

I think you're learning that Toast exists due to "skill issues."

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering that the very first paragraph of their README has: > toast is for the developer who wants to stay in their terminal without spending hours getting it up to snuff. I think he knows you can get anything you want in emacs/vim. The pitch is that toast is batteries-included.

Mouse support and filetrees are included in both vim and emacs. The batteries are already included and have been for essentially ever

Plenty of easy configs for them too. Lazyvim has been pretty batteries included and easy to modify for me and I'm definitely the type that did not read much of the docs

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#66
I'm really happy that we live in a world in which people who don't know how to use the tools they have (and can't be bothered to find out) can use a coding agent to make their own tool that does what they want the way they want it to!

I'm really sad that those people keep releasing those tools to other people via cookie-cutter websites filled with misinformation instead of just enjoying them privately.

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#67
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor wording, more so meant that when I drop into vim, vi, or emacs I have no way to (without some external knowledge) know how to open a file tree. Just a barrier to usage is all.

By external knowledge, do you mean knowing how the program you're using works?

the point of the GUI is that folks can intuit how a program works without having to be versed in how it works.

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#68
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sigh. Long time ago, in mid-2000-s I tried to switch to Emacs or Vim from Visual Studio. I wanted to have a simple project file tree as a side panel and multiple editor tabs on the right. I spent a week toying with various elisp scripts, Vim plugins, and digging out information from a then-moribund XEmacs mailing list. And I couldn't do what I wanted in the end. Nothing worked seamlessly or reliably. Can this be done…

> Can this be done out-of-the-box now? It always could be. Go into vim and type `let g:netrw_liststyle = 3` then `:Vex`. The window size won't be what you want, but is the core idea? Because if it is, you just set the liststyle in your vimrc and have netrw start on load, with proper pane location and width. That or most people have used NerdTree for a decade

I see, so nothing has actually changed within the last 20 years.

A project tree is NOT a file list. It's a persistent panel that allows you to navigate within the project. It should also integrate with tools like recursive search (so it doesn't recurse into ignored folders like `node_modules`), build tools, code intelligence, and a debugger.

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#69

First file I look at (concerning): "github.com/yourusername/toast/internal/components/breadcrumbs" "github.com/yourusername/toast/internal/components/closedialog" "github.com/yourusername/toast/internal/components/commandpalette" "github.com/yourusername/toast/internal/components/editor"

A bit hilarious. I'm wondering if he even knows go or took a look at the code once :D

Re: Show HN: Toast, a beautiful by default in terminal IDE

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you want you coding agents to be in a terminal? A terminal is missing latex rendering, inline images, a browser showing what the agent is clicking on, being able to view a spreadsheet and then select a region to reference in the conversation, clickable links when it references a specific line number with mouse-over previews, and interactive inline visualisations. A coding agent missing any of those is a signif…

Exactly. We need this terminal TUI nonsense trend to completely die. Stop using TUIs! They are garbage. Honestly, the GUI is more intuitive and everyone can use it.

But GUIs are less useful for remote access unless you want to take on the challenge of creating a web front-end for everything.
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