# AI in the Terminal
`ait` is a terminal user interface for interacting with several
generative large language models from multiple providers.
It uses the [`genai`](https://github.com/jeremychone/rust-genai) crate to
communicate with the model providers.
The TUI is built using the [`ratatui`](https://ratatui.rs) crate.
## Installation
Installation requires `cargo` to be installed.
```bash
cargo install ait
```
### Manual installation
Clone this repository and `cd` to the `ait` directory and run the application using:
```bash
cargo run
```
Install the application by running:
```bash
cargo install --force --path .
```
The binary name is `ait`.
Binaries are also available for download under [Releases](https://github.com/wilswer/ait/releases).
## Usage
The chat interface is modal and starts in the 'normal' mode.
By pressing the `i` key text can be input into the text area.
More information can be found by pressing the `?` key.
To submit queries to the model providers, you either need to obtain an API key and
set the appropriate environment variable OR you need a running
[Ollama](https://ollama.com/) instance on `http://localhost:11434`.
To start the TUI simply run
```bash
ait
```
If you want to provide a custom system prompt, it can be achieved like this:
```bash
ait --system-prompt "You are a helpful, friendly assistant."
```
If you want to add context to your conversation, use the `--context` argument.
```bash
ait --context my_file.txt
```
`ait` can also read from stdin to add context:
```bash
cat my_file.txt | ait
```
A powerful pattern is to use a text serializer such as
[`yek`](https://github.com/bodo-run/yek) and use this as context input:
```bash
yek my_file.txt | ait
```
Or serialize all file in a directory and add as context:
```bash
yek my_dir | ait
```
## Chat history
Chat history is stored as a `sqlite` database (facilitated by the
[`rusqlite`](https://github.com/rusqlite/rusqlite) crate)
in the users cache directory in the home directory (`~/.cache/ait/chats.db`).
In addition, `ait` will store a log of the latest chat
in the user's home directory, `~/.cache/ait/latest-chat.log` on macOS and Linux.