feat(tui): add multiline paste mode in minimal UI

src/frontends/tui/commands.test.ts

@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ describe('parseCommand', () => {
     expect(parseCommand('/?')).toEqual({ type: 'help' });
   });
 
+  it('parses /paste and /multiline commands', () => {
+    expect(parseCommand('/paste')).toEqual({ type: 'multiline' });
+    expect(parseCommand('/multiline')).toEqual({ type: 'multiline' });
+  });
+
   it('parses /status command', () => {
     expect(parseCommand('/status')).toEqual({ type: 'status' });
   });
@@ -139,6 +144,7 @@ describe('getHelpText', () => {
   it('returns help text with all commands', () => {
     const help = getHelpText();
     expect(help).toContain('/help');
+    expect(help).toContain('/paste');
     expect(help).toContain('/model');
     expect(help).toContain('/tools');
     expect(help).toContain('/research');

src/frontends/tui/commands.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ export type Command =
   | { type: 'quit' }
   | { type: 'reset' }
   | { type: 'help' }
+  | { type: 'multiline' }
   | { type: 'status' }
   | { type: 'tools' }
   | { type: 'research'; task: string }
@@ -63,6 +64,11 @@ export function parseCommand(input: string): Command | null {
     return { type: 'help' };
   }
 
+  // Multiline paste mode
+  if (trimmed === '/paste' || trimmed === '/multiline') {
+    return { type: 'multiline' };
+  }
+
   // Status
   if (trimmed === '/status') {
     return { type: 'status' };
@@ -212,6 +218,7 @@ export function getHelpText(): string {
   return `
 Commands:
   /help, /?              Show this help
+  /paste, /multiline     Enter multiline mode (finish with single '.' line)
   /tools                 Show available tools in this session
   /model [name]          Show or switch model tier (local, default, fast, complex)
   /model <tier> <p/m>    Change tier's provider/model (e.g. /model default anthropic/claude-sonnet-4)
@@ -249,6 +256,8 @@ export type ModelAlias = 'local' | 'default' | 'fast' | 'complex' | 'opus' | 'so
 // List of all slash commands for autocompletion
 export const SLASH_COMMANDS = [
   '/help',
+  '/paste',
+  '/multiline',
   '/tools',
   '/model',
   '/backend',
@@ -279,6 +288,8 @@ export const SLASH_COMMANDS = [
 // Command descriptions for tooltips
 export const COMMAND_TOOLTIPS: Record<string, string> = {
   '/help': 'Show available commands',
+  '/paste': 'Compose a multiline message; finish with a single "." line',
+  '/multiline': 'Compose a multiline message; finish with a single "." line',
   '/tools': 'Show authoritative runtime tool list for this session',
   '/model': 'Show or switch model (local, default, fast, complex)',
   '/backend': 'Show or switch local backend (ollama, llamacpp)',

src/frontends/tui/components/App.tsx

@@ -713,6 +713,10 @@ export function App({
         return;
       }
 
+      case 'multiline':
+        pushAssistantMessage('Multiline compose mode is currently available in minimal TUI only. In fullscreen mode, submit as a single message block.');
+        return;
+
       case 'message':
         break;
 

src/frontends/tui/minimal.test.ts

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ function minimalTuiPrivates(value: MinimalTui): {
   handleVerboseCommand: () => void;
   handleToolEvent: (event: unknown) => void;
   handleCommand: (command: unknown) => Promise<void>;
+  handleMessage: (content: string) => Promise<void>;
   handleEscapeAction: () => boolean;
   handleCtrlCPress: (nowMs?: number) => boolean;
   clearSubmittedPromptLine: () => boolean;
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ function minimalTuiPrivates(value: MinimalTui): {
     handleVerboseCommand: () => void;
     handleToolEvent: (event: unknown) => void;
     handleCommand: (command: unknown) => Promise<void>;
+    handleMessage: (content: string) => Promise<void>;
     handleEscapeAction: () => boolean;
     handleCtrlCPress: (nowMs?: number) => boolean;
     clearSubmittedPromptLine: () => boolean;
@@ -401,6 +403,48 @@ describe('MinimalTui backend command', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('collects multiline input from /paste and sends as one message', async () => {
+    const mockSession = {
+      id: 'test',
+      getHistory: () => [],
+      addMessage: vi.fn(),
+      clear: vi.fn(),
+      replaceHistory: vi.fn(),
+    };
+    const logSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'log').mockImplementation(() => {});
+    try {
+      const tui = new MinimalTui({
+        session: asSession(mockSession),
+        modelClient: asModelClient({}),
+        systemPrompt: 'test',
+      });
+
+      const promptSpy = vi.fn()
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce('first line')
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce('second line')
+        .mockResolvedValueOnce('.');
+      minimalTuiPrivates(tui).prompt = promptSpy;
+
+      const handleMessageSpy = vi.fn(async () => {});
+      minimalTuiPrivates(tui).handleMessage = handleMessageSpy;
+      minimalTuiPrivates(tui).running = true;
+      minimalTuiPrivates(tui).rl = {
+        once: vi.fn(),
+        removeListener: vi.fn(),
+        question: vi.fn(),
+        write: vi.fn(),
+        prompt: vi.fn(),
+      };
+
+      await minimalTuiPrivates(tui).handleCommand({ type: 'multiline' });
+
+      expect(handleMessageSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith('first line\nsecond line');
+      expect(promptSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+    } finally {
+      logSpy.mockRestore();
+    }
+  });
+
   it('only renders tool activity when verbose mode is enabled', () => {
     const mockSession = {
       id: 'test',

src/frontends/tui/minimal.ts

@@ -476,6 +476,10 @@ export class MinimalTui {
         console.log(getHelpText() + '\n');
         break;
 
+      case 'multiline':
+        await this.handleMultilineCommand();
+        break;
+
       case 'status':
         this.printStatus();
         break;
@@ -603,6 +607,27 @@ export class MinimalTui {
     console.log(`${output}\n`);
   }
 
+  private async handleMultilineCommand(): Promise<void> {
+    console.log(`${colors.gray}Multiline mode: paste/type content. End with a single "." on its own line.${colors.reset}`);
+    const lines: string[] = [];
+
+    while (this.running && this.rl) {
+      const line = await this.prompt(`${colors.orange}...${colors.reset} `);
+      if (line === '.') {
+        break;
+      }
+      lines.push(line);
+    }
+
+    const content = lines.join('\n').trim();
+    if (!content) {
+      console.log(`${colors.gray}Multiline input cancelled.${colors.reset}\n`);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    await this.handleMessage(content);
+  }
+
   private handleContextCommand(): void {
     const history = this.config.session.getHistory();
     const estimated = estimateMessageTokens(history);