/bg (formerly /background, which is retired) keeps the existing semantics:
spawn a fresh, independent agent session in the background.
/btw is now its own command matching the convention other harnesses use:
ask a quick side question ABOUT the current conversation without
interrupting it. A one-shot auxiliary LLM call (main model by default,
overridable via auxiliary.side_question.* in config.yaml) answers from a
read-only transcript snapshot — the live session's history, role
alternation, and prompt cache are untouched, and the current turn keeps
running.
Surfaces wired: CLI (inline mid-run dispatch), gateway (all messengers,
busy-dispatch table + idle dispatch, i18n across all 17 locales), TUI
(prompt.btw RPC + btw.complete event), Discord native slash, relay
command manifest, desktop exec routing, docs (EN + zh-Hans).
What every symbol in the Hermes terminal UI means — transcript markers, status-bar badges, overlay glyphs, and approval prompts.
CLI Symbols Glossary
The Hermes terminal interfaces speak a compact visual language: dots, chevrons, braille spinners, and status glyphs. This page is the decoder ring. It covers the TUI (where most of these render) and notes the pieces shared with the Classic CLI.
:::note Skins can restyle some of these
Glyphs marked themeable below are brand defaults — a skin can override them (for example tool_prefix and the prompt symbol). Everything else is fixed in the renderer.
:::
Transcript symbols
What you see in the conversation flow while the agent works.
Symbol
Meaning
❯
Input prompt — where you type. Themeable (skins set their own prompt symbol).
●
A tool call. The bullet precedes the tool name and its arguments.
┊
Tool-activity rail shown with tool lines. Themeable (tool_prefix).
✓ / ✗
Tool result: succeeded / failed. Appended to the end of a completed tool line.
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