The terminal

albert-mini              # full screen, on the current folder
albert-mini --mini       # the same, inline in the lower part of the terminal
albert-mini -c           # continue the latest session here
albert-mini -s <id>      # open a session

It is drawn as AlbertCode's terminal is, with no box, rule or line: a new conversation opens on its name in solid letters, the version beside "Two human gates", the folder, the model and any MCP servers, and the commands to start with.

The prompt

your-project · gpt-4o · governed ❯

Before ❯: the folder, the model, and the mode. Type a question or a change, then enter. Under the prompt are the keys worth knowing now and a dot for the connection to the service (green when live).

While Albert works, the line over the prompt says what it is doing right now, with the seconds it has been at it:

⠹ Reading cart.py…  (3s · esc to stop)
⠼ Running python -m pytest -q…  (21s · esc to stop)

A reply lists what it reads before it answers (Read cart.py), then folds the list to one line once the answer begins (3 steps before answering). A change's task shows in the conversation from its first moment, with each step as it lands, while it is still being planned.

Commands

/help lists them all to search and run. A command that needs words after it waits in the box for them.

Your custom commands run as /name, and an MCP server's prompts as /server:prompt.

Leader keys

Keyboard shortcuts: ctrl+x, then one letter:

Lists

Every list works the same way: its title, then Search: and what you have typed, then the rows, under headings where they have groups. Type to filter, ↑ ↓ to choose (the chosen row is marked ›), enter to take it, esc to close. The one in use is ticked ✓. Some lists have keys of their own, named under them: in Sessions, ctrl+r renames, ctrl+t pins and ctrl+d deletes; in Choose a model, ctrl+s also makes it the default for new sessions.

Gates

A gate is a question over the prompt, with numbered answers: the arrows choose, enter gives the chosen one, or its number or its letter does. esc goes back to the box, and esc from the box comes back to the gate. See Modes and approvals for every gate and answer.

The guide

/docs searches this guide as you type, offline: it comes with mini-AlbertCode, so it always matches the version you have. Enter reads the section chosen, with its link to the guide online, and esc goes back to the matches. With nothing typed, it lists the guide's pages.

/docs update            the sections on updating
/docs model             how to choose a model

Preview

/preview runs this project the way Preview in the browser does, and it is the same run: start it in one, see it and stop it in the other.

/run-app is another name for /preview. It waits while the app starts, then shows App running with its address and whether it answers:

App running
http://localhost:8000/  Serving the files in this folder
Answering: 200 in 3 ms

If it does not start, the window shows the error and the last of what the app wrote. It keeps running while you work, until /preview stop or the service ends.

/terminal opens your own terminal app in this project's folder: Terminal on a Mac, Windows Terminal (or PowerShell) on Windows, your desktop's terminal on Linux. The browser has a terminal in the page too.

The sidebar

ctrl+x b shows the sidebar on the right: the session's mode, model and status, its task and its steps, usage, the changed files, MCP servers, and at its foot the folder, the branch, the service and the version. A narrow terminal hides it until you ask.

Themes

/theme or ctrl+x t: AlbertCode (the default: your terminal's own colours, with AlbertCode's coral), Graphite, Paper, Ember, Ember light, Slate and High contrast. The browser has the same themes, and the choice is shared.

Leaving

/exit, or ctrl+c twice. The service and any running task keep going. On leaving, the terminal prints the session and the exact command that opens it again.