stella chat
Start an interactive session with Stella — the Command Deck TUI by default, or a plain line REPL.
Start an interactive session. This is the default command: running stella with no subcommand is exactly the same as running stella chat.
On a real terminal, stella chat opens the Command Deck — a tabbed terminal UI. Pass --plain (or set STELLA_PLAIN=1) for a plain line-based REPL instead; the deck also steps aside automatically when stdin or stdout is not a terminal.
Synopsis
stella chat [global flags]
# Equivalent — chat is the default
stella [global flags]
# Plain line-based REPL instead of the deck
stella chat --plainWhat it does
stella chat opens a conversational session. You type a message, the agent runs its step loop — proposing tool calls, executing them, and feeding results back until the turn is done — and then hands the prompt back to you. Conversation history is retained across turns within the session.
The default Command Deck presents the session as a set of tabs — SESSION (the transcript), AGENT ENGINE (executions, installed agents, and the embedded engine-config panel), TRACES, GRAPH, FILES, SKILLS, MCP, and ISSUES (your connected GitHub/Linear tracker, with instant type-ahead). Slash commands jump between tabs and run actions, and ? opens a tab-aware key list. The plain REPL (--plain) is a single scrolling line-based loop with a smaller command set — handy for narrow terminals, screen readers, and recordings.
Multimodal input
Prompts are multimodal: mention a path to an image, PDF, audio, or video file in your message and Stella attaches the file itself as model input alongside your text. In the deck, Ctrl-V pastes an image straight from the clipboard as an attachment.
All global flags apply. Because they are top-level flags, put them before the subcommand — e.g. stella --model openai/gpt-5.5 chat pins the worker model for the whole session.
Flags
stella chat takes only the global flags. The ones that shape the chat surface:
| Flag | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
--plain | Use the plain line-based REPL instead of the Command Deck (env STELLA_PLAIN=1; also auto-selected on a non-TTY). |
--no-anim | Freeze deck animation (progress shimmer, caret blink) to a static frame — for recordings and CI (env STELLA_NO_ANIM / NO_COLOR). |
--model <provider/model_id> | Pin the worker model for the session. |
--budget <usd> | Apply a hard spend cap across the entire session. |
--base-url <url> | Required with --model local/<model>; an optional proxy override otherwise. |
Slash commands
The available commands depend on the surface.
Command Deck (default)
Open a tab or run an action:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/help | Show help. |
/clear | Clear the session / blank the transcript. |
/models | List providers and models (same output as stella models). |
/init | Run workspace initialization. |
/pipeline | Toggle the staged pipeline on or off for subsequent turns. |
/agents | Open the AGENT ENGINE tab — executions, installed agents, and the engine-config panel. |
/files | Open the FILES (files-touched) tab. |
/diff | Show the working diff. |
/graph | Open the GRAPH (code-graph) tab. |
/skills | Open the SKILLS tab. |
/mcp | Open the MCP tab (enable/disable servers, enter credentials). |
/mcp-search | Search the MCP registry without leaving the deck. |
/sessions | Browse and resume past sessions. |
/context | Open the context overlay — what's in the model's window right now. |
/inbox | Open the persistent inbox. |
/export | Export session telemetry as a self-contained ZIP. |
/model-default /model-worker /model-judge /model-triage | Set the model for one engine agent. |
/donate | Support Stella's development. |
Press Ctrl-C to quit the deck.
Plain REPL (--plain)
The line REPL has a smaller, different set:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/help | Show help. |
/models | List providers and models. |
/config | Show the current configuration. |
/clear | Clear the conversation history. |
/goal <goal> | Run a goal-driven turn toward the stated goal. |
/files | Show files touched this session. |
/agents | List custom agents (from .stella/agents or ~/.config/stella/agents). |
/init | Index the workspace: domain taxonomy + code graph. |
/rename <name> | Rename this terminal tab. |
/color <name> | Change the accent color (for multi-window setups). |
exit / /exit / /quit (or Ctrl-D) | Leave Stella. |
Examples
Start a session with the default (auto-detected) model:
stella chatStart a session by simply running the binary (chat is the default):
stellaPin a model and cap session spend (global flags before the subcommand):
stella --model zai/glm-5.2 --budget 5.00 chatUse the plain line REPL (e.g. for a screen reader or a narrow terminal):
stella chat --plain