Experiment with a Mock-Level GUI Frontend for Multi-AI CLI

[albatrosary]

Summary

Start exploring a mock-level GUI frontend for multi-ai-cli.

This is not intended to be a full production GUI yet.
The goal is to experiment with how existing CLI workflows can be translated into a graphical interface and to validate whether a lightweight desktop frontend is useful.

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Background

multi-ai-cli already provides a rich command model, including:

• interactive REPL usage
• sequence-based execution
• file-based input/output workflows
• shared work_data style artifact handling

While the CLI remains the primary interface, a small GUI prototype may help:

• users who are less comfortable with terminal usage
• visual editing of flow definitions
• browsing prompt / output files
• basic REPL-style interaction through a persistent backend process

During initial prototyping, it became clear that the GUI behaves largely like a visual frontend for existing @sequence-style workflows, which is a useful observation in itself.

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Goals

• create a mock-level GUI frontend for experimentation
• validate usability of flow editing and file browsing in a desktop UI
• test simple REPL integration via multi-ai-cli --mode repl
• observe which parts of the current CLI map naturally to GUI interaction

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Non-Goals

The following are out of scope for now:

• production-ready GUI architecture
• full feature parity with the CLI
• structured machine-readable backend protocol
• complete separation of GUI/core/adapter packages
• polished UX, packaging, or release workflow

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Current Direction

The initial GUI prototype is expected to include:

• a flow / sequence editor
• a terminal/log display
• prompt and output file browsing
• simple interaction with a persistent multi-ai-cli --mode repl backend

At this stage, the GUI should be treated as experimental and mock-level.

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Expected Outcome

This issue is mainly for exploration.

Success means:

• the GUI can be used to test interaction ideas
• we can identify what works well as a GUI
• we can clarify whether the GUI is mainly:
  • a sequence/flow workbench
  • a REPL frontend
  • or a combination of both

This issue should help guide future architectural decisions without forcing premature redesign.