---
title: "pi: enable fullscreen TUI mode"
url: https://perrotta.dev/2026/09/pi-enable-fullscreen-tui-mode/
last_updated: 2026-09-03
---


**Today I learned**: [pi](https://pi.dev/) can keep its editor and footer at the
bottom of the terminal with fullscreen TUI mode, similarly to Claude Code.

The regular mode leaves terminal scrollback in charge. The `--tui-mode` option
switches to a viewport managed by Pi:

```shell
% pi --help | rg -- '--tui-mode|TUI mode'
  --tui-mode <mode>              TUI mode: regular (default) or fullscreen
```

For an one-off session:

```shell
% pi --tui-mode fullscreen
```

For a persistent default, add `tuiMode` to `~/.pi/agent/settings.json`:

```diff
diff --git pi/.pi/agent/settings.json pi/.pi/agent/settings.json
index 7d2fee8b..57fd5094 100644
--- pi/.pi/agent/settings.json
+++ pi/.pi/agent/settings.json
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
   "showCacheMissNotices": true,
   "theme": "catppuccin-mocha",
   "treeFilterMode": "user-only",
+  "tuiMode": "fullscreen",
   "warnings": {
     "anthropicExtraUsage": false
   }
```

The transcript scrolls inside Pi. The editor, queued messages, widgets, and
footer stay docked at the bottom.

The same setting is available under `/settings` as **TUI mode**.
[Pi 0.84.4](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/releases/tag/v0.84.4) supports
`regular` and `fullscreen`.

Fullscreen mode also owns mouse selection. Dragging with the primary mouse button
copies the selected text on release by default:

```json
{
  "fullscreenCopyOnSelect": true
}
```

Pi confirms the copy with a reverse-video `Copied!` flash in the top-right corner
for one second, which is quite easy to miss.