Desktop, dashboard, editor, or CLI?

Four surfaces, and what each one can actually reach.

Written By Dustin

Last updated About 3 hours ago

TOVIO has four front ends and they are not tiers of the same thing. They differ in what they can reach, not just in how much of it they show.

SurfaceTalks toNeeds a server?Completeness
CLIA local working copy, and a relay or Forge over the wireOnly for syncThe reference surface — everything else is a subset
Editor extensionsThe CLI, as a subprocessNoA curated read/act subset; commits stay in the CLI
DesktopThe engine, in processNo — no sign-in eitherBroad local coverage; no Forge code at all
Web dashboardA Forge, over HTTPSYes — it cannot open a local repositoryCollaboration: proposals, review, administration

The distinction that trips people up

The desktop app and the web dashboard are not the same product in two wrappers. Desktop opens a folder; the dashboard opens a server. The desktop app embeds the engine and drives .tovio/ on disk directly, and by charter contains no Forge code — so review, proposals, and Forge administration are simply not in it. The dashboard is the reverse: it is a Forge client and cannot touch a local repository without one.

If the dashboard shows you nothing, the first question is whether a Forge is running and reachable, not whether your repository is fine.

Which to use for what

  • Reading code and understanding history: your editor. Why This Line? and inline blame are the reason.
  • The everyday loop without a terminal: desktop.
  • Anything with a colleague in it — proposals, review, required checks, Forge administration: the web dashboard.
  • Anything the others do not have, and anything you want to script: the CLI. It is the complete surface, and the other three are defined by reference to it.

They share one repository

All the local surfaces use the same on-disk format and the same keychain slot, so they compose rather than conflict. A commit made in the desktop app appears in tovio log immediately, and because every write records an op-log entry, tovio undo in a terminal reverses it.

Status, plainly

  • CLI: the mature surface.
  • VS Code extension: built; the remaining surfaces are an open acceptance gate. Not published to a marketplace.
  • JetBrains plugin: built; its acceptance evidence is an open gate. Not published to a marketplace.
  • Desktop: pre-release. Network transfers are behind an off-by-default build feature.
  • Web dashboard: the complete dashboard is an open gate, and it needs a running Forge you can reach.