Install tsui with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository

Commands and aliases

• tsui

Project history

The README says Neuralink built tsui because Tailscale has polished desktop apps for macOS and Windows, while Linux users often configure Tailscale with CLI commands. The project turns common Tailscale controls and status views into a terminal UI.

GitHub releases show the public packaging sequence in 2024. v0.0.2 was labeled the initial production release with core features such as turning Tailscale on and off, login/logout/reauthentication, node information, exit-node selection and latency, and bandwidth display. v0.0.4 was the first open-source release and switched the license to MIT. v0.2.0 added a list of network devices and adjusted login behavior to track Tailscale API changes.

Tailscale later listed tsui in its official community projects catalog, describing it as an experimental TUI developed in-house at Neuralink for macOS and Linux users to configure and monitor Tailscale from a terminal window.

Adoption history

The README documents supported platforms as macOS and Linux on x86_64 and aarch64, with installation by Neuralink's install script or GitHub release downloads. The input metadata records Homebrew packaging, and the Tailscale community-project page reports hundreds of stars and multiple forks.

tsui's adoption niche is narrower than the Tailscale CLI itself: it appeals to terminal-first users who want a visual control panel for tailnet state, exit nodes, peer IPs, bandwidth, login state, and reauthentication without leaving the shell.

How it is used

Users install tsui with `curl -fsSL https://neuralink.com/tsui/install.sh | bash`, download a release binary, or install the Homebrew formula, then run `tsui` in a terminal.

The README lists features for editing Tailscale options, switching exit nodes while comparing latency, viewing and copying debug information, viewing bandwidth, copying peer IP addresses, and logging in, logging out, or reauthenticating.

Why package nerds care

tsui is notable because it wraps a network daemon's command-line configuration surface in a TUI while still distributing as a single binary and Homebrew package. It is exactly the sort of ergonomic terminal layer that package managers make easy to try.

The project also illustrates Tailscale's community-tool ecosystem: a third-party company built a polished terminal interface, Tailscale cataloged it as a community project, and package channels made it available outside the upstream desktop clients.

Timeline

• 2024-07-26: v0.0.2 initial production release.
• 2024-07-31: v0.0.3 added warning, update checker, standardized builds, static X11 linking, and Linux ARM build.
• 2024-08-01: v0.0.4 first open-source release and MIT license switch.
• 2024-08-16: v0.1.0 first minor version bump with improved scrolling.
• 2024-09-03: v0.2.0 added network-device list and login changes following Tailscale API updates.
• 2025-03-13: Tailscale community-project page created for tsui.

Related projects

• The README links tsui directly to Tailscale, Nix, Go, and Neuralink's release/install infrastructure. Tailscale's community page categorizes it as an interface-oriented community project.

Sources

• https://github.com/neuralink/tsui#readme
• https://github.com/neuralink/tsui/releases
• https://tailscale.com/community/community-projects/tsui
• source_facts.package-manager