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Control UI (browser)

The Control UI is a small Vite + Lit single-page app served by the Gateway:
  • default: http://<host>:18789/
  • optional prefix: set gateway.controlUi.basePath (e.g. /openaeon)
It speaks directly to the Gateway WebSocket on the same port.

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Quick open (local)

If the Gateway is running on the same computer, open: If the page fails to load, start the Gateway first: openaeon gateway. Auth is supplied during the WebSocket handshake via:
  • connect.params.auth.token
  • connect.params.auth.password The dashboard settings panel lets you store a token; passwords are not persisted. The onboarding wizard generates a gateway token by default, so paste it here on first connect.

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Device pairing (first connection)

When you connect to the Control UI from a new browser or device, the Gateway requires a one-time pairing approval — even if you’re on the same Tailnet with gateway.auth.allowTailscale: true. This is a security measure to prevent unauthorized access. What you’ll see: “disconnected (1008): pairing required” To approve the device: 
# List pending requests
openaeon devices list

# Approve by request ID
openaeon devices approve <requestId>
Once approved, the device is remembered and won’t require re-approval unless you revoke it with openaeon devices revoke --device <id> --role <role>. See Devices CLI for token rotation and revocation. Notes:
  • Local connections (127.0.0.1) are auto-approved.
  • Remote connections (LAN, Tailnet, etc.) require explicit approval.
  • Each browser profile generates a unique device ID, so switching browsers or clearing browser data will require re-pairing.

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What it can do (today)

  • Chat with the model via Gateway WS (chat.history, chat.send, chat.abort, chat.inject)
  • Stream tool calls + live tool output cards in Chat (agent events)
  • Channels: WhatsApp/Telegram/Discord/Slack + plugin channels (Mattermost, etc.) status + QR login + per-channel config (channels.status, web.login.*, config.patch)
  • Instances: presence list + refresh (system-presence)
  • Sessions: list + per-session thinking/verbose overrides (sessions.list, sessions.patch)
  • Cron jobs: list/add/edit/run/enable/disable + run history (cron.*)
  • Skills: status, enable/disable, install, API key updates (skills.*)
  • Nodes: list + caps (node.list)
  • Exec approvals: edit gateway or node allowlists + ask policy for exec host=gateway/node (exec.approvals.*)
  • Config: view/edit ~/.openaeon/openaeon.json (config.get, config.set)
  • Config: apply + restart with validation (config.apply) and wake the last active session
  • Config writes include a base-hash guard to prevent clobbering concurrent edits
  • Config schema + form rendering (config.schema, including plugin + channel schemas); Raw JSON editor remains available
  • Debug: status/health/models snapshots + event log + manual RPC calls (status, health, models.list)
  • Logs: live tail of gateway file logs with filter/export (logs.tail)
  • Update: run a package/git update + restart (update.run) with a restart report
Cron jobs panel notes:
  • For isolated jobs, delivery defaults to announce summary. You can switch to none if you want internal-only runs.
  • Channel/target fields appear when announce is selected.
  • Webhook mode uses delivery.mode = "webhook" with delivery.to set to a valid HTTP(S) webhook URL.
  • For main-session jobs, webhook and none delivery modes are available.
  • Advanced edit controls include delete-after-run, clear agent override, cron exact/stagger options, agent model/thinking overrides, and best-effort delivery toggles.
  • Form validation is inline with field-level errors; invalid values disable the save button until fixed.
  • Set cron.webhookToken to send a dedicated bearer token, if omitted the webhook is sent without an auth header.
  • Deprecated fallback: stored legacy jobs with notify: true can still use cron.webhook until migrated.

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Chat behavior

  • chat.send is non-blocking: it acks immediately with { runId, status: "started" } and the response streams via chat events.
  • Re-sending with the same idempotencyKey returns { status: "in_flight" } while running, and { status: "ok" } after completion.
  • chat.history responses are size-bounded for UI safety. When transcript entries are too large, Gateway may truncate long text fields, omit heavy metadata blocks, and replace oversized messages with a placeholder ([chat.history omitted: message too large]).
  • chat.inject appends an assistant note to the session transcript and broadcasts a chat event for UI-only updates (no agent run, no channel delivery).
  • Stop:
    • Click Stop (calls chat.abort)
    • Type /stop (or standalone abort phrases like stop, stop action, stop run, stop openaeon, please stop) to abort out-of-band
    • chat.abort supports { sessionKey } (no runId) to abort all active runs for that session
  • Abort partial retention:
    • When a run is aborted, partial assistant text can still be shown in the UI
    • Gateway persists aborted partial assistant text into transcript history when buffered output exists
    • Persisted entries include abort metadata so transcript consumers can tell abort partials from normal completion output

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Chat manual (in-page)

The Chat page includes an in-page manual with two modes:
  • Quick Reference: command recipes, shortcut tips, and one-click draft insertion
  • Guided Walkthrough: step-by-step flow from session start to persisted output verification
Open it from the Chat controls (book icon). The panel is state-aware and can map your current runtime to explanations.

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Visual semantics (fractal UI)

The fractal/“silicon life” visuals in Chat are state-driven, not decorative-only:
  • Delivery state (running, persisted, persist_failed) influences warning/safe bands
  • Resonance values (chaosScore, epiphanyFactor) influence depth and pulse intensity
  • Formula phase (idle, active, error) controls recursive rail emphasis
This mapping is intended to help operators read execution state at a glance while preserving readability and reduced-motion support. For the underlying runtime contract behind these visuals, see AEON Logic Model.

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Integrated Tailscale Serve (preferred)

Keep the Gateway on loopback and let Tailscale Serve proxy it with HTTPS: 
openaeon gateway --tailscale serve
Open:
  • https://<magicdns>/ (or your configured gateway.controlUi.basePath)
By default, Control UI/WebSocket Serve requests can authenticate via Tailscale identity headers (tailscale-user-login) when gateway.auth.allowTailscale is true. OpenAEON verifies the identity by resolving the x-forwarded-for address with tailscale whois and matching it to the header, and only accepts these when the request hits loopback with Tailscale’s x-forwarded-* headers. Set gateway.auth.allowTailscale: false (or force gateway.auth.mode: "password") if you want to require a token/password even for Serve traffic. Tokenless Serve auth assumes the gateway host is trusted. If untrusted local code may run on that host, require token/password auth.

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Bind to tailnet + token

openaeon gateway --bind tailnet --token "$(openssl rand -hex 32)"
Then open:
  • http://<tailscale-ip>:18789/ (or your configured gateway.controlUi.basePath)
Paste the token into the UI settings (sent as connect.params.auth.token).

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Insecure HTTP

If you open the dashboard over plain HTTP (http://<lan-ip> or http://<tailscale-ip>), the browser runs in a non-secure context and blocks WebCrypto. By default, OpenAEON blocks Control UI connections without device identity. Recommended fix: use HTTPS (Tailscale Serve) or open the UI locally:
  • https://<magicdns>/ (Serve)
  • http://127.0.0.1:18789/ (on the gateway host)
Insecure-auth toggle behavior: 
{
  gateway: {
    controlUi: { allowInsecureAuth: true },
    bind: "tailnet",
    auth: { mode: "token", token: "replace-me" },
  },
}
allowInsecureAuth does not bypass Control UI device identity or pairing checks. Break-glass only: 
{
  gateway: {
    controlUi: { dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth: true },
    bind: "tailnet",
    auth: { mode: "token", token: "replace-me" },
  },
}
dangerouslyDisableDeviceAuth disables Control UI device identity checks and is a severe security downgrade. Revert quickly after emergency use. See Tailscale for HTTPS setup guidance.

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Building the UI

The Gateway serves static files from dist/control-ui. Build them with: 
pnpm ui:build # auto-installs UI deps on first run
Optional absolute base (when you want fixed asset URLs): 
OPENAEON_CONTROL_UI_BASE_PATH=/openaeon/ pnpm ui:build
For local development (separate dev server): 
pnpm ui:dev # auto-installs UI deps on first run
Then point the UI at your Gateway WS URL (e.g. ws://127.0.0.1:18789).

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Debugging/testing: dev server + remote Gateway

The Control UI is static files; the WebSocket target is configurable and can be different from the HTTP origin. This is handy when you want the Vite dev server locally but the Gateway runs elsewhere.
  1. Start the UI dev server: pnpm ui:dev
  2. Open a URL like:
http://localhost:5173/?gatewayUrl=ws://<gateway-host>:18789
Optional one-time auth (if needed): 
http://localhost:5173/?gatewayUrl=wss://<gateway-host>:18789&token=<gateway-token>
Notes:
  • gatewayUrl is stored in localStorage after load and removed from the URL.
  • token is stored in localStorage; password is kept in memory only.
  • When gatewayUrl is set, the UI does not fall back to config or environment credentials. Provide token (or password) explicitly. Missing explicit credentials is an error.
  • Use wss:// when the Gateway is behind TLS (Tailscale Serve, HTTPS proxy, etc.).
  • gatewayUrl is only accepted in a top-level window (not embedded) to prevent clickjacking.
  • Non-loopback Control UI deployments must set gateway.controlUi.allowedOrigins explicitly (full origins). This includes remote dev setups.
  • gateway.controlUi.dangerouslyAllowHostHeaderOriginFallback=true enables Host-header origin fallback mode, but it is a dangerous security mode.
Example: 
{
  gateway: {
    controlUi: {
      allowedOrigins: ["http://localhost:5173"],
    },
  },
}
Remote access setup details: Remote access.