How do I install the Sideshow Term skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add modem-dev/sideshow-term in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Sideshow Term safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Sideshow Term?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Sideshow Term free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Sideshow Term?

modem-dev (@modem-dev) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Sideshow Term by modem-dev — Agent Skill

Name: Sideshow Term
Author: modem-dev

Sideshow Term

Draw live terminal visualizations to the user's sideshow-term surface — bordered diagrams, dashboards, big ASCII headings, styled text, lists — using STML (a small HTML-like markup that renders via opentui). Use when the user asks you to illustrate, visualize, sketch, or show something in the terminal, mentions sideshow-term, or when a richer visual would explain your work better than plain output.

modem-dev 1e15fd4 3.6 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

sideshow-term

The user keeps a live terminal visual surface open (sideshow-term watch). You publish STML — an HTML-like markup — and it renders instantly as real opentui components (boxes, borders, big ASCII text, styled text, lists, menus). This is a higher-fidelity surface than the text you normally print.

Before your first publish

Fetch the markup contract once per session:

sideshow-term guide        # or: curl -s $SIDESHOW_URL/guide

If SIDESHOW_URL is unset, the surface is at http://localhost:4243. If the server is not running, start it: sideshow-term serve. If the sideshow-term command is not on PATH but you are inside this repo, use node sideshow-term/bin/sideshow-term.js ....

Publishing

Prefer MCP tools if connected (publish_snippet, update_snippet, list_snippets). Otherwise use the CLI — session grouping is automatic:

sideshow-term publish sketch.stml --title "Cache layout" --session-title "Cache redesign"
echo '<h1>Done</h1><text>Migration applied.</text>' | sideshow-term publish - --title "Status"

Save the returned sessionId and snippet id. Iterate with sideshow-term update <id> revised.stml (same card, new version) instead of publishing near-duplicates — versions are kept. Preview without the viewer: sideshow-term render sketch.stml.

To remove stale visuals before replacing a board, run sideshow-term clear for the current session or sideshow-term clear --all for every session on the surface.

Rules of thumb:

On your first publish, set a session title that names the task ("Auth refactor"), not the tool. It applies only when the session is created.
One concept per snippet, with a clear title. A series of small snippets beats one giant page.
Reach for <card>, <row>/<col>, <list>, <bigtext> and the semantic color tokens (accent, success, danger, warning, info, muted) before hand-tuning layout.

Writing STML

Block tags: box row col card text h1 h2 h3 list/item hr spacer bigtext code select input. Inline tags (inside <text>/headings): b i u s dim color/c kbd badge a br. Layout attributes on blocks: width height padding margin gap direction align justify grow border border-style border-color bg title.

<card title="Auth flow">
  <h1>JWT refresh</h1>
  <text>The <b>client</b> sends a <color fg="accent">refresh token</color>.</text>
  <row gap="2">
    <box border bg="#0f2a1a" padding="1"><text fg="success">200 OK</text></box>
    <box border padding="1"><text fg="danger">401</text></box>
  </row>
  <list>
    <item>Validate signature</item>
    <item>Check expiry</item>
  </list>
</card>

Whitespace in normal text is collapsed, so indent freely. Unknown tags and bad colors show up as render notes rather than crashing — but check sideshow-term render if something looks off.

Remote surfaces

A deployed instance needs SIDESHOW_URL and SIDESHOW_TOKEN set; the CLI sends the token automatically. For raw curl, add -H "Authorization: Bearer $SIDESHOW_TOKEN".

Note

This version is render-only: you publish and revise; the user watches. Typing comments back from the terminal viewer is not yet wired up.

---name: sideshow-termdescription: Draw live terminal visualizations to the user's sideshow-term surface — bordered diagrams, dashboards, big ASCII headings, styled text, lists — using STML (a small HTML-like markup that renders via opentui). Use when the user asks you to illustrate, visualize, sketch, or show something in the terminal, mentions sideshow-term, or when a richer visual would explain your work better than plain output.---# sideshow-termThe user keeps a live terminal visual surface open (`sideshow-term watch`). Youpublish **STML** — an HTML-like markup — and it renders instantly as realopentui components (boxes, borders, big ASCII text, styled text, lists, menus).This is a higher-fidelity surface than the text you normally print.## Before your first publishFetch the markup contract once per session:```shsideshow-term guide # or: curl -s $SIDESHOW_URL/guide```If `SIDESHOW_URL` is unset, the surface is at `http://localhost:4243`. If theserver is not running, start it: `sideshow-term serve`. If the`sideshow-term` command is not on PATH but you are inside this repo, use`node sideshow-term/bin/sideshow-term.js ...`.## PublishingPrefer MCP tools if connected (`publish_snippet`, `update_snippet`,`list_snippets`). Otherwise use the CLI — session grouping is automatic:```shsideshow-term publish sketch.stml --title "Cache layout" --session-title "Cache redesign"echo '<h1>Done</h1><text>Migration applied.</text>' | sideshow-term publish - --title "Status"```Save the returned `sessionId` and snippet `id`. Iterate with`sideshow-term update <id> revised.stml` (same card, new version) instead ofpublishing near-duplicates — versions are kept. Preview without the viewer:`sideshow-term render sketch.stml`.To remove stale visuals before replacing a board, run `sideshow-term clear` forthe current session or `sideshow-term clear --all` for every session on thesurface.Rules of thumb:- On your first publish, set a session title that names the task ("Auth refactor"), not the tool. It applies only when the session is created.- One concept per snippet, with a clear title. A series of small snippets beats one giant page.- Reach for `<card>`, `<row>`/`<col>`, `<list>`, `<bigtext>` and the semantic color tokens (`accent`, `success`, `danger`, `warning`, `info`, `muted`) before hand-tuning layout.## Writing STMLBlock tags: `box row col card text h1 h2 h3 list/item hr spacer bigtext codeselect input`. Inline tags (inside `<text>`/headings): `b i u s dim color/ckbd badge a br`. Layout attributes on blocks: `width height padding margin gapdirection align justify grow border border-style border-color bg title`.```stml<card title="Auth flow"> <h1>JWT refresh</h1> <text>The <b>client</b> sends a <color fg="accent">refresh token</color>.</text> <row gap="2"> <box border bg="#0f2a1a" padding="1"><text fg="success">200 OK</text></box> <box border padding="1"><text fg="danger">401</text></box> </row> <list> <item>Validate signature</item> <item>Check expiry</item> </list></card>```Whitespace in normal text is collapsed, so indent freely. Unknown tags and badcolors show up as render notes rather than crashing — but check`sideshow-term render` if something looks off.## Remote surfacesA deployed instance needs `SIDESHOW_URL` and `SIDESHOW_TOKEN` set; the CLI sendsthe token automatically. For raw curl, add `-H "Authorization: Bearer $SIDESHOW_TOKEN"`.## NoteThis version is render-only: you publish and revise; the user watches. Typingcomments back from the terminal viewer is not yet wired up.

Frequently asked questions