---
title: Stop Making TUIs
link: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Aug/21/stop-making-tuis/
source: simonwillison-net
published: 2026-08-21T16:07:32Z
updated: 2026-08-21T16:07:32Z
first_seen: 2026-09-04T12:14:41.802665207Z
labels:
- ai
- coding-agents
- generative-ai
- llms
- thomas-ptacek
- vibe-coding
summary: 'Stop Making TUIs Thomas Ptacek advocates for building real native user interfaces for even the smallest of personal tools, because coding agents have reduced the cost of getting a usable-enough GUI up and running to almost nothing. I wrote about my vibe-coded bandwidth and GPU monitoring macOS task bar apps back in March, and I''m still using both of those on a daily basis. I''m not habitually knocking out real UIs for my other projects yet, but I''m running out of excuses! Thomas: If you haven’t tried your hand at turning one of your 500 throwaway CLIs into a native app, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Go build a native UI. It’ll probably change the way you think. Tags: thomas-ptacek, ai, generative-ai, llms, vibe-coding, coding-agents'
content: extracted
html: 2026-08-21-stop-making-tuis.html
---

**[Stop Making TUIs](https://sockpuppet.org/blog/2026/08/20/stop-making-tuis/)**. Thomas Ptacek advocates for building real native user interfaces for even the smallest of personal tools, because coding agents have reduced the cost of getting a usable-enough GUI up and running to almost nothing.

I wrote about my vibe-coded bandwidth and GPU monitoring macOS task bar apps [back in March](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/27/vibe-coding-swiftui/), and I'm still using both of those on a daily basis.

I'm not habitually knocking out real UIs for my other projects yet, but I'm running out of excuses!

Thomas:

> If you haven’t tried your hand at turning one of your 500 throwaway CLIs into a native app, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Go build a native UI. It’ll probably change the way you think.