TAU

TAU Project Functionality

Last updated: 2026-01-14

Architecture Overview

TAU is organized into specialized crates, each handling a specific domain of the agent's functionality.

CratePurposeStatus
tau-coreCore runtime, managers (LSP, Shell, Task, Process, Indexing)✅ Active
tau-cliCLI interface, MCP/Agent/Session/Vision commands✅ Active
tau-tuiTerminal UI (Ratatui) with MCP status indicators✅ Active
tau-serverHTTP API + SSE Transport✅ Active
tau-storageSQLite Data persistence + FTS5 search✅ Active
tau-mcpModel Context Protocol (Built-in & External)✅ Active
tau-llmLLM providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, etc.)✅ Active
tau-toolsCore agent tools (File, Git, CodeSearch)✅ Active
tau-permissionsRisk-based permission engine✅ Active

Core Components (tau-core)

Indexing & Search (TAU-style)

High-performance code search engine:

  • Tantivy-backed: Full-text search on syntactic chunks.
  • Real-time Re-indexing: Automatic index updates via FsWatcher.
  • Tree-sitter: Deep structural analysis for precise symbol navigation.

ProcessSupervisor

Manages PTY and non-PTY processes with lifecycle control:

  • ProcessId: Unique identifier
  • ProcessType: Pty / NonPty execution modes
  • ProcessConfig: Configuration (output limits, timeouts, env vars)
  • ProcessState: State tracking (Running, Completed, Failed)

Runtime

The central nervous system of TAU:

  • Lifecycle management (start/shutdown)
  • Service registry for component discovery
  • Manager access (LspManager, ShellManager, TaskRunner)
  • Global cancellation token propagation

MCP & Tools (tau-mcp)

Built-in MCP Server

Tools available to the LLM out-of-the-box:

  • Web Search: Brave Search & SearXNG integration.
  • Web Fetch: Smart content extraction (Markdown/Text/HTML).
  • Vision Tools: understand_image for visual analysis.
  • Browser Tools: Headless browser control via agent-browser.

Browser Capabilities

  • browser_open: Navigate to URL
  • browser_snapshot: Capture DOM structure and interactive elements
  • browser_click / browser_fill: User interaction simulation
  • browser_screenshot_describe: Combined capture & analyze workflow

CLI Features (tau-cli)

  • MCP Commands: Manage tools via tau mcp
  • Vision Support: Direct image processing commands
  • Agent Commands: System prompt and persona management
  • Session Commands: History and context management