nanobot/webui/README.md

nanobot webui

The browser front-end for the nanobot gateway. It is built with Vite + React 18 + TypeScript + Tailwind 3 + shadcn/ui, talks to the gateway over the WebSocket multiplex protocol, and reads session metadata from the embedded REST surface on the same port.

For the project overview, install guide, and general docs map, see the root README.md.

Just want to use the WebUI?

If you installed nanobot via pip install nanobot-ai, the WebUI is already bundled in the wheel. Enable the WebSocket channel in ~/.nanobot/config.json and run nanobot gateway — see the root README.md for the 3-step setup. You do not need anything in this directory.

This webui/ tree is for people hacking on the WebUI itself (UI changes, new components, styling, etc.).

Layout

webui/                 source tree (this directory)
nanobot/web/dist/      build output served by the gateway

Develop the WebUI (Vite HMR)

1. Install nanobot from source

From the repository root:

pip install -e .

Editable installs intentionally skip the WebUI bundle step — Vite HMR is faster than rebuilding dist/ on every change.

2. Enable the WebSocket channel

In ~/.nanobot/config.json:

{ "channels": { "websocket": { "enabled": true } } }

3. Start the gateway

In one terminal:

nanobot gateway

4. Start the WebUI dev server

In another terminal:

cd webui
bun install            # npm install also works
bun run dev

Then open http://127.0.0.1:5173.

By default the dev server proxies /api, /webui, /auth, and WebSocket traffic to http://127.0.0.1:8765.

If your gateway listens on a non-default port, point the dev server at it:

NANOBOT_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:9000 bun run dev

Access from another device (LAN)

To use the WebUI from another device on the same network, set host to "0.0.0.0" and configure a token or tokenIssueSecret in ~/.nanobot/config.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "websocket": {
      "enabled": true,
      "host": "0.0.0.0",
      "port": 8765,
      "tokenIssueSecret": "your-secret-here"
    }
  }
}

The gateway will refuse to start if host is "0.0.0.0" and neither token nor tokenIssueSecret is set.

Then open http://<your-ip>:8765 on the other device. The WebUI will show an authentication form where you enter the secret. It is saved in your browser so you only need to enter it once.

Build for packaged runtime

You usually do not need to run this by hand: python -m build invokes the WebUI build automatically when packaging the wheel.

If you want to preview the production bundle locally without rebuilding the wheel:

cd webui
bun run build          # writes to ../nanobot/web/dist

The gateway picks up the new bundle on the next restart.

Test

cd webui
bun run test

Acknowledgements

• agent-chat-ui for UI and interaction inspiration across the chat surface.