EPIC: Web UI scaffold (Option A)

[Hmbown]

Summary

New apps/web/ package, SolidJS or React+Vite, talks to deepseek serve --http via existing API plus SSE.

Acceptance criteria

• deepseek serve --web opens browser.
• Chat UI works against local server.
• Build artifact bundled into crates/app-server/ with include_dir or equivalent.

Files

new apps/web/

Size

M

Source

Source tag: EPIC. Add exact upstream/opencode source links during implementation if they are not already known. Do not copy external code blindly; port the behavior into this repo's architecture.

Filed from 2026-05-02 v0.8.8 intake.

[merchloubna70-dot]

Hey @Hmbown — I've been contributing a batch of PRs today and wanted to share a product perspective on this epic.

The case against Web UI:

DeepSeek-TUI's moat is that it's terminal-native: single binary, zero runtime deps, works over SSH, integrates naturally with pipes and tmux. That's the exact opposite of what a web UI offers.

Adding a web UI means:

• Competing directly with Claude.ai, ChatGPT, and every other AI chat interface — a race you can't win solo
• Splitting maintenance across two very different UI surfaces
• Diluting the "works anywhere a shell works" value proposition

The developers who chose TUI because it's a TUI will feel the product drifting away from them.

What I think fits better:

• VS Code extension (EPIC: VS Code extension scaffold #461~OPENCODE: ACP (Agent Client Protocol) server bridge #470) — developer meets TUI in their editor, no browser needed
• deepseek serve for local API (already there) — programmatic access without a UI at all

Just one contributor's perspective — you know your users better than I do. Whatever you decide, the project is great work. 🐋