Lima TUI

A modern Terminal User Interface for managing Lima VMs, inspired by k9s.

Essentially a TUI created in Go with the tview framework. The idea was to improve the built in limactl list command with features such as:

• Real-time VM overview
• Intuitive controls for navigation
• VM controls, start/stop/restart
• Connecting to VMs

Installation

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21+ installed
• Lima installed and working
• Access to limactl command

Build from source

make deps     # Install dependencies
make build    # Build the binary
make install  # Install to /usr/local/bin (optional)

Usage

# Run the TUI
./lima-tui

# Or if installed globally
lima-tui

Controls

Navigation

• ↑/k - Move selection up
• ↓/j - Move selection down

VM Operations

• Enter/Space - Toggle VM (start if stopped, stop if running)
• s - Start selected VM
• t - Stop selected VM
• r - Restart selected VM
• d - Delete selected VM
• c - Connect to VM via SSH

Management

• n - Create new VM (opens external script)
• R - Force refresh VM list
• h/? - Toggle help screen
• q/Ctrl+C - Quit

Interface

Light

Dark

Development

File Structure

lima-tui/
├── main.go          # Application entry point
├── app.go           # Core application logic
├── ui.go            # User interface components
├── actions.go       # VM operations and actions
├── vm.go            # VM data structures and utilities
├── theme.go         # UI theming and styling
├── go.mod           # Go module definition
├── go.sum           # Dependency versions (auto-generated)
├── Makefile         # Build automation
└── README.md        # This file

Dependencies

• tview - Rich TUI framework
• tcell - Terminal cell-based display

Troubleshooting

VMs not showing up

• Ensure limactl list works in your terminal
• Check that Lima is properly installed
• Verify VM permissions

Build issues

• Ensure Go 1.21+ is installed: go version
• Run go mod tidy to fix dependencies
• Check network access for Go modules

Performance issues

• Reduce refresh interval in code if needed
• Check system resources with many VMs