Not every on-call check needs a browser tab. The Helix CLI can render a live-refreshing dashboard directly in a terminal, useful over SSH or during a deploy.

The Helix web UI is the right tool for exploring a problem. It is the wrong tool for the thirty seconds during a deploy when the fastest path to an answer is a terminal that is already open. The CLI covers that case with a text-based live dashboard.

1. Run a query with live refresh

Any HelixQL query can be run with a refresh interval instead of a one-shot execution, which turns a static result into a self-updating table right in the shell.

helix query run \
  'from traces | where service.name == "checkout-api" | summarize p95(duration), count() by bin(timestamp, 30s)' \
  --watch 5s

2. Define a multi-panel layout in a config file

For a recurring check, a single query is rarely enough. The CLI reads a small YAML file describing several panels stacked in one terminal view, similar in spirit to the web dashboard but rendered as boxed text.

# checkout.tui.yaml
panels:
  - title: p95 latency
    query: from traces | where service.name == "checkout-api" | summarize p95(duration) by bin(timestamp, 30s)
  - title: error rate
    query: from traces | where service.name == "checkout-api" | summarize countif(status_code >= 500) * 1.0 / count() by bin(timestamp, 30s)
helix tui --config checkout.tui.yaml --refresh 5s

3. Use it for the two moments a browser is inconvenient

The terminal dashboard earns its place in exactly two situations: watching a canary during a deploy from the same shell running the rollout command, and checking service health over an SSH session to a jump host with no browser available. Outside those, the web UI has better drill-down and is worth the extra tab.

4. Keep the config next to the deploy script

Committing the .tui.yaml file alongside the service deploy scripts means the right dashboard is always one command away for whoever is running the rollout, without needing to remember a query from memory under time pressure.

  • Use --watch for a quick, single-query live view without leaving the terminal.
  • Define multi-panel layouts in a YAML config for recurring checks.
  • Reach for it during deploys and SSH sessions, prefer the web UI otherwise.
  • Commit the config next to deploy scripts so it is always in reach under pressure.