Console

The Console tab is a multi-mode terminal embedded in the viewer's right panel. It runs on the server side of the Trame app, so its working directory, environment, and process namespace are wherever you launched sage-viewer from — including remote compute nodes.

Modes

Mode	How to enter	Prompt
Terminal (default)	(active on open)	host:basename user$
Python REPL	type python / python3 / py	>>>
SAGE commands	click SAGE Cmds button	cmd>

Type terminal from any non-default mode to return to the shell. Type exit or quit from REPL or SAGE command mode to return to the shell.

Terminal mode

The terminal is backed by a real PTY ($SHELL -l), so full ANSI colour, cursor control, and interactive programs (vim, top, htop, less, ncurses apps) all work exactly as they would in your local terminal.

Three built-ins are intercepted in-process so they persist between commands:

Built-in	Behaviour
cd <path> / cd	Change directory (no arg → ~). Updates the session cwd; the prompt refreshes accordingly.
pwd	Print the session cwd.
export FOO=bar	Set an env var on the session; future commands inherit it. export FOO= clears the var.

Python REPL mode

REPL execution runs in a background thread via asyncio.to_thread, so the viewer stays responsive while a long script runs — you can still interact with the 3D viewport during execution.

Inside the REPL, the following names are pre-bound:

Name	Description
scene	The Scene instance — scene.primary, scene.set_snapshot(n), scene.halo_layer, scene.galaxy_layer, scene.camera, ...
state	The Trame state proxy — read or mutate any UI state variable
ctrl	The Trame controller — call any registered handler (ctrl.go_to_halo(), ctrl.take_screenshot(), ...)
server	The Trame server
plotter	The PyVista Plotter
np	NumPy

Multi-line statements (function defs, for-loops, with blocks) are accumulated until the parser says the input is complete; the continuation prompt is .... To force-execute a buffered block (e.g. an indented def), press Enter on an empty line.

Example:

>>> halos, galaxies = scene.primary.loader.get(63)
>>> galaxies.stellar_mass.shape
(17907,)
>>> import matplotlib
>>> matplotlib.use("Agg")
>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
>>> plt.hist(np.log10(galaxies.stellar_mass), bins=40)
>>> plt.savefig("/tmp/smf.png")
>>> "done"
'done'

SAGE command mode

The same parser that backed the previous Console tab. Useful for one-shot commands without remembering exact Python or shell syntax:

Phrase	Action
show only clusters	Filter to environment-class clusters
go to halo 42	Fly to halo idx 42
snap 30	Switch to snapshot 30
galaxy info	Open the Galaxy Info card for the selected galaxy
rotate cw 30	Start CW rotation at 30°/s
screenshot	Take a screenshot
help	List every recognised phrase

Multiple sessions

Click the + button in the tab strip at the top to spawn another console. Each session has its own:

• PTY process ($SHELL -l)
• Command history
• Mode (one can be in Python while another is in shell)
• Shell cwd and env
• Python interpreter (variables defined in Console 1 are not visible in Console 2)

Close a session via its × (only shown when more than one exists). All PTY sessions are cleaned up automatically when the viewer exits.

Load Script

The Load Script button reads the path from the "Script path" field and exec()s the file in the active session's Python locals — regardless of which mode the session is in. Variables defined by the script become available in subsequent Python-mode commands in the same session.

Script path: /home/me/analyses/smf_plot.py
[Load Script]

Use Enter on the script-path field to load + run without taking your hands off the keyboard.

Pop-out

The Pop-out button toggles a floating, draggable, resizable card over the viewport showing the active session's history + input. Drag the title bar to move it; drag the bottom-right corner to resize. Closing the pop-out (× in its title bar) doesn't affect the session — it's just a second surface onto the same console.

Enter keys

Both input fields (command + script path) submit on Enter, equivalent to clicking the corresponding button (Run / Load Script). This is consistent with every other input across the viewer.