Wait until a regex pattern appears in the terminal buffer. Useful for waiting for prompts, loading states, or specific output.
AI agents invoke wait_for_text to trigger actions in Tui. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call — builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.
While wait_for_text itself is passive (reads terminal state), it is a control-flow primitive that, in the context of this TUI automation framework, enables reliable execution of arbitrary terminal commands. An agent could use this to: (1) launch a TUI app, (2) wait for specific prompts, (3) send destructive commands via send_keys/send_text, and execute them with high reliability.
From the tool's definition Tool waits for regex patterns in terminal buffer and blocks execution until matched. Combined with sibling tools like send_keys, send_text, and launch, this enables arbitrary command execution in terminal applications.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access wait_for_text gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Tui, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for wait_for_text:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"wait_for_text": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "wait_for_text_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}wait_for_text stays usable, but rate-capped — a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Wait until a regex pattern appears in the terminal buffer. Useful for waiting for prompts, loading states, or specific output. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the Tui MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the Tui MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for wait_for_text: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Tui. Nothing to install.
wait_for_text is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the wait_for_text rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for wait_for_text. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
wait_for_text is provided by the Tui MCP server (nvms/tui-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Tui, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
13 Tui tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.