You know that feeling. You’re deep in the terminal, fingers flying, pipeline building, flow state intact — and then you need to connect to a different Wi-Fi network. So you minimize everything. Hunt for the network icon. Click. Wait for the dropdown. Scan a list of names. Click again. Watch a spinner. And just like that, the spell is broken.
Every context switch is a small death for your focus. GUIs don’t save time — they tax it, one click at a time.
Enter Wlctl. It’s a Rust-based TUI built on top of NetworkManager that handles Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and VPN from a single terminal interface. No mouse. No window hunting. No GUI overhead. Just you, your keyboard, and the network.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. A text-based interface for network management? Isn’t that like using a typewriter to send an email? Network connectivity is supposed to be visual and intuitive — signal bars, icons, toggles. That’s the story we’ve been sold.
But here’s the twist: the GUI’s greatest illusion is that it feels simple. What it actually does is hide complexity behind clicks, bury diagnostics behind menus, and make you pay a context-switch tax every single time.
Wlctl flips the script. Instead of navigating a visual maze, you get direct, scriptable control. Switch networks. Toggle your VPN. Diagnose a connection issue. All without leaving the keyboard. For developers, sysadmins, and anyone who already lives in the terminal, this isn’t a step backward — it’s a homecoming.
The tool leverages NetworkManager under the hood, which means it’s not reinventing the wheel. It’s just stripping away the chrome and giving you the steering wheel directly. Rust gives it speed and safety. The TUI gives it focus. And the unified interface means you’re not juggling three different tools for Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and VPN — they’re all in one place.
The best tools don’t add features. They remove friction.
Think about how often you interact with network settings. Connecting to a new network at a coffee shop. Toggling VPN on and off throughout the day. Diagnosing why your connection suddenly dropped. These are frequent, low-level tasks that GUIs consistently overcomplicate. Each one pulls you out of your workflow and into a different mode of interaction — mouse-driven, visual, slow.
Wlctl keeps you in the mode where you’re already most productive. The terminal. And if you’re skeptical, consider this: the people who tried it didn’t say ‘nice concept.’ They said ‘tried and loved it.’ That’s not curiosity talking. That’s relief.
When a tool disappears into your workflow, that’s when you know it’s working. Wlctl doesn’t demand attention — it returns it.
Is a TUI for everyone? No. If you’re not comfortable in the terminal, this isn’t for you, and that’s fine. But if you’re the kind of person who reaches for the keyboard before the mouse, who values precision over discoverability, who resents every unnecessary click — Wlctl isn’t just a tool. It’s a statement.
It says: I don’t need a pretty interface to do ugly work. I need speed, control, and the ability to stay in flow. And honestly? The GUI apologists have had the microphone long enough. It’s time to take the terminal back.
FAQ
Q: Isn't a TUI harder to use than a GUI for network management?
A: Only if you're not already in the terminal. If you are, it's dramatically faster — no context switching, no mouse, no hunting through menus. The 'difficulty' of a TUI is really just the cost of staying in one mode instead of constantly switching between two.
Q: What does this mean for my daily workflow?
A: If you manage networks frequently — switching Wi-Fi, toggling VPNs, diagnosing drops — Wlctl collapses all of that into keyboard commands. You stop losing flow state every time you need to touch network settings.
Q: Is this just nostalgia for the command line?
A: No. This is about efficiency, not aesthetics. The GUI isn't bad because it's visual — it's bad when it forces you to break focus for a task that could be a single keystroke. Wlctl earns its place by removing friction, not by being retro.