Mistral Vibe: Rust CLI First-Run Onboarding Wizard

Mistral VibeOct 5, 2026View original changelog

Mistral Vibe 2.26.0 added a first-run onboarding wizard to its Rust CLI, covering theme selection, API key entry stored in the OS keyring and browser sign-in. It opens automatically when no API key is found, and --setup runs it on demand and exits.

Key Takeaways

First launch now guides the user, with the onboarding wizard opening automatically whenever the API key is missing.
The wizard offers theme selection, API key entry and browser sign-in in a single flow.
API keys entered in the wizard are stored in the OS keyring, keeping them out of plain text files.
vibe --setup reruns the wizard at any time and exits, which helps with key rotation or re-authentication.
The wizard ships with a broader Rust CLI update that adds /teleport, /voice and /loop, narrowing the gap with the Python TUI.
The legacy Python TUI remains available by unsetting VIBE_CLI or setting it to python.

A guided first launch for the Rust CLI

Mistral Vibe 2.26.0 gave its Rust CLI a proper first-run experience. Previously, getting started meant finding the right environment variable or config file before the first prompt would work. Now the CLI opens an onboarding wizard on its own whenever the API key is missing, and walks the user through the setup in the terminal.

What the wizard covers

The wizard starts with theme selection, so the interface looks right from the first screen. It then handles credentials in one of two ways: the user can paste an API key, which Mistral Vibe stores in the OS keyring rather than in a plain text file, or sign in through the browser instead of handling a key by hand.

Storing the key in the operating system keyring keeps it out of shell history and dotfiles, which is the safer default for a tool that talks to a paid API.

Running it again

The wizard is not limited to the first launch. Running vibe --setup opens it at any time and exits once it finishes. That gives users a clean way to switch themes, replace a rotated key or re-authenticate without editing files.

Rust CLI catches up

The wizard arrived alongside a wave of Rust CLI additions in the same release, including /teleport, /voice, /loop, undo and redo for composer edits, and skill mentions anywhere in a prompt. Together they move the Rust CLI closer to feature parity with the legacy Python TUI, which remains available by unsetting VIBE_CLI or setting it to python.