In my previous item, I linked to a post by Adi Leviim who made the case against chat as the AI interface default, reading the 2024 wave of GUI retrofits AI labs shipped—Canvas, Artifacts, Projects, Computer Use, Deep Research—as the industry admitting a text box alone wasn’t enough. Matt Webb, writing on Interconnected, wants every service to ship a CLI instead. Both arguments are about text. They look like they contradict. They don’t. Webb’s case for going headless:
It’s pretty clear that apps and services are all going to have to go headless: that is, they will have to provide access and tools for personal AI agents without any of the visual UI that us humans use today. […] Why? Because using personal AIs is a better experience for users than using services directly (honestly); and headless services are quicker and more dependable for the personal AIs than having them click round a GUI with a bot-controlled mouse.
Webb’s CLI sits on the agent-to-service layer. Leviim’s retrofits sit on the human-to-agent layer. The text on one side is a protocol for machines. The text on the other is a user writing out intent in sentences. Both are text, but the role is different. Webb makes the split explicit when he turns to what it means for design:
So from a usability perspective I see front-end as somewhat sacrificial. AI agents will drive straight through it; users will encounter it only once or twice; it will be customised or personalised; all that work on optimising user journeys doesn’t matter any more. But from a vibe perspective, services are not fungible. […] Understanding that a service is for you is 50% an unconscious process - we call it brand - and I look forward to front-end design for apps and services optimising for brand rather than ease of use.
Interesting, right? Webb believes that the need for human-facing UI and therefore user journeys will be less. He’s designing for an agent-first world.
Webb, goes on…
If I were a bank, I would be releasing a hardened CLI tool like yesterday. There is so much to figure out: […] How does adjacency work? My bank gives me a current account in exchange for putting a “hey, get a loan!” button on the app home screen. How do you make offers to an agent?
The agent becomes the surface designers have to figure out.
