diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index d9e09b6..3c03ece 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -34,12 +34,13 @@ setup(
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
     ],
-    packages=['toot', 'toot.ui'],
+    packages=['toot', 'toot.ui', 'toot.tui'],
     python_requires=">=3.4",
     install_requires=[
         "requests>=2.13,<3.0",
         "beautifulsoup4>=4.5.0,<5.0",
         "wcwidth>=0.1.7,<2.0",
+        "urwid>=2.0.0,<3.0",
     ],
     entry_points={
         'console_scripts': [
diff --git a/toot/commands.py b/toot/commands.py
index 202a3d5..b680e1b 100644
--- a/toot/commands.py
+++ b/toot/commands.py
@@ -324,3 +324,8 @@ def notifications(app, user, args):
         return
 
     print_notifications(notifications)
+
+
+def tui(app, user, args):
+    from .tui.app import TUI
+    TUI.create(app, user).run()
diff --git a/toot/console.py b/toot/console.py
index e46f148..f0721e4 100644
--- a/toot/console.py
+++ b/toot/console.py
@@ -275,6 +275,12 @@ READ_COMMANDS = [
         arguments=curses_args,
         require_auth=False,
     ),
+    Command(
+        name="tui",
+        description="Launches the TUI (terminal user interface).",
+        arguments=curses_args,
+        require_auth=False,
+    ),
 ]
 
 POST_COMMANDS = [
diff --git a/toot/tui/NOTES.md b/toot/tui/NOTES.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2155bfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/NOTES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+maybe ???
+https://github.com/CanonicalLtd/subiquity/blob/master/subiquitycore/core.py#L280
+
+educational:
+https://github.com/TomasTomecek/sen/blob/master/sen/tui/ui.py
diff --git a/toot/tui/__init__.py b/toot/tui/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4da1a49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+from urwid.command_map import command_map
+from urwid.command_map import CURSOR_UP, CURSOR_DOWN, CURSOR_LEFT, CURSOR_RIGHT
+
+# Add movement using h/j/k/l to default command map
+command_map._command.update({
+    'k': CURSOR_UP,
+    'j': CURSOR_DOWN,
+    'h': CURSOR_LEFT,
+    'l': CURSOR_RIGHT,
+})
diff --git a/toot/tui/app.py b/toot/tui/app.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a60cb0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/app.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+import logging
+import urwid
+
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
+
+from toot.api import home_timeline_generator
+
+from .constants import PALETTE
+from .entities import Status
+from .timeline import Timeline
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class Header(urwid.WidgetWrap):
+    def __init__(self, app, user):
+        self.app = app
+        self.user = user
+
+        self.text = urwid.Text("")
+        self.cols = urwid.Columns([
+            ("pack", urwid.Text(('header_bold', 'toot'))),
+            ("pack", urwid.Text(('header', f' | {user.username}@{app.instance}'))),
+            ("pack", self.text),
+        ])
+
+        widget = urwid.AttrMap(self.cols, 'header')
+        widget = urwid.Padding(widget)
+        self._wrapped_widget = widget
+
+    def clear_text(self, text):
+        self.text.set_text("")
+
+    def set_text(self, text):
+        self.text.set_text(" | " + text)
+
+
+class Footer(urwid.Pile):
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.status = urwid.Text("")
+        self.message = urwid.Text("")
+
+        return super().__init__([
+            urwid.AttrMap(self.status, "footer_status"),
+            urwid.AttrMap(self.message, "footer_message"),
+        ])
+
+    def set_status(self, text):
+        self.status.set_text(text)
+
+    def set_message(self, text):
+        self.message.set_text(text)
+
+    def set_error(self, text):
+        # TODO: change to red
+        self.message.set_text(text)
+
+
+class TUI(urwid.Frame):
+    """Main TUI frame."""
+
+    @classmethod
+    def create(cls, app, user):
+        """Factory method, sets up TUI and an event loop."""
+
+        tui = cls(app, user)
+        loop = urwid.MainLoop(
+            tui,
+            palette=PALETTE,
+            event_loop=urwid.AsyncioEventLoop(),
+            unhandled_input=tui.unhandled_input,
+        )
+        tui.loop = loop
+
+        return tui
+
+    def __init__(self, app, user):
+        self.app = app
+        self.user = user
+
+        self.loop = None  # set in `create`
+        self.executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=1)
+        self.timeline_generator = home_timeline_generator(app, user, limit=40)
+
+        self.body = urwid.Filler(urwid.Text("Loading toots...", align="center"))
+        self.header = Header(app, user)
+        self.footer = Footer()
+        self.footer.set_status("Loading...")
+
+        super().__init__(self.body, header=self.header, footer=self.footer)
+
+    def run(self):
+        self.loop.set_alarm_in(0, self.schedule_loading_toots)
+        self.loop.run()
+        self.executor.shutdown(wait=False)
+
+    def run_in_thread(self, fn, args=[], kwargs={}, done_callback=None):
+        future = self.executor.submit(self.load_toots)
+        if done_callback:
+            future.add_done_callback(done_callback)
+
+    def schedule_loading_toots(self, *args):
+        self.run_in_thread(self.load_toots, done_callback=self.toots_loaded)
+
+    def load_toots(self):
+        data = next(self.timeline_generator)
+        return [Status(s, self.app.instance) for s in data]
+
+    def toots_loaded(self, future):
+        self.body = Timeline(self, future.result())
+
+    def unhandled_input(self, key):
+        if key in ('q', 'Q'):
+            raise urwid.ExitMainLoop()
diff --git a/toot/tui/constants.py b/toot/tui/constants.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b9a7603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/constants.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# name, fg, bg, mono, fg_h, bg_h
+PALETTE = [
+    # Header
+    ('header', 'white', 'dark blue'),
+    ('header_bold', 'white,bold', 'dark blue'),
+
+    # Footer
+    ('footer_status', 'white', 'dark blue'),
+    ('footer_message', 'dark green', ''),
+
+    # by color name
+    ('blue', 'light blue', ''),
+    ('blue_bold', 'light blue, bold', ''),
+    ('blue_selected', 'white,bold', 'dark blue'),
+    ('cyan', 'dark cyan', ''),
+    ('cyan_bold', 'dark cyan,bold', ''),
+    ('green', 'dark green', ''),
+    ('green_selected', 'white,bold', 'dark green'),
+    ('italic', 'white', ''),
+    ('yellow', 'yellow', ''),
+    ('yellow_selected', 'yellow', 'dark blue'),
+]
diff --git a/toot/tui/entities.py b/toot/tui/entities.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7def81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/entities.py
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+from datetime import datetime
+
+
+def parse_datetime(value):
+    """Returns an aware datetime in local timezone"""
+    return datetime.strptime(value, "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f%z").astimezone()
+
+
+class Status:
+    """
+    A wrapper around the Status entity data fetched from Mastodon.
+
+    https://github.com/tootsuite/documentation/blob/master/Using-the-API/API.md#status
+    """
+    def __init__(self, data, instance):
+        self.data = data
+        self.instance = instance
+
+        self.id = self.data["id"]
+        self.account = self.get_account()
+        self.created_at = parse_datetime(data["created_at"])
+
+    def get_account(self):
+        acct = self.data['account']['acct']
+        return acct if "@" in acct else "{}@{}".format(acct, self.instance)
diff --git a/toot/tui/timeline.py b/toot/tui/timeline.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0eeba8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/timeline.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import logging
+import urwid
+
+from .widgets import SelectableText, SelectableColumns
+
+logger = logging.getLogger("toot")
+
+
+class Timeline(urwid.Columns):
+    """
+    Displays a list of statuses to the left, and status details on the right.
+
+    TODO: Switch to top/bottom for narrow views.
+    """
+
+    signals = ["status_focused"]
+
+    def __init__(self, tui, statuses):
+        self.tui = tui
+        self.statuses = statuses
+        self.instance = tui.app.instance
+
+        self.status_list = self.build_status_list(statuses)
+        self.status_details = self.build_status_details(statuses[0], self.instance)
+
+        # TODO:
+        # self.status_cache = {}
+
+        super().__init__([
+            ("weight", 50, self.status_list),
+            ("weight", 50, self.status_details),
+        ], dividechars=1)
+
+    def build_status_list(self, statuses):
+        items = [self.list_item(status) for status in statuses]
+        walker = urwid.SimpleFocusListWalker(items)
+        urwid.connect_signal(walker, "modified", self.status_focused)
+        return urwid.ListBox(walker)
+
+    def build_status_details(self, status, instance):
+        details = StatusDetails(status, instance)
+        return urwid.Filler(details, valign="top")
+
+    def get_focused_status(self):
+        return self.statuses[self.status_list.body.focus]
+
+    def status_activated(self, *args):
+        """Called when a status is clicked, or Enter is pressed."""
+        # logger.info("status_activated " + str(args))
+
+    def status_focused(self):
+        """Called when the list focus switches to a new status"""
+        status = self.get_focused_status()
+        details = StatusDetails(status, self.instance)
+        self.status_details.set_body(details)
+        self._emit("status_focused", [status])
+
+    def list_item(self, status):
+        item = StatusListItem(status, self.instance)
+        urwid.connect_signal(item, "click", self.status_activated)
+        return urwid.AttrMap(item, None, focus_map={
+            "blue": "green_selected",
+            "green": "green_selected",
+            "yellow": "green_selected",
+            None: "green_selected",
+        })
+
+
+class StatusDetails(urwid.Pile):
+    def __init__(self, status, instance):
+        return super().__init__([
+            urwid.Text(status.id)
+        ])
+
+
+
+class StatusListItem(SelectableColumns):
+    def __init__(self, status, instance):
+        created_at = status.created_at.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
+        favourited = ("yellow", "★") if status.data["favourited"] else " "
+        reblogged = ("yellow", "⤶") if status.data["reblogged"] else " "
+
+        return super().__init__([
+            ("pack", SelectableText(("blue", created_at), wrap="clip")),
+            ("pack", urwid.Text(" ")),
+            urwid.Text(("green", status.account), wrap="clip"),
+            ("pack", urwid.Text(" ")),
+            ("pack", urwid.Text(favourited)),
+            ("pack", urwid.Text(reblogged)),
+        ])
diff --git a/toot/tui/widgets.py b/toot/tui/widgets.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1db986b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toot/tui/widgets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import urwid
+
+
+class Clickable:
+    """
+    Add a `click` signal which is sent when the item is activated or clicked.
+
+    TODO: make it work on widgets which have other signals.
+    """
+    signals = ["click"]
+
+    def keypress(self, size, key):
+        if self._command_map[key] == urwid.ACTIVATE:
+            self._emit('click')
+            return
+
+        return key
+
+    def mouse_event(self, size, event, button, x, y, focus):
+        if button == 1:
+            self._emit('click')
+
+        return super().mouse_event(size, event, button, x, y, focus)
+
+
+class SelectableText(Clickable, urwid.Text):
+    _selectable = True
+
+
+class SelectableColumns(Clickable, urwid.Columns):
+    _selectable = True