feat(tui): surface session activity states

tui/src/app.test.ts

@@ -1049,7 +1049,7 @@ describe("NanobotTui layout", () => {
 
     await waitUntil(() => (app as unknown as { ready: boolean }).ready)
     await setup.renderOnce()
-    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("Task interrupted")
+    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("⚠ Task interrupted")
     expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("Tools will not replay automatically")
     expect(ui.status.plainText).toContain("continue or dismiss")
     expect(ui.activeTurn).toBe(false)

tui/src/app.ts

@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ interface Palette {
   accent: string
   link: string
   success: string
+  warning: string
   error: string
   user: string
   userBackground: string
@@ -141,6 +142,7 @@ const DARK: Palette = {
   accent: "#EF8E30",
   link: "#60A5FA",
   success: "#5CC489",
+  warning: "#F5C451",
   error: "#F87171",
   user: "#EF8E30",
   // Codex-style turn anchor: 12% white over the reference dark background.
@@ -158,6 +160,7 @@ const LIGHT: Palette = {
   accent: "#B94D0B",
   link: "#1D4ED8",
   success: "#166534",
+  warning: "#A16207",
   error: "#B91C1C",
   user: "#B94D0B",
   // Codex-style turn anchor: 4% black over the reference light background.
@@ -171,6 +174,7 @@ const ACTIVE_COMPOSER_PLACEHOLDER = "Steer this turn…"
 const SHIMMER_PAUSE = 16
 const SHIMMER_BAND = 4
 const SHIMMER_INTERVAL_MS = 80
+const SESSION_REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS = 1_000
 const LOCAL_COMMANDS: TuiCommand[] = [
   {
     command: "/sessions",
@@ -259,6 +263,8 @@ function commandMenuTheme(palette: Palette): CommandMenuTheme {
     text: palette.text,
     muted: palette.muted,
     border: palette.border,
+    accent: palette.accent,
+    warning: palette.warning,
     selectedBackground: palette.userBackground,
   }
 }
@@ -307,6 +313,7 @@ function recoveryNoticeTheme(palette: Palette): RecoveryNoticeTheme {
     text: palette.text,
     muted: palette.muted,
     accent: palette.accent,
+    warning: palette.warning,
     error: palette.error,
   }
 }
@@ -454,6 +461,8 @@ export class NanobotTui {
   private quitting = false
   private sessionLoadId = 0
   private sessionLoading = false
+  private sessionRefreshPending = false
+  private sessionRefreshTimer: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null
   private readonly commandTurns = new Map<string, ResolvedSlashCommandLifecycle>()
   private readonly modelCommandTurns = new Set<string>()
   private readonly silentCommandTurns = new Set<string>()
@@ -1995,7 +2004,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
 
   private closeTransientMenus(): void {
     this.commandMenu.hide()
-    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+    this.hideSessionMenu()
     this.mentionMenu.hide()
     this.branchMenu.hide()
     this.contextPanel.hide()
@@ -2049,7 +2058,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
       return
     }
     this.commandMenu.hide()
-    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+    this.hideSessionMenu()
     this.contextPanel.hide()
     this.clearComposer()
     this.status.content = "Loading branch points…"
@@ -2139,6 +2148,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
       }
       const limit = this.renderer.height >= 20 ? 8 : 4
       this.sessionMenu.open(sessions, this.client.activeChatId, limit)
+      this.startSessionRefresh()
       this.renderTitleColor()
       this.sessionMenu.update(this.composer.plainText, limit)
       this.syncComposerPlaceholder()
@@ -2153,6 +2163,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
   }
 
   private switchSession(session: SessionSummary): void {
+    this.sessionMenu.markRead(session.chatId)
     if (session.chatId === this.client.activeChatId) {
       this.sessionTitle = sessionLabel(session)
       this.applySessionModel(session)
@@ -2199,7 +2210,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
       return
     }
     this.commandMenu.hide()
-    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+    this.hideSessionMenu()
     this.mentionMenu.hide()
     this.branchMenu.hide()
     this.contextPanel.hide()
@@ -2307,7 +2318,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
   private closeSessions(): void {
     this.sessionLoadId += 1
     this.sessionLoading = false
-    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+    this.hideSessionMenu()
     this.renderTitleColor()
     this.clearComposer()
     this.syncComposerPlaceholder()
@@ -2317,9 +2328,51 @@ export class NanobotTui {
     this.updateMeta()
   }
 
+  private hideSessionMenu(): void {
+    this.stopSessionRefresh()
+    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+  }
+
+  private startSessionRefresh(): void {
+    if (this.sessionRefreshTimer) return
+    this.sessionRefreshTimer = setInterval(() => {
+      if (!this.sessionMenu.visible) {
+        this.stopSessionRefresh()
+        return
+      }
+      void this.refreshSessionMenu()
+    }, SESSION_REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS)
+    ;(this.sessionRefreshTimer as unknown as { unref?: () => void }).unref?.()
+  }
+
+  private stopSessionRefresh(): void {
+    if (this.sessionRefreshTimer) clearInterval(this.sessionRefreshTimer)
+    this.sessionRefreshTimer = null
+  }
+
+  private async refreshSessionMenu(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.sessionRefreshPending || !this.sessionMenu.visible || this.quitting) return
+    this.sessionRefreshPending = true
+    const loadId = this.sessionLoadId
+    try {
+      const sessions = await fetchSessions(
+        this.options.apiUrl,
+        this.options.apiToken,
+        this.apiReauthenticator,
+      )
+      if (this.quitting || loadId !== this.sessionLoadId || !this.sessionMenu.visible) return
+      this.sessionMenu.replace(sessions, this.client.activeChatId)
+      this.status.content = sessions.length ? `${sessions.length} sessions` : "No saved sessions"
+    } catch {
+      // Keep the existing picker usable during a transient refresh failure.
+    } finally {
+      this.sessionRefreshPending = false
+    }
+  }
+
   private async openContext(): Promise<void> {
     this.commandMenu.hide()
-    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+    this.hideSessionMenu()
     this.mentionMenu.hide()
     this.branchMenu.hide()
     this.clearComposer()
@@ -2391,7 +2444,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
 
   private openDiff(): void {
     this.commandMenu.hide()
-    this.sessionMenu.hide()
+    this.hideSessionMenu()
     this.mentionMenu.hide()
     this.branchMenu.hide()
     this.contextPanel.hide()
@@ -2455,6 +2508,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
     this.quitting = true
     this.submitGeneration += 1
     this.submitPending = false
+    this.stopSessionRefresh()
     this.host.release()
     this.client.close()
     this.renderer.destroy()
@@ -2465,6 +2519,7 @@ export class NanobotTui {
 
   private handleDestroy = (): void => {
     if (this.shimmerTimer) clearInterval(this.shimmerTimer)
+    this.stopSessionRefresh()
     this.transcript.destroy()
     this.diffViewer.destroy()
     this.host.release()

tui/src/picker-menu.ts

@@ -1,22 +1,26 @@
 import {
   BoxRenderable,
   RGBA,
+  StyledText,
   TextAttributes,
   TextRenderable,
   type CliRenderer,
+  type TextChunk,
 } from "@opentui/core"
 
 export interface PickerMenuTheme {
   text: string
   muted: string
   border: string
+  accent?: string
+  warning?: string
   selectedBackground?: string
 }
 
 interface PickerMenuOptions<T> {
   id: string
   searchText: (item: T) => string
-  render: (item: T) => string
+  render: (item: T, selected: boolean) => string | TextChunk[]
   emptyText?: string
   maxWidth?: number
   onSelect?: (item: T) => void
@@ -68,6 +72,16 @@ export class PickerMenu<T> {
     this.update(query, limit)
   }
 
+  replace(items: T[]): void {
+    if (!this.visible) return
+    this.items = items
+    this.update(this.query, this.limit)
+  }
+
+  redraw(): void {
+    if (this.visible) this.render()
+  }
+
   update(query: string, limit = this.limit): void {
     if (!this.visible) return
     const changed = query !== this.query
@@ -125,9 +139,16 @@ export class PickerMenu<T> {
     }
     for (const [index, item] of this.matches.entries()) {
       const selected = index === this.selected
+      const rendered = this.options.render(item, selected)
+      const content = typeof rendered === "string"
+        ? `${selected ? "›" : " "} ${rendered}`
+        : new StyledText([
+            chunk(`${selected ? "›" : " "} `, selected ? this.theme.text : this.theme.muted),
+            ...rendered,
+          ])
       this.root.add(new TextRenderable(this.renderer, {
         id: `${this.options.id}-${index}`,
-        content: `${selected ? "›" : " "} ${this.options.render(item)}`,
+        content,
         width: "100%",
         height: 1,
         wrapMode: "none",
@@ -161,3 +182,11 @@ export class PickerMenu<T> {
     }
   }
 }
+
+function chunk(text: string, color: string): TextChunk {
+  return {
+    __isChunk: true,
+    text,
+    fg: RGBA.fromHex(color),
+  }
+}

tui/src/recovery-notice.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export interface RecoveryNoticeTheme {
   text: string
   muted: string
   accent: string
+  warning: string
   error: string
 }
 
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ export class RecoveryNotice {
         ? "This task can’t be resumed safely. Dismiss to start a new message."
         : "Review the saved context. Tools will not replay automatically."
     this.title.content = new StyledText([
-      chunk("△ ", failed ? this.theme.error : this.theme.accent),
+      chunk("⚠ ", failed ? this.theme.error : this.theme.warning),
       chunk(title, this.theme.text, true),
     ])
     this.detail.content = new StyledText([chunk(`  ${detail}`, this.theme.muted)])

tui/src/session-menu.test.ts

@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ describe("SessionMenu", () => {
       text: "#FFFFFF",
       muted: "#999999",
       border: "#555555",
+      accent: "#FF8A33",
+      warning: "#F5C451",
     })
     setup.renderer.root.add(menu.root)
     menu.open(sessions, "one", 6)
@@ -58,7 +60,7 @@ describe("SessionMenu", () => {
 
     menu.update("release stable", 6)
     await setup.renderOnce()
-    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("△ Release checklist")
+    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("⚠ Release checklist")
     expect(menu.choose()?.chatId).toBe("two")
   })
 
@@ -68,12 +70,47 @@ describe("SessionMenu", () => {
     )
   })
 
+  test("animates running sessions and marks completed background sessions unread", async () => {
+    setup = await createTestRenderer({ width: 80, height: 18, screenMode: "alternate-screen" })
+    const menu = new SessionMenu(setup.renderer, {
+      text: "#FFFFFF",
+      muted: "#999999",
+      border: "#555555",
+      accent: "#FF8A33",
+      warning: "#F5C451",
+    })
+    setup.renderer.root.add(menu.root)
+    const running = {
+      ...sessions[0]!,
+      chatId: "running",
+      title: "Background task",
+      runStartedAt: Date.now(),
+      pinned: false,
+    }
+
+    menu.open([sessions[0]!, running], "one", 6)
+    await setup.renderOnce()
+    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toMatch(/[⠋⠙⠹⠸⠼⠴⠦⠧⠇⠏] Background task/u)
+
+    menu.replace([{ ...sessions[0]! }, { ...running, runStartedAt: null }], "one")
+    await setup.renderOnce()
+    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("• Background task")
+
+    menu.markRead("running")
+    menu.replace([{ ...sessions[0]! }, { ...running, runStartedAt: null }], "running")
+    await setup.renderOnce()
+    expect(setup.captureCharFrame()).toContain("● Background task")
+    menu.hide()
+  })
+
   test("keeps keyboard selection when the pointer stays over the previous row", async () => {
     setup = await createTestRenderer({ width: 80, height: 18, screenMode: "alternate-screen" })
     const menu = new SessionMenu(setup.renderer, {
       text: "#FFFFFF",
       muted: "#999999",
       border: "#555555",
+      accent: "#FF8A33",
+      warning: "#F5C451",
     })
     setup.renderer.root.add(menu.root)
     menu.open(sessions, "one", 6)
@@ -102,6 +139,8 @@ describe("SessionMenu", () => {
       text: "#FFFFFF",
       muted: "#999999",
       border: "#555555",
+      accent: "#FF8A33",
+      warning: "#F5C451",
     })
     setup.renderer.root.add(menu.root)
     const scoped = sessions.map((session) => ({

tui/src/session-menu.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-import { type BoxRenderable, type CliRenderer } from "@opentui/core"
+import { RGBA, type BoxRenderable, type CliRenderer, type TextChunk } from "@opentui/core"
 
 import { PickerMenu, type PickerMenuTheme } from "./picker-menu"
 import type { SessionSummary } from "./protocol"
 
-type SessionMenuRow = SessionSummary & { active: boolean }
+type SessionMenuRow = SessionSummary & { active: boolean; unread: boolean }
+
+const SPINNER_FRAMES = ["⠋", "⠙", "⠹", "⠸", "⠼", "⠴", "⠦", "⠧", "⠇", "⠏"]
 
 export function sessionLabel(session: SessionSummary): string {
   const label = session.title.trim() || session.preview.trim() || "Untitled chat"
@@ -27,10 +29,18 @@ export class SessionMenu {
   private readonly picker: PickerMenu<SessionMenuRow>
   private readonly workspaceLabels = new Map<string, string>()
   private showWorkspaces = false
+  private spinnerFrame = 0
+  private spinnerTimer: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null
+  private rows: SessionMenuRow[] = []
+  private readonly snapshots = new Map<string, {
+    preview: string
+    runStartedAt: number | null
+  }>()
+  private readonly unreadChatIds = new Set<string>()
 
   constructor(
     renderer: CliRenderer,
-    theme: PickerMenuTheme,
+    private theme: PickerMenuTheme,
     onSelect?: (session: SessionSummary) => void,
   ) {
     this.picker = new PickerMenu<SessionMenuRow>(renderer, theme, {
@@ -45,7 +55,7 @@ export class SessionMenu {
         session.recoveryState?.status || "",
         session.recoveryState?.reason || "",
       ].join(" "),
-      render: (session) => {
+      render: (session, selected) => {
         const age = updatedLabel(session.updatedAt)
         const preview = session.preview.trim()
         const detail = [
@@ -56,12 +66,12 @@ export class SessionMenu {
         ]
           .filter(Boolean)
           .join(" · ")
-        const interrupted = session.recoveryState?.status === "awaiting_user"
+        const marker = this.marker(session)
-          || session.recoveryState?.status === "failed"
+        const foreground = selected ? this.theme.text : this.theme.muted
-        const marker = interrupted
+        return [
-          ? "△ "
+          ...(marker ? [chunk(`${marker.text} `, marker.color)] : []),
-          : session.active ? "● " : session.pinned ? "◆ " : session.archived ? "◇ " : ""
+          chunk(`${sessionLabel(session)}${detail ? `  ${detail}` : ""}`, foreground),
-        return `${marker}${sessionLabel(session)}${detail ? `  ${detail}` : ""}`
+        ]
       },
       emptyText: "No matching sessions",
       onSelect,
@@ -74,15 +84,36 @@ export class SessionMenu {
   }
 
   open(sessions: SessionSummary[], currentChatId: string, limit: number): void {
+    this.observe(sessions, currentChatId)
+    this.rows = this.prepareRows(sessions, currentChatId)
+    this.picker.show(this.rows, "", limit)
+    this.syncSpinner()
+  }
+
+  replace(sessions: SessionSummary[], currentChatId: string): void {
+    this.observe(sessions, currentChatId)
+    this.rows = this.prepareRows(sessions, currentChatId)
+    this.picker.replace(this.rows)
+    this.syncSpinner()
+  }
+
+  markRead(chatId: string): void {
+    this.unreadChatIds.delete(chatId)
+  }
+
+  private prepareRows(sessions: SessionSummary[], currentChatId: string): SessionMenuRow[] {
     this.prepareWorkspaceLabels(sessions)
-    const rows = sessions
+    return sessions
-      .map((session) => ({ ...session, active: session.chatId === currentChatId }))
+      .map((session) => ({
+        ...session,
+        active: session.chatId === currentChatId,
+        unread: this.unreadChatIds.has(session.chatId),
+      }))
       .sort((left, right) => {
         return Number(right.active) - Number(left.active)
           || Number(right.pinned) - Number(left.pinned)
           || Number(left.archived) - Number(right.archived)
       })
-    this.picker.show(rows, "", limit)
   }
 
   update(query: string, limit: number): void {
@@ -98,13 +129,81 @@ export class SessionMenu {
   }
 
   hide(): void {
+    this.stopSpinner()
+    this.rows = []
     this.picker.hide()
   }
 
   setTheme(theme: PickerMenuTheme): void {
+    this.theme = theme
     this.picker.setTheme(theme)
   }
 
+  private marker(session: SessionMenuRow): { text: string; color: string } | null {
+    const interrupted = session.recoveryState?.status === "awaiting_user"
+      || session.recoveryState?.status === "failed"
+    if (interrupted) {
+      return {
+        text: "⚠",
+        color: this.theme.warning || this.theme.accent || this.theme.text,
+      }
+    }
+    if (session.runStartedAt !== null) {
+      return {
+        text: SPINNER_FRAMES[this.spinnerFrame % SPINNER_FRAMES.length] || SPINNER_FRAMES[0]!,
+        color: this.theme.accent || this.theme.text,
+      }
+    }
+    if (session.active) return { text: "●", color: this.theme.text }
+    if (session.unread) return { text: "•", color: this.theme.accent || this.theme.text }
+    if (session.pinned) return { text: "◆", color: this.theme.muted }
+    if (session.archived) return { text: "◇", color: this.theme.muted }
+    return null
+  }
+
+  private observe(sessions: SessionSummary[], currentChatId: string): void {
+    const present = new Set<string>()
+    for (const session of sessions) {
+      present.add(session.chatId)
+      const previous = this.snapshots.get(session.chatId)
+      const active = session.chatId === currentChatId
+      const completed = previous !== undefined
+        && previous.runStartedAt !== null
+        && session.runStartedAt === null
+      const receivedContent = previous !== undefined && previous.preview !== session.preview
+      if (active) this.unreadChatIds.delete(session.chatId)
+      else if (completed || receivedContent) this.unreadChatIds.add(session.chatId)
+      this.snapshots.set(session.chatId, {
+        preview: session.preview,
+        runStartedAt: session.runStartedAt,
+      })
+    }
+    for (const chatId of this.snapshots.keys()) {
+      if (present.has(chatId)) continue
+      this.snapshots.delete(chatId)
+      this.unreadChatIds.delete(chatId)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private syncSpinner(): void {
+    if (!this.visible || !this.rows.some((session) => session.runStartedAt !== null)) {
+      this.stopSpinner()
+      return
+    }
+    if (this.spinnerTimer) return
+    this.spinnerTimer = setInterval(() => {
+      this.spinnerFrame = (this.spinnerFrame + 1) % SPINNER_FRAMES.length
+      this.picker.redraw()
+    }, 90)
+    ;(this.spinnerTimer as unknown as { unref?: () => void }).unref?.()
+  }
+
+  private stopSpinner(): void {
+    if (this.spinnerTimer) clearInterval(this.spinnerTimer)
+    this.spinnerTimer = null
+    this.spinnerFrame = 0
+  }
+
   private prepareWorkspaceLabels(sessions: SessionSummary[]): void {
     this.workspaceLabels.clear()
     const scopes = sessions.flatMap((session) => {
@@ -130,6 +229,14 @@ export class SessionMenu {
   }
 }
 
+function chunk(text: string, color: string): TextChunk {
+  return {
+    __isChunk: true,
+    text,
+    fg: RGBA.fromHex(color),
+  }
+}
+
 function normalizeWorkspacePath(value: string | undefined): string {
   return (value || "").trim().replace(/\\/gu, "/").replace(/\/+$/u, "")
 }