Local workflows

Sub-features

Command/workspace palette, workspace rename, literal terminal search, pane zoom, worktree create/open/remove, working-tree change summaries and per-file diff review.

Project scope: open Choose Project below Search, search by name/path and choose one project or All projects. Scope filters the workspace list while global attention and the palette still reach all workspaces. New Workspace proposes the scoped folder.

app::tests::project_scope_filters_without_rebuilding_workspaces checks the native selector, search/no-match/activation/focus, persisted scope, global attention count, explicit navigation, creation default, passive refresh and row/terminal identity. It emits light/dark, duplicate/long-name, 360px, enlarged-text and RTL renders. sidebar::tests::project_projection_retains_collapsed_groups_and_shows_external_parent_children checks cross-project task children and retained collapse. Core project tests cover authority and legacy migration; real Git worktree tests cover canonical membership and persisted metadata backfill after restart. Native high contrast is also run with ADW_DEBUG_HIGH_CONTRAST=1; CSS-class scenes alone do not certify native HIG.

How to get to it (user POV)

Use Ctrl+Shift+P for the palette, Ctrl+Shift+R to rename, Ctrl+Shift+F to search and Ctrl+Shift+Z to zoom. The window menu also exposes these commands, Worktrees and Show Changes. Worktree creation opens a shell workspace. Closing that workspace preserves its checkout; removal is a separate confirmation. Show Changes (Ctrl+Shift+D) docks a panel beside the terminals and follows the active workspace. Activate a file to read its numbered patch. Back returns to the preserved file list; Refresh reads current changes again.

Driving it with GTK and real Git

Run cargo build --workspace then cargo test -p signaltty-server --test worktrees. The suite drives actual IPC and the CLI executable against isolated repositories: checkout isolation/reuse, literal paths, restore, branch retention, dirty/main/locked refusal, background-process cwd checks and removal racing ordinary creation/launch.

Run each display test in its own process with GTK_A11Y=none dbus-run-session -- cargo test -p signaltty-gui <name> -- --exact --ignored --test-threads=1:

• app::tests::open_task_board_preserves_identity_scroll_and_focus_on_updates
• app::tests::task_board_live_activation_and_neighbor_fallback_use_current_rows covers current pane activation, same-column fallback and surviving reading anchors when removals force GTK to clamp a nearly-bottom viewport.
• app::tests::task_board_explains_truncated_done_history
• app::tests::task_board_fits_narrow_windows_and_reveals_last_column checks two-line titles and visible Previous/Next navigation through overflow, including control bounds with enlarged high-contrast text.
• app::tests::preferences_preview_schemes_and_themes checks paired theme miniatures, selection persistence and wrapping at 360px.
• app::tests::shell_empty_states_explain_actions_and_fit_large_text
• app::tests::workspace_header_context_survives_shell_agent_and_empty_transitions
• app::tests::navigation_palette_fast_enter_and_git_dialogs_use_native_controls
• app::tests::palette_keyboard_selection_stays_visible_while_search_keeps_focus
• app::tests::palette_empty_results_and_shortcuts_fit_narrow_appearances
• app::tests::file_diff_reader_uses_native_numbered_selectable_controls
• app::tests::pane_zoom_keeps_hidden_terminals_and_restores_latest_ratios
• terminal::tests::terminal_search_is_literal_and_keeps_the_terminal

Set SIGNALTTY_UI_EVIDENCE=/absolute/evidence/path for the navigation test to export actual GTK window renders of palette/worktrees/changes in light and dark themes. This fixture loads production CSS and checks branch/path hierarchy, compact checkout content and filtered palette group/target mapping. Terminal search and zoom tests export their scenes to the same path when supported. Inspect every saved image before accepting it.

Observe shell branch/path fallback, preserved agent summary, cleared context and separator after the last workspace, and header controls inside 360px in both appearances with enlarged text. The header test exports native scenes through SIGNALTTY_UI_EVIDENCE.

Observe selected-result visibility through long-list arrow navigation and filtering after scrolling, mapped no-match guidance and recovery, readable shortcut subtitles at 360px with enlarged text, immediate typing+Enter navigation, blank rename refusal, stable handles, unchanged VTE objects, continued hidden output, unchanged server ratios, literal file labels and binary/untracked indicators. Actor tests also prove slow worktree requests keep the normal control and PTY stream available and are never retried.

Gotchas

GTK dialog tests inject replies at the production IPC actor seam to exercise widgets without mutating real checkouts. Real filesystem effects are established separately by the server/CLI suite. The diff is against HEAD, not per-turn output; renames appear as deletion/addition. Removal is never forced and keeps branches. A provider's native model session requires a separate live verification.

Selected-file IPC fixtures run with cargo test -p signaltty-server --test file_diff. They use real temporary repositories. The GUI file-diff display test uses the same production row/reader controls with delayed actor replies to prove stale-response handling. Under a headless environment, wrap its documented command with xvfb-run -a; export SIGNALTTY_UI_EVIDENCE to inspect light, dark and narrow reader captures. Binary, unavailable and truncated previews need explicit notices. The reader test also copies selected text through the actual isolated clipboard, returns focus to the selected row, loads the production stylesheet, checks semantic colors in both themes, and verifies closed reader widgets are released after their pending replies finish. The closed dialog releases its child from the native host.

The completed-history board test compares 25 versus 20 finished tasks, checks the newest 20 rows, total heading and conditional subset notice, and exports light/dark enlarged-text scenes through SIGNALTTY_UI_EVIDENCE.

Live board tests exercise production App refresh, dialog/row identity, metadata, viewport anchors, narrow focused migration, rapid event bursts, newer focus, original-column neighbor fallback, current pane activation, empty transitions and close with pending restoration. Native GTK animations are allowed to finish before asserting final geometry; no provider requests are made.

Automatic workspace names

New Workspace defaults to a first-message AI title for Codex/Claude. Switch off Automatic name for the native editable name field. The folder name is provisional; manual Rename Workspace takes precedence, including during generation.

cargo test -p signaltty-server --test workspace_titles uses fake metadata CLIs through a real isolated server: opt-in, first prompt, immediate hook response, stable handles, single attempt, manual rename races, failures and persistence. Server unit tests cover invalid output, Claude tool disabling, naming events and interrupted restore. The shell empty-state display test also exports workspace-panel and workspace-create desktop/large light/dark scenes, checks status is below the title, and exercises automatic/manual name validation. These tests do not contact paid providers or certify account/model compatibility.

Reliable creation and compact tools

app::tests::workspace_creation_retains_draft_and_retries_only_the_failed_command drives production form actions against deterministic actor failures: invalid manual name/custom command cannot submit, pending draft cannot dismiss or submit twice, workspace-create failure retains editable choices, startup failure preserves the created id and freezes its folder/name, corrected command retries without a duplicate workspace, and success focuses the VTE. Exports light/dark validation, pending and partial-failure renders plus enlarged narrow/high-contrast validation.

new_workspace::tests::dialog_validation_explains_invalid_folder checks a missing folder's visible guidance. dialog_confirm_emits_validated_request checks retained draft, pending state and explicit completion/retry at the form seam.

app::tests::visible_workspace_tools_open_palette_and_board_without_main_menu checks wide header entry points, labeled compact sidebar controls, actual Board activation and Changes toggle synchronization. Exports 360px light/dark and large-text/high-contrast compact controls. These are isolated GTK scenes, not proof of screen-reader/OSK/IME or a real folder chooser.

Icon/placement acceptance: owned_icon_roles_resolve_and_render_without_external_themes resolves bundled symbolic roles with external search paths disabled and exports native 16/32px light/dark sheets. The toolbar test also checks New Tab compact bounds, RTL group order and keyboard focus. Worktree navigation captures narrow enlarged text and asserts Create/Refresh targets stay inside the window. The Details fixture checks decorative roles and still proves Copy Path and Changes handoff. Run the icon, toolbar and Details fixtures with ADW_DEBUG_HIGH_CONTRAST=1 for native high-contrast sheets/scenes.

Changes reading hierarchy: changes_panel_scopes_to_the_latest_turn checks a mapped Changes title, visible Working tree/Latest turn controls fitting 360px with Sans 18 and mirrored RTL, selected scope and absence of resize-triggered reads. file_diff_reader_uses_native_numbered_selectable_controls checks hunk-to-code separation, unchanged clipboard text, high-contrast number foreground when requested, long literal paths/code in a narrow RTL panel, internal horizontal scrolling and existing Back/stale-response/selection invariants. Standalone scene windows mirror App dark/high-contrast CSS classes. Use ADW_DEBUG_HIGH_CONTRAST=1 on these exact tests for native high contrast; screenshots require review.