Workspace structure

Sub-features

Pane parentage, exact layout membership, split/close, atomic failed spawn, sidebar reading hierarchy and pane focus/attention chrome.

How to get to it (user POV)

Create a workspace/tab, split with Ctrl+Shift+E or Ctrl+Shift+O and close a pane with Ctrl+Shift+W. Workspace close presents a destructive confirmation. Tab and pane close also confirm for live processes, including idle shells; exited and restored terminals and empty tabs close directly.

Driving it with real IPC/GTK

Run python3 scripts/qa-server-edge-cases.py. Foreign tabs, omitted/duplicate leaves and failed executables must be rejected without corrupting ownership; finite divider ratios clamp to 0.05–0.95. Run the graphical helper to split/close a recovered session. close_workspace_confirms verifies the actual confirmation.

Run scripts/qa-ui-scenes.py --output /tmp/signaltty-ui.png in light and dark, then with --width 360 --long-choice, --font 'Sans 18' and ADW_DEBUG_HIGH_CONTRAST=1. Inspect that sidebar messages/metadata span the row, urgency remains beside Close, inactive pane titles stay readable, and the focused header stays distinct inside an attention ring. Workspace context is branch-first; the title tooltip retains the full directory. The header separator and focus paint must not change terminal allocation during navigation.

Gotchas

Layout replacement rearranges every owned pane exactly once; removal is explicit pane.close. Server integration tests also inject legacy hidden panes and prove closure cleans them. Never close the user's workspace during a verification run.

Workspace refinement: generated_bare_headlines_do_not_repeat_status_but_messages_and_durations_remain covers generated versus explicit activity text. The isolated GTK test row_refresh_keeps_status_and_metadata_identity_when_headline_changes covers metadata icons, empty/child hiding, tooltips and retained widgets. The existing shell_empty_states_explain_actions_and_fit_large_text fixture also captures the 200px workspace rail with enlarged text and asserted application high contrast.

app::tests::terminal_closures_confirm_live_targets_and_preserve_failed_tabs checks Cancel defaults, no IPC on cancellation, original target through workspace navigation, VTE/tab identity on cancelled and failed closes, and direct exited, restored and empty closure. SIGNALTTY_UI_EVIDENCE captures production-CSS light/dark confirmations. The full runner executes it in its own display process.

The desktop reliability probe now cancels its live-terminal close, waits for the confirmation to dismiss, verifies all three panes remain, then confirms and checks the resulting two panes through real IPC. This path runs in desktop mode, not full.

terminal::tests::keyboard_focus_renders_an_inactive_panes_controls also asserts a logical visual gap between the paired splits and Close, preserving 28px targets.

Compact workspace hierarchy: sidebar::tests::workspace_previews_follow_selection_without_hiding_attention_or_tasks checks direct/programmatic selection, refresh identity, unread/attention/blocked previews and retained task chips. app::tests::shell_empty_states_explain_actions_and_fit_large_text captures a ten-workspace fixture, RTL sidebar and 200px enlarged-text rail with protected title/status allocations. app::tests::workspace_header_context_survives_shell_agent_and_empty_transitions checks branch/agent/basename/Detached HEAD, full tooltip identity and narrow context hiding. SIGNALTTY_UI_EVIDENCE saves actual native light/dark/stress scenes.

Top bar hierarchy: app::tests::workspace_header_context_survives_shell_agent_and_empty_transitions checks short-title ink/allocation and compact identity gaps and centered placement at 1280px and up to 2400px in LTR/RTL, bounded by monitor width in the shared runner, measures title space with enlarged text and active attention, native drag-region allocations, mirrored RTL order, full Details metadata and retained VTE identity. It asserts native high contrast when requested. app::tests::visible_workspace_tools_open_palette_and_board_without_main_menu exercises compact New Tab/Board/Changes tools, preserving the docked workspace sidebar while dismissing its collapsed overlay, and their return to the header. Content-width breakpoints keep icons compact with Changes docked; sidebar collapse preserves labeled footer access even while content is unmapped. Actual compositor dragging remains a desktop-only check.

Sidebar app identity: app::tests::sidebar_brand_is_static_and_keeps_creation_reachable_at_minimum_width resolves regular/symbolic app icons without filesystem themes and captures 16/32/64/128px regular plus 16/24/32px symbolic sizes. It checks decorative role/focus, complete app-name tooltip, brand/action bounds at 200px with Sans 18 and RTL, native high contrast when requested, and New Workspace activation through the GTK keyboard action and click signal. Existing isolated desktop-install tests cover deployment paths; real launcher/switcher rendering remains a manual desktop check.