From 6dca348325750059849ed03a6d9c7455262cdb55 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: brennanb2025 <brennankbenson@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 17 May 2026 15:19:26 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Start default agent for onboarding folders

Co-authored-by: Orca <help@stably.ai>
---
 .../onboarding-folder-agent-startup.test.ts   | 39 ++++++++++++++++++
 .../onboarding-folder-agent-startup.ts        | 41 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../onboarding/use-onboarding-flow.ts         |  8 +++-
 3 files changed, 86 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.test.ts
 create mode 100644 src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.ts

diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..12363a143f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { getDefaultSettings } from '../../../../shared/constants'
+import { buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup } from './onboarding-folder-agent-startup'
+
+describe('buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup', () => {
+  it('queues the persisted default agent with onboarding telemetry', () => {
+    const startup = buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup({
+      ...getDefaultSettings('/tmp/orca-workspaces'),
+      defaultTuiAgent: 'codex'
+    })
+
+    expect(startup).toEqual({
+      command: 'codex',
+      telemetry: {
+        agent_kind: 'codex',
+        launch_source: 'onboarding',
+        request_kind: 'new'
+      }
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('respects the blank terminal preference', () => {
+    const startup = buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup({
+      ...getDefaultSettings('/tmp/orca-workspaces'),
+      defaultTuiAgent: 'blank'
+    })
+
+    expect(startup).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  it('does not infer an agent from auto mode', () => {
+    const startup = buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup({
+      ...getDefaultSettings('/tmp/orca-workspaces'),
+      defaultTuiAgent: null
+    })
+
+    expect(startup).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8e46393baa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/onboarding-folder-agent-startup.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { buildAgentStartupPlan } from '@/lib/tui-agent-startup'
+import { CLIENT_PLATFORM } from '@/lib/new-workspace'
+import { tuiAgentToAgentKind } from '@/lib/telemetry'
+import type { AgentStartedTelemetry } from '@/lib/worktree-activation'
+import type { GlobalSettings } from '../../../../shared/types'
+
+export type OnboardingFolderAgentStartup = {
+  command: string
+  env?: Record<string, string>
+  telemetry: AgentStartedTelemetry
+}
+
+export function buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup(
+  settings: GlobalSettings | null
+): OnboardingFolderAgentStartup | undefined {
+  const agent = settings?.defaultTuiAgent
+  if (!settings || !agent || agent === 'blank') {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  const startupPlan = buildAgentStartupPlan({
+    agent,
+    prompt: '',
+    cmdOverrides: settings.agentCmdOverrides ?? {},
+    platform: CLIENT_PLATFORM,
+    allowEmptyPromptLaunch: true
+  })
+  if (!startupPlan) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  return {
+    command: startupPlan.launchCommand,
+    ...(startupPlan.env ? { env: startupPlan.env } : {}),
+    telemetry: {
+      agent_kind: tuiAgentToAgentKind(agent),
+      launch_source: 'onboarding',
+      request_kind: 'new'
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/use-onboarding-flow.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/use-onboarding-flow.ts
index bccafebe047..6a04f2d9eac 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/use-onboarding-flow.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/onboarding/use-onboarding-flow.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
 import { STEPS, type StepNumber } from './use-onboarding-flow-types'
 import { persistStep, useCloseWith, usePersistCurrentStep } from './use-onboarding-flow-persistence'
 import { callRuntimeRpc, getActiveRuntimeTarget } from '@/runtime/runtime-rpc-client'
+import { buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup } from './onboarding-folder-agent-startup'
 
 export { STEPS } from './use-onboarding-flow-types'
 export type { StepId, StepNumber } from './use-onboarding-flow-types'
@@ -268,7 +269,10 @@ export function useOnboardingFlow(
       await fetchWorktrees(repoId)
       const worktree = useAppStore.getState().worktreesByRepo[repoId]?.[0]
       if (worktree) {
-        activateAndRevealWorktree(worktree.id)
+        // Why: onboarding asks for a default agent immediately before this step.
+        // Non-git folders skip the composer, so seed their first terminal here.
+        const startup = isGit ? undefined : buildOnboardingFolderAgentStartup(settings)
+        activateAndRevealWorktree(worktree.id, startup ? { startup } : undefined)
       }
       // Why: next() short-circuits step 4, so emit step_completed here once the
       // repo is successfully added to keep the funnel consistent. Gate on
@@ -299,7 +303,7 @@ export function useOnboardingFlow(
         })
       }
     },
-    [closeWith, consumeStepDurationMs, fetchRepos, fetchWorktrees, openModal]
+    [closeWith, consumeStepDurationMs, fetchRepos, fetchWorktrees, openModal, settings]
   )
 
   const persistCurrentStep = usePersistCurrentStep({