fix: keep terminal set title pane-local

Co-authored-by: Orca <help@stably.ai>

src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/TerminalPane.tsx

@@ -230,8 +230,7 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
   const [paneTitles, setPaneTitles] = useState<Record<number, string>>({})
   const paneTitlesRef = useRef<Record<number, string>>({})
   paneTitlesRef.current = paneTitles
-  const mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef = useRef<string | null>(null)
-  const previousPaneCountRef = useRef<number | null>(null)
+  const removedTitleLeafIdsRef = useRef<Set<string>>(new Set())
   const [renamingPaneId, setRenamingPaneId] = useState<number | null>(null)
   const [renameValue, setRenameValue] = useState('')
   const renameInputRef = useRef<HTMLInputElement>(null)
@@ -256,12 +255,6 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
   const setTabLayout = useAppStore((store) => store.setTabLayout)
   const initialLayoutRef = useRef(savedLayout)
   const updateTabTitle = useAppStore((store) => store.updateTabTitle)
-  const setTabCustomTitle = useAppStore((store) => store.setTabCustomTitle)
-  const tabCustomTitle = useAppStore(
-    (store) =>
-      (store.tabsByWorktree[worktreeId] ?? []).find((entry) => entry.id === tabId)?.customTitle ??
-      null
-  )
   const setRuntimePaneTitle = useAppStore((store) => store.setRuntimePaneTitle)
   const clearRuntimePaneTitle = useAppStore((store) => store.clearRuntimePaneTitle)
   const updateTabPtyId = useAppStore((store) => store.updateTabPtyId)
@@ -322,25 +315,6 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
   const dispatchNotification = useNotificationDispatch(worktreeId)
   const setCacheTimerStartedAt = useAppStore((store) => store.setCacheTimerStartedAt)
 
-  const getCurrentTabCustomTitle = useCallback((): string | null => {
-    const state = useAppStore.getState()
-    return (
-      (state.tabsByWorktree[worktreeId] ?? []).find((entry) => entry.id === tabId)?.customTitle ??
-      null
-    )
-  }, [tabId, worktreeId])
-
-  const clearMirroredPaneTitleCustomTitle = useCallback((): void => {
-    const mirroredTitle = mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current
-    if (!mirroredTitle) {
-      return
-    }
-    if (getCurrentTabCustomTitle() === mirroredTitle) {
-      setTabCustomTitle(tabId, null)
-    }
-    mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current = null
-  }, [getCurrentTabCustomTitle, setTabCustomTitle, tabId])
-
   // Memoized with useCallback so downstream hooks (useTerminalKeyboardShortcuts,
   // useTerminalPaneLifecycle, createExpandCollapseActions) don't tear down and
   // re-register event listeners on every render. All data it reads comes from
@@ -397,31 +371,30 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
     // Preserve pane titles — uses the live React state (via ref) rather than
     // the stale Zustand value because React state reflects in-flight title
     // edits that haven't been persisted yet.
-    const titles = paneTitlesRef.current
-    const titleEntries = currentPanes
-      .filter((p) => titles[p.id])
-      .map((p) => [p.leafId, titles[p.id]] as const)
-    if (titleEntries.length > 0) {
-      layout.titlesByLeafId = Object.fromEntries(titleEntries)
+    const titlesByLeafId: Record<string, string> = {}
+    const removedTitleLeafIds = removedTitleLeafIdsRef.current
+    for (const pane of currentPanes) {
+      const existingTitle = existing?.titlesByLeafId?.[pane.leafId]
+      if (existingTitle && !removedTitleLeafIds.has(pane.leafId)) {
+        titlesByLeafId[pane.leafId] = existingTitle
+      }
     }
-    const existingMirrorCustomTitle = existing?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle?.trim()
-    const currentTabCustomTitle = getCurrentTabCustomTitle()
-    const restoredMirrorCustomTitle =
-      existingMirrorCustomTitle &&
-      currentPanes.length === 1 &&
-      currentTabCustomTitle === existingMirrorCustomTitle
-        ? existingMirrorCustomTitle
-        : null
-    const mirroredCustomTitle = mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current ?? restoredMirrorCustomTitle
-    if (
-      mirroredCustomTitle &&
-      currentPanes.length === 1 &&
-      currentTabCustomTitle === mirroredCustomTitle
-    ) {
-      layout.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle = mirroredCustomTitle
+    // Why: active agents can trigger layout persists while pane-title React
+    // state is catching up. Preserve existing leaf titles unless this pane
+    // explicitly removed them, then overlay the live local pane-title state.
+    const titles = paneTitlesRef.current
+    for (const pane of currentPanes) {
+      const title = titles[pane.id]
+      if (title) {
+        titlesByLeafId[pane.leafId] = title
+        removedTitleLeafIds.delete(pane.leafId)
+      }
+    }
+    if (Object.keys(titlesByLeafId).length > 0) {
+      layout.titlesByLeafId = titlesByLeafId
     }
     setTabLayout(tabId, layout)
-  }, [getCurrentTabCustomTitle, tabId, setTabLayout])
+  }, [tabId, setTabLayout])
 
   const syncPanePtyLayoutBinding = useCallback(
     (paneId: number, ptyId: string | null): void => {
@@ -988,58 +961,6 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
     }
   }, [paneTitles, renamingPaneId])
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const manager = managerRef.current
-    if (!manager || mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current !== null) {
-      return
-    }
-    const panes = manager.getPanes()
-    if (panes.length !== 1) {
-      return
-    }
-    const paneTitle = paneTitles[panes[0].id]?.trim()
-    const mirroredCustomTitle = savedLayout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle?.trim()
-    if (paneTitle && mirroredCustomTitle && tabCustomTitle === mirroredCustomTitle) {
-      // Why: after session restore, a single-pane title mirrored into
-      // customTitle before shutdown should still be invalidated if the user
-      // later splits the terminal.
-      mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current = mirroredCustomTitle
-      previousPaneCountRef.current = panes.length
-    }
-  }, [paneCount, paneTitles, savedLayout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle, tabCustomTitle])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const mirroredTitle = mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current
-    if (mirroredTitle && tabCustomTitle !== null && tabCustomTitle !== mirroredTitle) {
-      // Why: a tab-bar rename is a separate, explicit label owner. Once the
-      // value diverges from the pane-title mirror, later split/remove actions
-      // must not clear that unrelated customTitle.
-      mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current = null
-    }
-  }, [tabCustomTitle])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const currentPaneCount = managerRef.current?.getPanes().length ?? paneCount
-    const previousPaneCount = previousPaneCountRef.current
-    previousPaneCountRef.current = currentPaneCount
-    if (previousPaneCount !== null && previousPaneCount <= 1 && currentPaneCount > 1) {
-      clearMirroredPaneTitleCustomTitle()
-    }
-  }, [clearMirroredPaneTitleCustomTitle, paneCount])
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const mirroredTitle = mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current
-    if (!mirroredTitle) {
-      return
-    }
-    if (savedLayout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle !== mirroredTitle) {
-      // Why: an explicit tab rename is allowed to match the pane title text.
-      // The persisted owner marker, not text equality, decides whether later
-      // split/remove cleanup may clear customTitle.
-      mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current = null
-    }
-  }, [savedLayout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle])
-
   // Register a capture callback for shutdown. The beforeunload handler in
   // App.tsx calls all registered callbacks to serialize terminal buffers.
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -1109,12 +1030,13 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
         delete next[paneId]
         paneTitlesRef.current = next
       }
-      if ((managerRef.current?.getPanes().length ?? 1) <= 1) {
-        clearMirroredPaneTitleCustomTitle()
+      const leafId = managerRef.current?.getPanes().find((pane) => pane.id === paneId)?.leafId
+      if (leafId) {
+        removedTitleLeafIdsRef.current.add(leafId)
       }
       persistLayoutSnapshot()
     },
-    [clearMirroredPaneTitleCustomTitle, persistLayoutSnapshot]
+    [persistLayoutSnapshot]
   )
 
   const handleRenameSubmit = useCallback(() => {
@@ -1136,25 +1058,14 @@ export default function TerminalPane({
     // waiting for React to re-render and assign it during the next
     // render pass.
     paneTitlesRef.current = { ...paneTitlesRef.current, [renamingPaneId]: trimmed }
-    if ((managerRef.current?.getPanes().length ?? 1) <= 1) {
-      // Why: with one pane, the terminal context menu's title action is the
-      // tab title action users expect; customTitle keeps Codex OSC title churn
-      // from immediately replacing their label.
-      mirroredPaneTitleCustomTitleRef.current = trimmed
-      previousPaneCountRef.current = managerRef.current?.getPanes().length ?? 1
-      setTabCustomTitle(tabId, trimmed, { preservePaneTitleMirror: true })
+    const leafId = managerRef.current?.getPanes().find((pane) => pane.id === renamingPaneId)?.leafId
+    if (leafId) {
+      removedTitleLeafIdsRef.current.delete(leafId)
     }
     setRenamingPaneId(null)
     // Persist immediately so the title survives restarts.
     persistLayoutSnapshot()
-  }, [
-    renamingPaneId,
-    renameValue,
-    removePaneTitle,
-    setTabCustomTitle,
-    tabId,
-    persistLayoutSnapshot
-  ])
+  }, [renamingPaneId, renameValue, removePaneTitle, persistLayoutSnapshot])
 
   const handleRenameCancel = useCallback(() => {
     renameSubmittedRef.current = true

src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-shutdown-layout-capture.test.ts

@@ -126,8 +126,7 @@ describe('captureTerminalShutdownLayout', () => {
         root: null,
         activeLeafId: null,
         expandedLeafId: null,
-        buffersByLeafId: { [LEAF_ID]: 'previous-local-scrollback' },
-        paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle: 'local shell'
+        buffersByLeafId: { [LEAF_ID]: 'previous-local-scrollback' }
       },
       captureBuffers: false
     })
@@ -137,6 +136,5 @@ describe('captureTerminalShutdownLayout', () => {
     expect(layout.buffersByLeafId).toBeUndefined()
     expect(layout.ptyIdsByLeafId).toEqual({ [LEAF_ID]: 'pty-1' })
     expect(layout.titlesByLeafId).toEqual({ [LEAF_ID]: 'local shell' })
-    expect(layout.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle).toBe('local shell')
   })
 })

src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-shutdown-layout-capture.ts

@@ -108,9 +108,6 @@ export function captureTerminalShutdownLayout({
   if (titleEntries.length > 0) {
     layout.titlesByLeafId = Object.fromEntries(titleEntries)
   }
-  if (panes.length === 1 && existingLayout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle) {
-    layout.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle = existingLayout.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle
-  }
 
   return layout
 }

src/renderer/src/store/slices/terminals.ts

@@ -221,11 +221,7 @@ export type TerminalSlice = {
    *  model where the bell stays visible until the user engages with the
    *  surface that raised it. */
   clearTerminalTabUnread: (tabId: string) => void
-  setTabCustomTitle: (
-    tabId: string,
-    title: string | null,
-    options?: { preservePaneTitleMirror?: boolean }
-  ) => void
+  setTabCustomTitle: (tabId: string, title: string | null) => void
   setTabColor: (tabId: string, color: string | null) => void
   updateTabPtyId: (tabId: string, ptyId: string) => void
   clearTabPtyId: (tabId: string, ptyId?: string) => void
@@ -962,34 +958,14 @@ export const createTerminalSlice: StateCreator<AppState, [], [], TerminalSlice>
     })
   },
 
-  setTabCustomTitle: (tabId, title, options) => {
+  setTabCustomTitle: (tabId, title) => {
     set((s) => {
       const next = { ...s.tabsByWorktree }
       for (const wId of Object.keys(next)) {
         next[wId] = next[wId].map((t) => (t.id === tabId ? { ...t, customTitle: title } : t))
       }
-      let terminalLayoutsByTabId = s.terminalLayoutsByTabId
-      const layout = s.terminalLayoutsByTabId[tabId]
-      if (options?.preservePaneTitleMirror && title) {
-        terminalLayoutsByTabId = {
-          ...s.terminalLayoutsByTabId,
-          [tabId]: {
-            ...(layout ?? emptyLayoutSnapshot()),
-            paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle: title
-          }
-        }
-      } else if (layout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle !== undefined) {
-        const { paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle: _mirrorOwner, ...layoutWithoutMirrorOwner } = layout
-        // Why: generic tab renames, including same-text renames, are explicit
-        // owners. TerminalPane immediately restores this marker when Set Title
-        // is the caller that is intentionally mirroring a single-pane title.
-        terminalLayoutsByTabId = {
-          ...s.terminalLayoutsByTabId,
-          [tabId]: layoutWithoutMirrorOwner
-        }
-      }
       scheduleRuntimeGraphSync()
-      return { tabsByWorktree: next, terminalLayoutsByTabId }
+      return { tabsByWorktree: next }
     })
     const item = Object.values(get().unifiedTabsByWorktree)
       .flat()

src/shared/types.ts

@@ -485,8 +485,6 @@ export type TerminalLayoutSnapshot = {
   /** User-assigned pane titles, keyed by stable layout leaf UUID.
    *  Persisted alongside buffers via the existing session:set flow. */
   titlesByLeafId?: Record<string, string>
-  /** Single-pane title mirrored into the tab custom title by Terminal Set Title. */
-  paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle?: string
 }
 
 /** Minimal subset of OpenFile persisted across restarts.

src/shared/workspace-session-schema.test.ts

@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ describe('parseWorkspaceSession', () => {
           },
           activeLeafId: 'pane:1',
           expandedLeafId: null,
-          ptyIdsByLeafId: { 'pane:1': 'daemon-session-A' },
-          paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle: 'build'
+          ptyIdsByLeafId: { 'pane:1': 'daemon-session-A' }
         }
       },
       activeWorktreeIdsOnShutdown: ['repo1::/path/wt1']

src/shared/workspace-session-schema.ts

@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@ const terminalLayoutSnapshotSchema = z.object({
   expandedLeafId: z.string().nullable(),
   ptyIdsByLeafId: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).optional(),
   buffersByLeafId: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).optional(),
-  titlesByLeafId: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).optional(),
-  paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle: z.string().optional()
+  titlesByLeafId: z.record(z.string(), z.string()).optional()
 })
 
 // ─── Terminal tab (legacy) ──────────────────────────────────────────

tests/e2e/terminal-panes.spec.ts

@@ -83,19 +83,6 @@ async function expectTabCustomTitle(
     .toBe(expected)
 }
 
-async function setTabCustomTitleDirect(
-  page: Page,
-  tabId: string,
-  title: string | null
-): Promise<void> {
-  await page.evaluate(
-    ({ targetTabId, title }) => {
-      window.__store!.getState().setTabCustomTitle(targetTabId, title)
-    },
-    { targetTabId: tabId, title }
-  )
-}
-
 async function expectSavedLayoutNotToContainTitle(
   page: Page,
   tabId: string,
@@ -216,54 +203,54 @@ test.describe('Terminal Panes', () => {
     expect(activeLeafId).toMatch(UUID_RE)
   })
 
-  test('Set Title ownership survives agent churn and preserves split semantics', async ({
-    orcaPage
-  }) => {
+  test('Set Title stays pane-local during agent title churn', async ({ orcaPage }) => {
     const worktreeId = (await getActiveWorktreeId(orcaPage))!
-    let tabId = (await getActiveTabId(orcaPage))!
-    const customTitle = `Codex label ${Date.now()}`
+    const tabId = (await getActiveTabId(orcaPage))!
+    const paneTitle = `Codex pane ${Date.now()}`
     const removeButtonTitle = `Remove button label ${Date.now()}`
     const splitTitle = `Split label ${Date.now()}`
-    const runtimeTitle = '⠋ Codex split working'
-    const explicitTitle = `Explicit tab ${Date.now()}`
-    const paneOnlyTitle = `Pane only ${Date.now()}`
+    const runtimeTitle = '⠋ Codex working'
 
-    await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, customTitle)
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, customTitle)
+    await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, paneTitle)
+    await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: paneTitle })).toBeVisible()
+    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, null)
 
-    await orcaPage.getByRole('button', { name: `Edit pane title: ${customTitle}` }).focus()
+    await orcaPage.getByRole('button', { name: `Edit pane title: ${paneTitle}` }).focus()
     await orcaPage.keyboard.press('Enter')
     await expect(orcaPage.getByRole('textbox', { name: 'Pane title' })).toBeVisible()
     await orcaPage.keyboard.press('Escape')
 
-    await orcaPage.evaluate((targetTabId) => {
-      window.__store!.getState().updateTabTitle(targetTabId, '⠋ Codex working')
-    }, tabId)
+    await orcaPage.evaluate(
+      ({ targetTabId, title }) => {
+        window.__store!.getState().updateTabTitle(targetTabId, title)
+      },
+      { targetTabId: tabId, title: runtimeTitle }
+    )
 
-    // Why: active agent CLIs continuously write OSC titles. A user-set label
-    // must stay visible as customTitle while the live title keeps changing.
+    // Why: active agents continuously write OSC titles. Set Title is Orca's
+    // pane-local overlay and must remain visible while the tab runtime title
+    // continues to follow the active PTY.
+    await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: paneTitle })).toBeVisible()
     await expect(
       orcaPage.locator(`[data-testid="sortable-tab"][data-tab-id="${tabId}"]`)
-    ).toHaveAttribute('data-tab-title', customTitle)
+    ).toHaveAttribute('data-tab-title', runtimeTitle)
+    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, null)
 
     await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, '')
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, null)
-    await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: customTitle })).toBeHidden()
-    await expectSavedLayoutNotToContainTitle(orcaPage, tabId, customTitle)
+    await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: paneTitle })).toBeHidden()
+    await expectSavedLayoutNotToContainTitle(orcaPage, tabId, paneTitle)
 
     await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, removeButtonTitle)
     await orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-bar', { hasText: removeButtonTitle }).hover()
     await orcaPage.getByRole('button', { name: `Remove pane title: ${removeButtonTitle}` }).click()
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, null)
     await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: removeButtonTitle })).toBeHidden()
     await expectSavedLayoutNotToContainTitle(orcaPage, tabId, removeButtonTitle)
 
     await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, splitTitle)
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, splitTitle)
+    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, null)
 
     await splitActiveTerminalPane(orcaPage, 'vertical')
     await waitForPaneCount(orcaPage, 2)
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, null)
     await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: splitTitle })).toBeVisible()
 
     await orcaPage.evaluate(
@@ -275,22 +262,6 @@ test.describe('Terminal Panes', () => {
     await expect(
       orcaPage.locator(`[data-testid="sortable-tab"][data-tab-id="${tabId}"]`)
     ).toHaveAttribute('data-tab-title', runtimeTitle)
-
-    await orcaPage.evaluate((targetWorktreeId) => {
-      window.__store!.getState().createTab(targetWorktreeId)
-    }, worktreeId)
-    await waitForPaneCount(orcaPage, 1)
-    tabId = (await getActiveTabId(orcaPage))!
-
-    await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, `Mirror before explicit ${Date.now()}`)
-    await setTabCustomTitleDirect(orcaPage, tabId, explicitTitle)
-    await splitActiveTerminalPane(orcaPage, 'vertical')
-    await waitForPaneCount(orcaPage, 2)
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, explicitTitle)
-
-    await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(orcaPage, paneOnlyTitle)
-    await expect(orcaPage.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: paneOnlyTitle })).toBeVisible()
-    await expectTabCustomTitle(orcaPage, worktreeId, tabId, explicitTitle)
   })
 
   test('closing a split pane prunes its leaf-keyed PTY binding without remapping siblings', async ({

tests/e2e/terminal-restart-persistence.spec.ts

@@ -135,26 +135,6 @@ async function getTabCustomTitle(
   )
 }
 
-async function setTabCustomTitleDirect(
-  page: Page,
-  tabId: string,
-  title: string | null
-): Promise<void> {
-  await page.evaluate(
-    ({ targetTabId, title }) => {
-      window.__store!.getState().setTabCustomTitle(targetTabId, title)
-    },
-    { targetTabId: tabId, title }
-  )
-}
-
-async function getSavedLayoutMirrorTitle(page: Page, tabId: string): Promise<string | null> {
-  return page.evaluate((targetTabId) => {
-    const layout = window.__store!.getState().terminalLayoutsByTabId[targetTabId]
-    return layout?.paneTitleMirroredCustomTitle ?? null
-  }, tabId)
-}
-
 async function expectSavedLayoutToContainTitle(
   page: Page,
   tabId: string,
@@ -301,7 +281,7 @@ test.describe('Terminal restart persistence', () => {
     }
   })
 
-  test('restored single-pane Set Title ownership clears after split', async (// oxlint-disable-next-line no-empty-pattern -- Playwright's second fixture arg is testInfo; the first must be an object destructure to opt out of the default fixture set.
+  test('restored Set Title pane label survives agent title churn', async (// oxlint-disable-next-line no-empty-pattern -- Playwright's second fixture arg is testInfo; the first must be an object destructure to opt out of the default fixture set.
   {}, testInfo) => {
     const repoPath = readFileSync(TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE, 'utf-8').trim()
     if (!repoPath || !existsSync(repoPath)) {
@@ -325,7 +305,7 @@ test.describe('Terminal restart persistence', () => {
         .poll(() => getTabCustomTitle(firstLaunch.page, worktreeId, firstTabId), {
           timeout: 3_000
         })
-        .toBe(title)
+        .toBe(null)
 
       await session.close(firstApp)
       firstApp = null
@@ -336,27 +316,14 @@ test.describe('Terminal restart persistence', () => {
       const restoredTabId = (await getActiveTabId(secondLaunch.page))!
 
       await expect(secondLaunch.page.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: title })).toBeVisible()
-      await expect
-        .poll(() => getTabCustomTitle(secondLaunch.page, worktreeId, restoredTabId), {
-          timeout: 3_000
-        })
-        .toBe(title)
-      await expectSavedLayoutToContainTitle(secondLaunch.page, restoredTabId, title)
-      await expect
-        .poll(() => getSavedLayoutMirrorTitle(secondLaunch.page, restoredTabId), {
-          timeout: 3_000
-        })
-        .toBe(title)
-
-      await splitActiveTerminalPane(secondLaunch.page, 'vertical')
-      await waitForPaneCount(secondLaunch.page, 2)
       await expect
         .poll(() => getTabCustomTitle(secondLaunch.page, worktreeId, restoredTabId), {
           timeout: 3_000
         })
         .toBe(null)
+      await expectSavedLayoutToContainTitle(secondLaunch.page, restoredTabId, title)
 
-      const runtimeTitle = '⠋ Codex restored split working'
+      const runtimeTitle = '⠋ Codex restored working'
       await secondLaunch.page.evaluate(
         ({ targetTabId, title }) => {
           window.__store!.getState().updateTabTitle(targetTabId, title)
@@ -366,71 +333,16 @@ test.describe('Terminal restart persistence', () => {
       await expect(
         secondLaunch.page.locator(`[data-testid="sortable-tab"][data-tab-id="${restoredTabId}"]`)
       ).toHaveAttribute('data-tab-title', runtimeTitle)
-    } finally {
-      if (secondApp) {
-        await session.close(secondApp)
-      }
-      if (firstApp) {
-        await session.close(firstApp)
-      }
-      await session.dispose()
-    }
-  })
-
-  test('restored same-text explicit tab title survives split', async (// oxlint-disable-next-line no-empty-pattern -- Playwright's second fixture arg is testInfo; the first must be an object destructure to opt out of the default fixture set.
-  {}, testInfo) => {
-    const repoPath = readFileSync(TEST_REPO_PATH_FILE, 'utf-8').trim()
-    if (!repoPath || !existsSync(repoPath)) {
-      test.skip(true, 'Global setup did not produce a seeded test repo')
-      return
-    }
-
-    const session = createRestartSession(testInfo)
-    let firstApp: ElectronApplication | null = null
-    let secondApp: ElectronApplication | null = null
-
-    try {
-      const firstLaunch = await session.launch()
-      firstApp = firstLaunch.app
-      const { worktreeId } = await bootstrapFirstLaunch(firstLaunch.page, repoPath)
-      const title = `Explicit same label ${Date.now()}`
-      const firstTabId = (await getActiveTabId(firstLaunch.page))!
-
-      await setPaneTitleFromTerminalMenu(firstLaunch.page, title)
+      await expect(secondLaunch.page.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: title })).toBeVisible()
       await expect
-        .poll(() => getTabCustomTitle(firstLaunch.page, worktreeId, firstTabId), {
-          timeout: 3_000
-        })
-        .toBe(title)
-
-      await session.close(firstApp)
-      firstApp = null
-
-      const secondLaunch = await session.launch()
-      secondApp = secondLaunch.app
-      await bootstrapRestoredLaunch(secondLaunch.page, worktreeId)
-      const restoredTabId = (await getActiveTabId(secondLaunch.page))!
-
-      await expect
-        .poll(() => getSavedLayoutMirrorTitle(secondLaunch.page, restoredTabId), {
-          timeout: 3_000
-        })
-        .toBe(title)
-
-      await setTabCustomTitleDirect(secondLaunch.page, restoredTabId, title)
-      await expect
-        .poll(() => getSavedLayoutMirrorTitle(secondLaunch.page, restoredTabId), {
+        .poll(() => getTabCustomTitle(secondLaunch.page, worktreeId, restoredTabId), {
           timeout: 3_000
         })
         .toBe(null)
 
       await splitActiveTerminalPane(secondLaunch.page, 'vertical')
       await waitForPaneCount(secondLaunch.page, 2)
-      await expect
-        .poll(() => getTabCustomTitle(secondLaunch.page, worktreeId, restoredTabId), {
-          timeout: 3_000
-        })
-        .toBe(title)
+      await expect(secondLaunch.page.locator('.pane-title-text', { hasText: title })).toBeVisible()
     } finally {
       if (secondApp) {
         await session.close(secondApp)