AI buttons stop writing a launch record (#28209)

* fix(agent-launch): an AI button's launch writes no launch record, so it starts even when the record store cannot open

* fix(agent-launch): a failed AI-button tab the window closes is not a user close, and E's leftover prompt store write, hold release and stale comment go

* test(agent-launch): the launch funnel's store double keeps a tab made with its own id, as the real store does, so an AI-button launch is not read as closed by the user

* docs(agent-launch): a failed AI-button tab's cleanup close still records the tab, so an agent that starts late is stopped, not shown

src/main/runtime/rpc/methods/agent-launch-pane-reservation.test.ts

@@ -76,6 +76,19 @@ describe('a launch into an existing workspace', () => {
     })
   })
 
+  // An AI button's click names no operation: the host writes no record for it, so a record store
+  // that cannot open never stops it.
+  it('starts a reserved pane with no operation id even when the launch record cannot open', async () => {
+    setAgentLaunchRecordStore(null)
+    const runtime = runtimeStub({ settings: TERMINAL_ONLY })
+
+    const result = await launch({ ...EXISTING_LAUNCH, paneKey: PANE_KEY }, runtime)
+
+    expect(result.outcome.kind).toBe('terminal')
+    expect(terminalOptions(runtime)).toMatchObject({ tabId: TAB_ID, leafId: LEAF_ID })
+    expect(runtime.openAgentSessionRecordStore).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
+  })
+
   it('leaves the pane to the runtime when the caller reserved none', async () => {
     // Every shipped caller sends nothing; its options must not gain a key.
     const runtime = runtimeStub({ settings: TERMINAL_ONLY })

src/renderer/src/lib/agent-launch-funnel-test-harness.ts

@@ -51,8 +51,10 @@ export function createLaunchFunnelStore(): {
   seedNativeChatLaunchPrompt: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
   seedNativeChatLaunchDraft: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
   markNativeChatLaunchPromptFailed: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
+  setTabAgentLaunchPane: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
+  closeTab: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
 } {
-  return {
+  const store = {
     settings: launchFunnelSettings(),
     repos: [],
     allWorktrees: vi.fn(() => []),
@@ -60,7 +62,7 @@ export function createLaunchFunnelStore(): {
     openFiles: [],
     browserTabsByWorktree: {},
     tabBarOrderByWorktree: {},
-    createTab: vi.fn(() => ({ id: 'tab-1' })),
+    createTab: vi.fn(),
     queueTabInitialCwd: vi.fn(),
     queueTabStartupCommand: vi.fn(),
     setActiveTabType: vi.fn(),
@@ -68,7 +70,23 @@ export function createLaunchFunnelStore(): {
     setAgentStatus: vi.fn(),
     seedNativeChatLaunchPrompt: vi.fn(),
     seedNativeChatLaunchDraft: vi.fn(),
-    markNativeChatLaunchPromptFailed: vi.fn()
+    markNativeChatLaunchPromptFailed: vi.fn(),
+    setTabAgentLaunchPane: vi.fn(),
+    closeTab: vi.fn()
+  }
+  store.createTab.mockImplementation(createTabInto(store))
+  return store
+}
+
+/** A tab made with its own id joins the workspace, as the real store's does; launches read it back. */
+function createTabInto(store: { tabsByWorktree: Record<string, { id: string }[]> }) {
+  return (worktreeId: string, _groupId?: string, _x?: unknown, opts?: { id?: string }) => {
+    if (!opts?.id) {
+      return { id: 'tab-1' }
+    }
+    const tab = { id: opts.id }
+    store.tabsByWorktree[worktreeId] = [...(store.tabsByWorktree[worktreeId] ?? []), tab]
+    return tab
   }
 }
 
@@ -84,7 +102,7 @@ export function resetLaunchFunnelStore(
   store.openFiles = []
   store.browserTabsByWorktree = {}
   store.tabBarOrderByWorktree = {}
-  store.createTab.mockReturnValue({ id: 'tab-1' })
+  store.createTab.mockImplementation(createTabInto(store))
 }
 
 /** The startup command `queueTabStartupCommand` received, or undefined when no tab was queued. */
@@ -109,9 +127,9 @@ export function createdTabGroupId(store: LaunchFunnelStore): string | undefined
   return store.createTab.mock.calls[0]?.[1]
 }
 
-/** The `agent.launchReplay` request a launch sent its host, or undefined when the window planned it. */
+/** The `agent.launch` request a launch sent its host, or undefined when the window planned it. */
 export function hostLaunchRequest(
   callRuntimeRpc: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>
 ): Record<string, unknown> | undefined {
-  return callRuntimeRpc.mock.calls.find(([, method]) => method === 'agent.launchReplay')?.[2]
+  return callRuntimeRpc.mock.calls.find(([, method]) => method === 'agent.launch')?.[2]
 }

src/renderer/src/lib/agent-launch-pane-spawn-hold.ts

@@ -3,9 +3,8 @@
  *
  * Such a pane must not spawn until the host has taken it: before that, main knows of no launch for
  * it and would give it a shell, which the host's own spawn would then be refused over. The host
- * takes the pane when it asks this window to show the launch's tab, so the hold ends there, or when
- * the launch is over. Session-only: after a reload the pane's spawn asks main, which waits for a launch
- * still running there.
+ * takes the pane when it reveals the agent's terminal there, so the hold ends there, or when the
+ * launch is over. Session-only: after a reload the pane spawns as any pane does.
  */
 
 type Hold = { released: Promise<void>; release: () => void }

src/renderer/src/lib/agent-launch-tab-publication.test.ts

@@ -122,27 +122,6 @@ describe('publishing a launch tab before its agent exists', () => {
     expect(launchPane()).toEqual({ leafId: LEAF_ID, operationId: 'op-2' })
   })
 
-  it('hands a tab this window made for the launch to the host, as the launch to take back', async () => {
-    const { holdAgentLaunchPaneSpawn, agentLaunchPaneSpawnHold } =
-      await import('./agent-launch-pane-spawn-hold')
-    holdAgentLaunchPaneSpawn(TAB_ID, LEAF_ID)
-    store.getState().createTab(WT, undefined, undefined, {
-      id: TAB_ID,
-      initialLeafId: LEAF_ID,
-      agentLaunchPane: { leafId: LEAF_ID }
-    })
-    const held = agentLaunchPaneSpawnHold(TAB_ID, LEAF_ID)
-
-    const published = publishAgentLaunchTab(request())
-
-    // The host now owns the pane, so a refused launch takes the tab back rather than leaving a shell.
-    expect(published).toMatchObject({ tabId: TAB_ID, created: true })
-    await expect(held).resolves.toBeUndefined()
-    expect(agentLaunchPaneSpawnHold(TAB_ID, LEAF_ID)).toBeNull()
-    // A retry finds no hold: the tab is no longer only this launch's.
-    expect(publishAgentLaunchTab(request({ requestId: 'request-2' })).created).toBe(false)
-  })
-
   it("remounts a pane that showed an earlier launch's outcome, so it spawns for the new launch", () => {
     const generation = () =>
       store.getState().tabsByWorktree[WT]?.find((tab) => tab.id === TAB_ID)?.generation ?? 0

src/renderer/src/lib/agent-launch-tab-publication.ts

@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ import { useAppStore } from '../store'
 import { resolveUnifiedTabCreatePlacement } from '../store/slices/tabs/tabs-create-placement'
 import { insertUnifiedTabAfterAnchor } from './unified-tab-anchor-insertion'
 import { rememberAgentLaunchPanePrompt } from './agent-launch-pane-prompt'
-import { releaseAgentLaunchPaneSpawn } from './agent-launch-pane-spawn-hold'
 
 function landedGroupId(worktreeId: string, tabId: string): string | undefined {
   return useAppStore
@@ -77,9 +76,7 @@ export function publishAgentLaunchTab(
         remount: kept?.leafId === leafId && kept.outcome !== undefined
       })
     }
-    // A tab this window made for this launch is the launch's to take back if it never runs.
-    const madeForThisLaunch = releaseAgentLaunchPaneSpawn(tabId, leafId)
-    return { tabId, created: madeForThisLaunch, placement: { groupId } }
+    return { tabId, created: false, placement: { groupId } }
   }
 
   const placement = resolveUnifiedTabCreatePlacement({

src/renderer/src/lib/agent-launch-through-host.test.ts

@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ createTabsSliceMockApi()
 const { launchAgentThroughHost } = await import('./agent-launch-through-host')
 const { agentLaunchPaneSpawnHold, releaseAgentLaunchPaneSpawn } =
   await import('./agent-launch-pane-spawn-hold')
-const { agentLaunchPanePrompt } = await import('./agent-launch-pane-prompt')
 
 const WT = 'repo1::/tmp/feature'
 let store: ReturnType<typeof createTestStore>
@@ -117,32 +116,31 @@ describe('a desktop launch through the host', () => {
     expect(tab).toMatchObject({ ptyId: null, launchAgent: 'claude' })
     const leafId = tab.agentLaunchPane!.leafId
     expect(agentLaunchPaneSpawnHold(tab.id, leafId)).not.toBeNull()
-    expect(agentLaunchPanePrompt(tab.id)).toBe('fix the failing checks')
     expect(store.getState().activeTabId).toBe(tabId)
     // No prompt: the window pastes it, as main does, once the agent runs.
-    expect(callRuntimeRpc).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ kind: 'local' }, 'agent.launchReplay', {
+    expect(callRuntimeRpc).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ kind: 'local' }, 'agent.launch', {
       agent: 'claude',
       target: { kind: 'existing', worktree: `id:${WT}` },
       agentArgs: null,
       launchSource: 'source_control_recovery',
       placement: { groupId: store.getState().activeGroupIdByWorktree[WT] },
       presentation: 'focused',
-      operationId: expect.stringMatching(/^\d+-[0-9a-f]{32}$/),
       paneKey: `${tabId}:${leafId}`
     })
   })
 
-  it('names every click as its own operation', () => {
+  // Nothing reads a click's launch record, so a record store that cannot open never stops one.
+  it('names no operation, so the host writes no launch record; each click has its own pane', () => {
     callRuntimeRpc.mockReturnValue(new Promise(() => {}))
     launch()
     const first = lastParams()
     launch()
     const second = lastParams()
-    expect(second.operationId).not.toBe(first.operationId)
+    expect(first).not.toHaveProperty('operationId')
     expect(second.paneKey).not.toBe(first.paneKey)
   })
 
-  it('says the agent started only once the host answers, with its pane attached', async () => {
+  it('says the agent started only once the host answers, and its tab is then an ordinary one', async () => {
     const reply = deferred<unknown>()
     callRuntimeRpc.mockReturnValue(reply.promise)
     const { tabId, outcome } = launch()
@@ -156,35 +154,27 @@ describe('a desktop launch through the host', () => {
 
     await expect(outcome).resolves.toEqual({ kind: 'started' })
     expect(launchTab(tabId)).toBeDefined()
+    expect(launchTab(tabId)?.agentLaunchPane).toBeUndefined()
   })
 
-  it('takes its tab back on a refusal, before the pane ever spawns', async () => {
-    const reply = deferred<unknown>()
-    callRuntimeRpc.mockReturnValue(reply.promise)
-    const { tabId, outcome } = launch()
-
-    reply.reject(rpcError('agent_session_operation_conflict'))
-
-    await expect(outcome).resolves.toEqual({
-      kind: 'not-started',
-      unconfirmed: false,
-      code: 'agent_session_operation_conflict'
-    })
-    expect(launchTab(tabId)).toBeUndefined()
-  })
-
-  it('leaves a launch the host took to its pane, which says how it ended', async () => {
+  // Temporary until the pane's own spawn starts its agent: the window says it, not the pane.
+  it('keeps a tab the host took and then failed in, and says it could not confirm the start', async () => {
     const reply = deferred<unknown>()
     callRuntimeRpc.mockReturnValue(reply.promise)
     const { tabId, outcome } = launch()
     hostTakesPane(tabId)
 
-    reply.reject(rpcError('agent_session_operation_unknown'))
+    reply.reject(rpcError('terminal_reveal_failed'))
 
-    await expect(outcome).resolves.toEqual({ kind: 'pane-says' })
+    await expect(outcome).resolves.toEqual({
+      kind: 'not-started',
+      unconfirmed: true,
+      code: 'terminal_reveal_failed'
+    })
     expect(launchTab(tabId)).toBeDefined()
   })
 
+  // Temporary until the pane's own spawn starts its agent: the tab goes and the window says why.
   it('never leaves a pane the host did not take, which would open as a shell', async () => {
     const reply = deferred<unknown>()
     callRuntimeRpc.mockReturnValue(reply.promise)
@@ -202,7 +192,13 @@ describe('a desktop launch through the host', () => {
 
   // Why: the close was the user's own, as on the phone's "+".
   it('says nothing more when the user closed the tab while it started', async () => {
-    callRuntimeRpc.mockRejectedValueOnce(rpcError('agent_launch_tab_closed'))
-    await expect(launch().outcome).resolves.toEqual({ kind: 'closed-by-user' })
+    const reply = deferred<unknown>()
+    callRuntimeRpc.mockReturnValue(reply.promise)
+    const { tabId, outcome } = launch()
+    store.getState().closeTab(tabId)
+
+    reply.resolve(terminalResult(lastPaneKey()))
+
+    await expect(outcome).resolves.toEqual({ kind: 'closed-by-user' })
   })
 })

src/renderer/src/lib/agent-launch-through-host.ts

@@ -2,16 +2,16 @@
  * A desktop launch started through the host's `agent.launch`, with no prompt.
  *
  * This window owns the workspace's tab layout, so it makes the agent's tab at the click, in the
- * split it was asked for, as any new agent tab is made. The host records the launch under this
- * click's operation id and starts the agent into that tab's pane. The pane's spawn waits until the
- * host has taken it (`agent-launch-pane-spawn-hold`), then attaches to the agent or says why it could
- * not start. The prompt stays this window's to paste, as main pastes it, once the agent has started.
+ * split it was asked for, as any new agent tab is made. The host starts the agent into that tab's
+ * pane and writes no launch record: nothing reads one for a click, and a record store that cannot
+ * open must not stop it. The pane's spawn waits until the host has taken it
+ * (`agent-launch-pane-spawn-hold`), then attaches to the agent. The prompt stays this window's to
+ * paste, as main pastes it, once the agent has started.
  */
 
 import { useAppStore } from '@/store'
 import { createBrowserUuid } from '@/lib/browser-uuid'
 import { persistAgentLaunchTabOrder } from '@/lib/launch-agent-tab-order'
-import { rememberAgentLaunchPanePrompt } from '@/lib/agent-launch-pane-prompt'
 import {
   holdAgentLaunchPaneSpawn,
   isAgentLaunchPaneSpawnHeld
@@ -19,9 +19,7 @@ import {
 import { seedNativeChatAppliedSessionOptions } from '@/components/native-chat/native-chat-session-option-cache'
 import { callRuntimeRpc } from '@/runtime/runtime-rpc-client'
 import { RuntimeRpcCallError } from '@/runtime/runtime-rpc-result'
-import { createAgentSessionOperationId } from '@/runtime/agent-session-operation-id'
 import { isAgentLaunchResult } from '../../../shared/agent-launch-intent'
-import { AGENT_LAUNCH_TAB_CLOSED_CODE } from '../../../shared/agent-launch-tab-closed'
 import { makePaneKey } from '../../../shared/stable-pane-id'
 import { isNativeChatEnabled } from '../../../shared/structured-native-chat-launch-route'
 import type { TuiAgent } from '../../../shared/tui-agent'
@@ -53,36 +51,32 @@ export type HostAgentLaunchArgs = {
 export type HostAgentLaunchOutcome =
   /** The agent was started in this tab's pane, which is attached to it. */
   | { kind: 'started' }
-  /** The pane shows how the launch ended: couldn't start, or couldn't confirm it started. */
-  | { kind: 'pane-says' }
   /** The user closed the tab while it started, and with it the launch: nothing more to say. */
   | { kind: 'closed-by-user' }
-  /** The tab is gone, so the window says it: nothing started, or whether it did is unknown. */
+  /** The window says it: nothing started (its tab is gone), or the host took the pane and then
+   *  failed, so whether its agent runs there is unknown. */
   | { kind: 'not-started'; unconfirmed: boolean; code?: string }
 
-/** Refused at admission: nothing ran under this click, and the host takes back the tab it was shown. */
-const ADMISSION_REFUSAL_CODES = new Set([
-  'agent_session_operation_invalid',
-  'agent_session_operation_conflict',
-  'agent_session_operation_expired',
-  'agent_session_operation_capacity'
-])
-
 function tabExists(worktreeId: string, tabId: string): boolean {
   return (useAppStore.getState().tabsByWorktree[worktreeId] ?? []).some((tab) => tab.id === tabId)
 }
 
 function closeLaunchTab(worktreeId: string, tabId: string): void {
   if (tabExists(worktreeId, tabId)) {
-    useAppStore.getState().closeTab(tabId, { recordInteraction: false })
+    // Not the user's close, so not reopenable; its tombstone still stops an agent that starts late.
+    useAppStore.getState().closeTab(tabId, {
+      reason: 'cleanup',
+      recordInteraction: false,
+      captureRecentlyClosed: false
+    })
   }
 }
 
-// Only a terminal in this pane is one the window can paste into; anything else, its pane explains.
+// Only a terminal in this pane is one the window can paste into.
 function outcomeFromResult(result: unknown): HostAgentLaunchOutcome {
   return isAgentLaunchResult(result) && result.outcome.kind === 'terminal'
     ? { kind: 'started' }
-    : { kind: 'pane-says' }
+    : { kind: 'not-started', unconfirmed: true }
 }
 
 function stringSessionOptions(options: Record<string, SessionOptionValue> | undefined): {
@@ -113,27 +107,29 @@ async function settleLaunch(
   send: Promise<unknown>,
   releaseHold: () => void
 ): Promise<HostAgentLaunchOutcome> {
+  const closedByUser = (): boolean => !tabExists(args.worktreeId, pane.tabId)
   try {
-    return outcomeFromResult(await send)
+    const result = await send
+    // Closed while it started: the window stopped its agent as the tab's reveal arrived.
+    return closedByUser() ? { kind: 'closed-by-user' } : outcomeFromResult(result)
   } catch (error) {
-    const code = error instanceof RuntimeRpcCallError ? error.code : undefined
-    if (code === AGENT_LAUNCH_TAB_CLOSED_CODE) {
+    if (closedByUser()) {
       return { kind: 'closed-by-user' }
     }
-    // The host took the pane once it showed the tab; a pane it never took would open as a shell,
-    // and a refused one is the host's to take back.
+    const code = error instanceof RuntimeRpcCallError ? error.code : undefined
+    // The host revealed the pane once its agent spawned; a pane it never took would open as a
+    // shell, so its tab goes. A taken pane holds whatever runs there.
     const hostTookPane = !isAgentLaunchPaneSpawnHeld(pane.tabId, pane.leafId)
-    if (!hostTookPane || (code !== undefined && ADMISSION_REFUSAL_CODES.has(code))) {
+    if (!hostTookPane) {
       closeLaunchTab(args.worktreeId, pane.tabId)
-      return {
-        kind: 'not-started',
-        unconfirmed: code === 'agent_session_operation_unknown',
-        ...(code ? { code } : {})
-      }
     }
-    return { kind: 'pane-says' }
+    return { kind: 'not-started', unconfirmed: hostTookPane, ...(code ? { code } : {}) }
   } finally {
     releaseHold()
+    // The launch is over: its tab is an ordinary one, as a settled verdict leaves it.
+    if (!closedByUser()) {
+      useAppStore.getState().setTabAgentLaunchPane(pane.tabId, undefined)
+    }
   }
 }
 
@@ -152,10 +148,9 @@ export function launchAgentThroughHost(args: HostAgentLaunchArgs): {
   const leafId = createBrowserUuid()
   // Before the tab exists, so its first mount already waits.
   const releaseHold = holdAgentLaunchPaneSpawn(tabId, leafId)
-  const send = callRuntimeRpc<unknown>({ kind: 'local' }, 'agent.launchReplay', {
+  const send = callRuntimeRpc<unknown>({ kind: 'local' }, 'agent.launch', {
     ...launchParams(args),
-    // A new click is a new operation; the pane is this click's too.
-    operationId: createAgentSessionOperationId(),
+    // The pane is this click's.
     paneKey: makePaneKey(tabId, leafId)
   })
   store.createTab(args.worktreeId, args.groupId, undefined, {
@@ -167,7 +162,6 @@ export function launchAgentThroughHost(args: HostAgentLaunchArgs): {
     ...(args.pendingActivationSpawn ? { pendingActivationSpawn: true } : {}),
     ...(args.viewMode ? { viewMode: args.viewMode } : {})
   })
-  rememberAgentLaunchPanePrompt(tabId, args.prompt)
   seedNativeChatAppliedSessionOptions(tabId, args.agent, args.sessionOptions)
   // Why: without it an activated launch can stay hidden behind an editor.
   store.setActiveTabType('terminal', args.worktreeId)

src/renderer/src/lib/launch-agent-new-tab-host-route-readiness.test.ts

@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ describe('an AI button whose agent is ready before the host answers', () => {
 
     attachHostPty('pty-1')
     testState.ptyWatchers.get('pty-1')?.('\x1b[?2004h> ')
-    answer({ kind: 'pane-says' })
+    answer({ kind: 'not-started', unconfirmed: true })
     await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(10_000)
 
     await expect(promptDeliveryResult).resolves.toEqual({ delivered: false, failureNotified: true })

src/renderer/src/lib/launch-agent-new-tab-host-route.test.ts

@@ -83,15 +83,13 @@ describe('an AI button launched through the host', () => {
     expect(toast.error).toHaveBeenCalledOnce()
   })
 
-  it('says nothing and pastes nothing when the user closed the tab, or its pane explains', async () => {
-    for (const outcome of [{ kind: 'closed-by-user' }, { kind: 'pane-says' }] as const) {
-      deferredOutcome()(outcome)
-      await expect(launch().promptDeliveryResult).resolves.toEqual({
-        delivered: false,
-        failureNotified: true
-      })
-      await expect(sendGate()).resolves.toBe(false)
-    }
+  it('says nothing and pastes nothing when the user closed the tab', async () => {
+    deferredOutcome()({ kind: 'closed-by-user' })
+    await expect(launch().promptDeliveryResult).resolves.toEqual({
+      delivered: false,
+      failureNotified: true
+    })
+    await expect(sendGate()).resolves.toBe(false)
     expect(toast.error).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 })

src/renderer/src/lib/launch-agent-new-tab-host-route.ts

@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ export function launchNewTabPromptThroughHost(
     if (launched.kind === 'started') {
       return pasted
     }
-    // The pane, or this notice for a tab that went, already says why: never a second notice.
+    // This notice says why, once; a tab the user closed says nothing.
     showLaunchNotStartedNotice(launched, args.prompt)
     return { delivered: false, failureNotified: true }
   })