Files
orca/mobile
Brennan Benson 573ff0bca3 Save a new chat's first message during create (#26332)
* fix(native-chat): the host owns the send queue; the window keeps no saved outbox

The desktop kept each structured chat's unsent messages in localStorage and
sent them in order, so one message whose fate was unknown froze every later
send, Retry dropped it silently, failed sends could not be discarded, and an
offline chat could send hours later. The host already records every message
and owns the queue; the window now only sends.

- One in-memory sender for composer, launch prompts and messages sent from
  outside the chat. One send in flight per chat; a transport failure resends
  the same id for up to 30 s; a refusal that proves nothing was recorded puts
  the text back in the composer with the reason; a send that went out and was
  never answered shows an in-doubt line with Send again and holds nothing up.
- The host's "unknown" rows get the same in-doubt line and Send again, from
  the journal, in every window.
- A message an older build left in localStorage is never sent: the host's
  conversation outline decides what goes back to the composer, and the copy is
  deleted once that is saved.

* fix(native-chat): send through the structured chat RPC wrapper, with its timeouts

The sender called the runtime RPC directly, skipping the per-method timeouts
every other structured chat call gets. Only a remote host's request skips the
compatibility check the sender already ran.

* fix(native-chat): an unconfirmed send goes back to the composer, with no new row line

The common pattern draws nothing extra on a message whose delivery is in
doubt once its turn is over, and puts a failed send's text back in the
composer with the reason. So a send nobody answered in time, or one a host
answers in a way that proves nothing, goes back to the composer worded as
unconfirmed, and a host "unknown" row shows nothing extra. Removes the in-doubt
phase, Send again, and its strings.

A host's made-up row for an id its journal lost now reads as unconfirmed, not
as recorded, so that message comes back instead of vanishing.

* test(native-chat): pin that nothing resends a send given back as unconfirmed

* fix(native-chat): sends survive a tab close, never resend after a Stop, and keep remote images

- A normal tab close lets sends on their way settle; what the host never took
  goes back to the conversation's draft. Only a cancelled launch or a worktree
  purge drops them.
- After any Stop, a send already on its way is never sent again under its id:
  a doubtful answer, or a resend that was due, hands its text back worded as
  unconfirmed.
- A returned image keeps the SSH connection it lives on; the connection never
  goes to the host.
- An older build's saved message the host recorded and then rejected is left
  to the host's own row, never handed back.

* fix(native-chat): a Stop or a tab close never resends a send already out, and a kept card is the card's

A Stop that landed while a same-id resend was being readied (its timer
fired, its request not out yet) let that resend go out after the Stop.
The sender now tracks whether a request is awaiting its answer: a Stop
hands back every send between attempts as unconfirmed, lets one whose
request is out settle from its answer, and never issues a request after
it. A normal tab close withdraws the same way instead of doing nothing,
so nothing more goes out and nothing is dropped.

A send the host rejected but kept as a card (keptAsQueuedMessageId) is
the card's, from its reply or the journal, and never goes back to the
composer.

Adds the freeze tests: a send whose fate is unknown holds later sends
no longer than its deadline, and one the host can neither confirm nor
deny releases the next at once.

* fix(native-chat): read a resend's turned-away call or reused id as unproven

Ports the send-answer proof contract. A call the host turned away before
running it (method_not_found, invalid_argument, unauthorized) proves only
that this request wrote nothing, so it reads as never sent on a first
attempt only; on a resend an earlier attempt may have landed, and it goes
again under the same id. A resent id the host says was already used for
other content (messageIdReused) proves nothing either, like an expired or
conflicting id.

Pins the rest of the contract: any row the host returns is its own, a
thrown error is no answer whatever its code, and an older build's
refused, held or outlived-Stop copy is handed back once and never sent.

* refactor(native-chat): type the structured composer's send with its attachment type

Keeps NativeChatStructuredSession.tsx within the file length limit.

* refactor(native-chat): drop the kept-card guards the sender never needed

A kept send's row is a rejection that was never a Stop's, so the sender
already reads it as recorded, from its reply or the journal. The test
that pins it stays; the two extra checks only covered a kept row that is
also a withdrawal, which the host never writes.

* test(native-chat): route launch tests' sends through the client wrapper the sender calls

The sender sends through callStructuredAgentSession, but these launch
tests replaced that module with a factory that answered nothing (and still
named a probe that no longer exists), so every launch prompt resent until
its 30 s deadline and the tests timed out. Each factory now hands sends to
the runtime RPC mock the tests already answer, and expectations of a local
send no longer ask for the remote-only compatibility option.

* fix(native-chat): hand a message back without importing the composer's attachment hook

The worktree purge reaches the launch prompt, which hands text back, and
the attachment hook's imports reach the store. A test that builds the
real store behind a mocked one then waited on itself and hung. Handing
back now writes images to the draft store directly, as the hook's helper
did, and a test pins that each returned image keeps its SSH connection.

* fix(native-chat): one send per chat, with no line of sends behind it

A chat with a send out took further messages into an in-memory line and
sent them one by one. A message typed behind one in doubt then hit its
own 30 s deadline and came back as not sent without ever going out.

Now, as the common pattern does, a chat takes one send at a time: while
it is out, Send is disabled and Enter leaves the text in the box. The
sender refuses a second send instead of lining it up, so the 30 s
deadline always runs from the send itself. A Stop or a tab close stops
the one send: settled from its answer if its request is out, handed back
as unconfirmed between attempts, or silently if it never went out.

Notes sent from outside the chat while its send is out stay with their
sender (not ready); a launch prompt that meets the person's own first
message waits in the composer instead of being lost.

* fix(native-chat): give a Stop-withdrawn note back to its chat once its notes were cleared

Notes sent from outside a chat clear once their message is recorded. A
message the host recorded as pending and a Stop then withdrew came back
only to its sender, which had already let go of it, so the text was
lost. The chat's draft now takes it, as an earlier build's outbox did.

* test(native-chat): type the composer-actions probe without a cast

* chore(native-chat): drop outbox wording left in comments and an empty locale group

* fix(native-chat): pace failed checks, keep the host's reason, and hold the chat for its launch prompt

- A send whose checks failed before its request went out (an unreachable
  or incompatible host, an unreadable history) was tried again at once,
  about a thousand times a second for 30 s. Attempts are now paced by
  the attempts made, whether or not their request went out.
- A host that refuses every resend by throwing (native chat turned off,
  a journal that won't open) gave back only "couldn't confirm". The
  host's reason now comes first, still without claiming not sent.
- A launch's prompt now holds the chat's one send from the click, drawn
  as sending, so a message typed while the chat starts can't overtake
  it; it goes out once the chat exists, and a cancelled launch frees it.
- Notes whose send nobody could confirm say so instead of "did not
  accept", and notes launched into a new chat let go of their text once
  that chat's composer holds it.
- An open chat keeps drawing a recorded send until its row arrives, so a
  reply that beats the history no longer makes the message flicker out.

* fix(native-chat): hold a chat's sends until it has started, and send a failed chat's message with its restart

A message sent to a chat still starting went out at once to a host that
had no record of the chat yet, read for a fence it could not get, and
came back as not sent. A message sent to a chat whose start failed
restarted it but no longer went with the restart.

While a chat starts, Send stays off and Enter leaves the text in the box,
as with a send already out. A text message sent to a chat whose start
failed restarts it and goes as the restart's first message, through the
same staged-prompt path a launch prompt takes: it holds the chat's one
send slot, drawn as sending, until the chat exists, and comes back to
the composer if the restart fails again. Notes wait while a chat starts
and ride a failed chat's restart, keeping their text until it is sent.

* chore(native-chat): test the queue request, rejection words and card hand-offs; drop an unused clear

- Pin which sends ask the host to queue, the moved rejection wording,
  and that a queue send whose card was handed off and then refused or
  withdrawn, or whose replay names a withdrawn card, is never handed
  back.
- The send-at-most-once gate now says what the desktop promises after a
  reload: it never sends the id again, and hands the text back.
- The legacy read names when it goes, and drops the notice clear nothing
  called.

* fix(native-chat): keep a sent launch prompt's entry, and give back at once what can't go out

- Cleaning up a launch prompt released its send slot even after the
  prompt had gone out, which deleted the entry the sender keeps once the
  host records it. A launch prompt recorded as pending and then
  withdrawn by a Stop was lost from both the chat and the box, and an
  open chat dropped the new chat's first message before its row arrived.
  The slot now gives back only a reservation that was never sent.
- A send stopped before its request went out by something trying again
  won't clear (this client and the server can't talk, or the host
  refused the history read) kept Send off for 30 s and then said Orca
  couldn't reach the agent. It now comes back at once with its own
  cause: not sent, since nothing went out, or unconfirmed if an earlier
  attempt did. Transport errors keep the paced retries.

* fix(native-chat): notes keep their own text through a new agent's launch

Notes sent to a New agent whose start failed came back to the notes and
also sat in the new chat's composer, so sending both delivered the text
twice. The notes keep their text until it goes out (they hold it from
the click), so the launch now says so and no composer gets a copy, on a
failed start or a refused prompt alike. The tests that asserted the copy
in the composer pinned the old double ownership and now assert the
notes are its only owner.

Notes that rode a failed chat's restart and ended unconfirmed now say
Orca couldn't confirm them, as notes sent directly do, instead of that
the agent did not accept them.

* chore(native-chat): the send-once gate says what the desktop keeps across a reload

The desktop keeps a send's id in memory only: a send still unsettled at a
reload or crash is not resent and not handed back. The coverage notes no
longer credit the renderer tests with durable identity across a remount.

* fix(native-chat): say once why notes sent to a new agent did not go

Since notes keep their own text through a new agent's launch, a prompt
the host refused, nobody could confirm, or that found the chat's send
taken came back to the notes with nothing said anywhere: the chat shows
no notice for text its caller keeps. The notes menu now reports it once,
with the toast a send to an existing chat already uses: not accepted,
couldn't confirm, or not ready. A start that failed still says so in the
new chat instead.

* fix(native-chat): retry a history refusal the host says clears, and name it at the deadline

A send stopped before its request went out came back at once for any
refusal of the history read, including ones the host names as clearing
(its journal briefly unavailable, a chat detached while the host quits),
so the automatic retry was lost. Only a version mismatch and refusals
that won't clear come back at once now; the rest go again on the paced
schedule, and if the deadline still finds nothing sent, the words are
the host's refusal rather than Orca couldn't reach the agent.

* feat(native-chat): a send makes one request, and nothing ever sends it again

The desktop resent a message under its own id for up to 30 s when the
answer was lost. A send now makes exactly one request, as the common
pattern's clients do:
- An answer that is lost, dropped or proves nothing hands the text back
  at once with "couldn't confirm… check the chat".
- A failure before the request goes out (the environment check, the
  history read for the fence, a refused connection) means nothing went
  out: the text comes back at once with its own reason, or as not sent.
- The 30 s cap stays on the one request, so a host that never answers
  can't hold Send.

Nothing ever resends, so nothing can go out after a Stop: a Stop only
takes back a send still in its pre-send checks. The resend state goes
with it (tries, generation, awaiting, stopped, the resend timer, the
send-answers-proof probe, and the first-attempt/resend split in the
evidence), and the send-once gate says the desktop never resends.

* fix(native-chat): notes keep the chat's line, and a send held behind a rewind says it was not sent

- Only a send whose text belongs to the chat's composer clears the chat's line. Notes sent from
  outside the chat no longer wipe a "couldn't confirm... Check the chat" line that explains text
  already back in the box.
- A send the host turns away behind a rewind it could not confirm went back as "not sent" but said
  "couldn't confirm what happened. Check the chat". It now gives the rewind's reason and says the
  message was not sent.
- Reliability gate names the single-request test and records a fresh evidence run; the sender
  test drops its leftover resend mocks and a duplicate Stop test.

* fix(native-chat): a send ends even when putting its text back fails

If writing the returned text into the chat's draft threw, the send never settled: it stayed
"sending", the chat refused every later send until a reload. The send now always ends after a
hand-back, the failure is logged, and the chat's line adds "Couldn't save your message."

* fix(native-chat): a message typed during /clear stays in the box and follows the chat

A /clear moves the chat to a new conversation, and its host refuses any send while it runs. A
message sent then went out, came back refused into the old conversation's draft with its line, and
vanished when the chat moved on: the box and the line now belong to the new conversation.

- A /clear holds the chat's one send slot while it runs: Enter does nothing, Send shows busy and
  the text stays in the box, as for a send that is out. Notes sent from outside get "busy".
- Once it moves the chat, the old conversation keeps taking no send until the view leaves it, and
  what is left of its draft moves into the new conversation's draft, after anything there: when the
  composer's /clear settles, and again when the view moves.

* fix(native-chat): no "Send message?" or queue clear while the chat's send is out

While a send is out (or a /clear runs) the chat takes no message, yet Enter over a held queue still
opened "Send message?", and Clear queue deleted every card before its message was refused. Enter now
does nothing there and the text stays; Clear queue re-checks and deletes nothing if a send went out
after the question opened.

* refactor(native-chat): take the /clear draft carry out of this change

Moving the old conversation's draft into the one a /clear replaces it with fixes a bug main has too
(text left in the box during a /clear stays with the old conversation), so it goes in its own change.
Kept here: a /clear holds the chat's send slot while it runs, and the conversation it moved away from
takes no send until the view leaves it.

* fix(native-chat): a /clear's hold on sends always ends

- A view that unmounted while a /clear that moves the chat was out left the old conversation
  holding its sends until a reload: the late reply kept the hold for a view that was gone. The
  reply now releases it.
- The local call for a conversation command has no deadline of its own, so a /clear that never
  answers kept Send off for good. The hold now also ends at the command's deadline (195 s, the one
  the remote call already uses), whichever comes first.

* test(native-chat): opening a chat an older build left stuck; hand back its copy in send order

Pins, through the real chat hook, sends, legacy recovery and draft store,
what opening such a chat does: the queued messages behind a message the
host recorded in doubt come back to the composer once, in order, with the
"not sent" or "couldn't confirm" wording; the chat is free to send under
its read's fence; nothing happens while the chat has no fence here.

The legacy reader now hands entries back in the order they were sent
(queuedAt), as the older build's reader did, instead of array order.

* fix(native-chat): a send this window turned away for a re-paired server comes back as not sent

A managed server's update rotates its pairing, and this window's main
process then answers the next call itself, before forwarding anything,
with runtime_environment_changed. The send read that thrown answer as
proving nothing, so the person was told Orca couldn't confirm a message
that never left. It is now handed back as not sent, with the reason.
Every other thrown answer still reads as unconfirmed once the request
may have gone out.

* Save a new chat's first message during create

* Align opening-message types with the user-message wire

* Keep chat publication and cleanup outside store initialization

* Complete the create refusal fixture ledger

* test(native-chat): prove a created first message waits for the agent's start and is handed over once

* refactor(native-chat): keep the host and session hook under the line limit after the main sync

* test(native-chat): a chat created with its first message and no pick still teaches its agent's default

After the main sync, a created chat's agent starts from the delivery loop rather than the create
call. Grok (through the real ACP adapter and model catalog) and Claude (through the real adapter)
each still report the model their own config resolved to once the chat reads its options.
2026-10-09 13:05:35 -07:00
..

Orca Mobile

React Native companion app for Orca. Monitor worktrees, view terminal output, and send commands from your phone.

Local development uses two processes:

  • Orca desktop/Electron from the repo root. This hosts the mobile WebSocket RPC server on port 6768.
  • Expo Metro from mobile/. This serves the React Native app on port 8081.

Unless a command says otherwise, run mobile app commands from the mobile/ directory.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 24+
  • pnpm
  • Xcode and/or Android Studio tooling for simulator or device builds
  • Expo Go on your phone, or a development client build when native modules are needed
  • Phone and desktop on the same LAN when testing a physical phone

Start Desktop Orca

From the repository root:

pnpm install
pnpm dev

Confirm the mobile RPC server is listening:

lsof -nP -iTCP:6768 -sTCP:LISTEN

Restart pnpm dev after changing Electron main-process code. Metro hot reload only applies to the mobile JavaScript bundle.

Start The Mobile App

cd mobile
pnpm install
pnpm start

Scan the Expo QR code with your phone's camera on iOS, or Expo Go on Android.

For a native dev-client build:

pnpm exec expo run:android
pnpm exec expo run:ios
pnpm start --dev-client

Pair With Desktop Orca

  1. Open Orca desktop.
  2. Go to Settings > Mobile.
  3. Scan the pairing QR code from the mobile app.
  4. Confirm the mobile host endpoint is ws://<desktop-ip>:6768.

For the Android emulator, use ws://10.0.2.2:6768. For a physical phone, use the desktop LAN IP, for example ws://192.168.0.179:6768.

If the phone has a stale host entry, remove it from the app and pair again.

Development Paths

Android Phone

  1. Install Expo Go from Google Play
  2. Run pnpm start, scan QR with Expo Go
  3. For native modules: pnpm exec expo run:android
  4. Run with pnpm start --dev-client

iOS Simulator

  1. Install Xcode from the App Store
  2. Run pnpm start --ios to open in iOS Simulator

Physical Phone Debugging

The phone can be inspected through the connected device tooling:

orca snapshot --json
orca click --element @e3 --json
orca fill --element @e1 --value "ls" --json
orca screenshot --json

Use snapshot first to find the current element refs, then click/fill those refs. After mobile file edits, Metro usually hot reloads automatically, but navigating out of and back into the session screen can be useful because it re-runs terminal.subscribe.

Terminal Streaming Repro Without A Phone

Use this when terminal output does not render on device and you need to split server streaming bugs from WebView/UI bugs:

cd mobile
ORCA_MOBILE_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:6768 pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64>

You can pass a worktree selector as the third argument:

pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "id:<worktreeId>"
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "path:/absolute/worktree/path"
pnpm exec tsx scripts/test-subscribe.ts <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "name:my-worktree"

The expected result includes:

streamSawMarker: true
readSawMarker: true

If this repro fails, debug the desktop runtime/PTY path before the mobile WebView. If it passes but the phone is blank, debug the session screen or TerminalWebView readiness/queueing path.

Terminal Color Repro Without A Phone

Use this when terminal colors disappear after switching tabs. Open a Claude Code terminal and at least one other terminal in the target worktree, then run:

cd mobile
ORCA_MOBILE_WS_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:6768 pnpm exec tsx scripts/repro-terminal-colors.ts \
  <deviceToken> <serverPublicKeyB64> "id:<worktreeId>"

The script captures terminal.subscribe snapshots in an A → B → A sequence and writes raw snapshots to mobile/terminal-color-repro/. If the two A snapshots have different sgrColor counts, the desktop snapshot changed during the switch. If they match, the ANSI color data is still present and the bug is in mobile replay/rendering.

Validation

Run these checks before committing mobile terminal changes:

cd mobile
pnpm exec tsc --noEmit
pnpm run check:tests-typecheck
pnpm lint
cd ..
pnpm typecheck:node

tsc --noEmit reads tsconfig.json, which excludes test files so Metro never bundles them. tsconfig.test.json puts them back, and pnpm run typecheck:tests shows their errors in full. check:tests-typecheck is the gate over it: a ratchet against tests-typecheck-baseline.txt, the 127 test files that do not typecheck yet. It fails when a file that checks today stops checking, and when a baseline entry starts checking (prune it with node scripts/check-tests-typecheck-ratchet.mjs --prune). The list may only shrink.

The same gate censuses the program first: every *.test.ts(x) on disk must be in it, or named in the script's TESTS_OUTSIDE_PROGRAM with a reason. Without that, a test excluded from tsconfig.test.json — or a Foo.test.tsx shadowed by a Foo.test.ts beside it, which a wildcard include drops for the higher-priority extension — would leave the ratchet silently.

Protocol Version Compatibility

Mobile and desktop talk over a versioned protocol. Because mobile updates lag desktop by 24-48h via the App Store, both sides exchange version numbers on status.get so a genuinely incompatible combo can hard-block instead of silently misbehaving.

Constants live in two files (Metro can't resolve outside mobile/):

  • src/shared/protocol-version.ts — DESKTOP_PROTOCOL_VERSION, MIN_COMPATIBLE_MOBILE_VERSION
  • mobile/src/transport/protocol-version.ts — MOBILE_PROTOCOL_VERSION, MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION

Today all four are set so evaluateCompat always returns { kind: 'ok' } — nothing blocks. The wire format is in place to flip a switch when needed.

When to bump

Bump DESKTOP_PROTOCOL_VERSION (and the mobile mirror MOBILE_PROTOCOL_VERSION when relevant) for breaking changes:

  • Removed RPC method or required parameter that mobile uses
  • Changed meaning (units, nullability) of an existing field mobile reads
  • Changed encryption, framing, or auth handshake

Do not bump for additive changes:

  • New RPC methods
  • New optional fields on existing methods
  • New event types in terminal.subscribe

Set MIN_COMPATIBLE_MOBILE_VERSION (kill-switch) when desktop ships a change that requires a minimum mobile version to function safely. Same for MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION from the mobile side.

When a verdict is blocked, mobile/src/components/ProtocolBlockScreen.tsx renders a screen pointing the user at the update that clears it. When mobile is too old it opens the newest release if the installed app's update check knows one, otherwise the App Store (iOS) or GitHub Releases (Android). When desktop is too old it opens GitHub Releases.

To exercise the block screen locally: set MIN_COMPATIBLE_DESKTOP_VERSION = 999 in mobile/src/transport/protocol-version.ts, rebuild, pair to any desktop. Revert before merging.

Mock Server

Develop the mobile app without a running Orca desktop instance:

pnpm mock-server           # starts mock WebSocket server on port 6768

Connect from the app using endpoint ws://localhost:6768 and token mock-device-token.

Environment variables

  • MOCK_NATIVE_CHAT=1 — serve the native-chat scenario (one live agent tab, empty transcript, image upload) instead of the default terminal fixtures.
  • MOCK_CHAT_AGENT=omp — with MOCK_NATIVE_CHAT=1, present an OMP tab and four decoded transcript messages, including a tool call and result, instead of the default Claude scenario. It deliberately omits transcriptPath to exercise legacy-hook readability discovery; current OMP hooks may report a path.
  • MOCK_SERVER_KEY_FILE — persist the server keypair across restarts so a paired device keeps its public-key pin. A missing or invalid file is re-keyed with a warning, which forces a re-pair.

Scenario control files

Read on every request, so behaviour can be flipped mid-session without a restart (a restart would re-key E2EE and force a re-pair). Write the mode into the file, or delete it for the default.

  • MOCK_SEND_MODE_FILE (default orca-mock-send-mode in the system temporary directory) — accept (default) accepts the send, error fails it with mobile_input_floor_unavailable, anything else reports the send as rejected.
  • MOCK_TERMINAL_LIST_MODE_FILE (default orca-mock-terminal-list-mode in the system temporary directory) — omit returns an empty terminal list, other returns a list that omits the chat handle, anything else lists it.
  • MOCK_TERMINAL_STREAM_MODE_FILE (default orca-mock-terminal-stream-mode in the system temporary directory) — dead answers a subscribe with subscribed then end (a gone PTY), which is what exercises the rearm bound and terminal prune; anything else streams normally.

Connecting to Real Orca

  1. Start Orca desktop with WebSocket transport enabled
  2. In Orca, go to Settings > Mobile and scan the QR code with this app
  3. The QR encodes the connection endpoint, device token, and TLS fingerprint

Project Structure

mobile/
├── app/                   # Expo Router screens (file-based routing)
│   ├── _layout.tsx        # Root layout with navigation stack
│   ├── index.tsx          # Home screen — paired hosts list
│   └── pair-scan.tsx      # QR code scanning screen
├── src/
│   ├── terminal/          # Terminal WebView and xterm bridge
│   └── transport/         # WebSocket RPC client
├── scripts/
│   ├── test-subscribe.ts  # Desktop streaming repro without a phone
│   └── mock-server.ts     # Standalone mock WebSocket server
└── assets/                # App icons and splash screen