CONCEPT D / AGENT WORKBENCH

Invert the hierarchy: durable intent (tasks) becomes the organizing spine of the project and threads become attempts beneath it. The project opens to a three-column mission-control surface — backlog → selected intent → live execution — so the relationship between what you meant and what the agents are doing is the product's default view, not a side panel. Threads that serve no task are demoted to an orphan group.

TESTED AGAINST · busy backlog (10 tasks) · empty backlog · capture from a live thread (# log mode) · multi-attempt history (failed → retry, live) · starting an attempt (provider/model) · blocked task · done task + evidence + reopen · mobile task home · mobile task screen · mobile quick capture

D1 · WORKBENCH — BUSY · #245 SELECTED, ATTEMPT 2 LIVE

1 2 3 4 5 6

T3 t3code ▾

▦ Workbench 10

#245 · Focus ring lost after clos…

Focus ring bug — #245 Failed

Focus ring #245 — take 2 Working

18m

#238 · Thread list flickers on r…

Reconnect flicker fix Plan ready

#241 · Add test for snooze acro…

Snooze DST test Awaiting input

Threads

Pinned-thread drag ordering Open PR

v0.0.33 release prep Awaiting input

▸ Snoozed 3

▸ Settled 48

Backlog 8 open · 2 done this week

Now 2

◆ #245 Focus ring lost after closing palette…

◆ #238 Thread list flickers on reconnect…

Open 4

#241 Add test for snooze across DST bou…

#229 Composer stash lost when switching…

#249 Crash: renaming a thread while its… Suggested

#198 Focus outline invisible on amber b… dup #245?

Blocked 2

#231 Decide retention policy for settled…

#243 Auto-archive settled threads past r… on #231

Done recent

#212 Migrate diff renderer to @pierre/di… ✓

#207 Empty-state copy for archived thre… ✓

#245 Open ◆ Pinned

opened 6w ago·2 attempts

Focus ring lost after closing command palette with Esc

Close the command palette with Esc and keyboard focus drops to <body>; the focus ring disappears until you Tab twice. Repro on Safari and Chrome. Likely the palette unmount steals focus before the restore handler runs.

Provenance

Logged from Pinned-thread drag ordering · 6w ago

“esc out of the palette and my focus ring is just… gone. tab does nothing until the second press. separate from the drag work but don't lose it”

apps/web/src/palette/CommandPalette.tsx apps/web/src/a11y/useFocusRestore.ts

Attempts 2 + New attempt

1 Focus ring bug — #245 claude · opus Failed 3d ago · ran 41m

Failed — regression in palette focus trap; change reverted, findings kept.

2 Focus ring #245 — take 2 cursor · composer-2 Working started 18m ago

Restoring focus via a sentinel element captured on palette open; a11y suite running.

▸ History · 7 events — logged, pinned, attempt 1 started/failed, description edited, attempt 2 started

LIVE · ATTEMPT 2 Working

Focus ring #245 — take 2 cursor · composer-2

▸ Run palette a11y regression suite 4/6

Last agent message · 40s ago Replaced the manual focus() call with a sentinel that records the restore target when the palette opens, so unmount order stops mattering. Running the palette a11y suite now — attempt 1's trap regression is covered by a new case.

Terminal pnpm test --filter palette-a11y

Open thread →

1 The backlog is the project's spine: durable intent grouped Now (pinned) / Open / Blocked / Done tail. Selection drives the whole surface.
2 Sidebar demoted — threads render indented under small task-header rows as attempts. Orphan threads fall into a residual "Threads" group: every thread now begs for a parent.
3 The task is the primary document: lifecycle state (Open) lives on the header pill; run state never touches it.
4 Multi-attempt history is first-class: attempt 1 failed (red, kept as data), attempt 2 live. The task survives its executions.
5 Live monitor: read-only mini thread — last agent message, plan chip with pips (execution checklist, visually distinct from tasks), Working pulse.
6 "Open thread →" is the only escape hatch; the monitor is for watching, not steering — steering happens in the thread.

D2 · CAPTURE — # LOG MODE IN A LIVE THREAD, TASK LANDS IN THE SPINE

1 2 3 4

T3 t3code ▾

▦ Workbench 11

#238 · Thread list flickers on r…

Reconnect flicker fix Working

now

#245 · Focus ring lost after clos…

Focus ring #245 — take 2 Working

21m

Threads

Pinned-thread drag ordering Open PR

▸ Snoozed 3

▸ Settled 48

Backlog 9 open

Now 2

◆ #245 Focus ring lost after closing pal…

◆ #238 Thread list flickers on reconnect…

Open 5

#250 Composer stash lost when switch… just now

#241 Add test for snooze across DST…

#249 Crash: renaming a thread while… Suggested

#198 Focus outline invisible on amber…

Blocked 2

#231 Decide retention policy for settl…

The flicker only shows past ~200 threads — virtualizer remounts everything when the socket reconnects. Can you bisect what changed?

Reproduced at 240 threads. On reconnect the list gets a fresh query key, so the virtualizer treats every row as new and remounts. Bisecting the reconnect diff to find where the key started including the socket generation.

▸ Bisect the reconnect diff 2/5

#250 Composer stash lost when switching projects ✓ Logged

Soak test running — reconnecting every 20s against the 240-thread fixture while I narrow the range.

Logging a task — won't interrupt the agent

# reconnect spinner overlaps the toast stack claude · opus

1 Typing # first flips the composer to log mode — thin indigo top border + hint. The agent never pauses; the Working pill keeps pulsing sky.
2 Second capture already in flight — log mode is cheap enough to use twice in one sitting.
3 Visible durability: #250 lands at the top of the backlog column in real time. You SEE it enter the spine.
4 Confirmation chip in the timeline: one line, mono id, "Logged" — never a card. Plan chip above it (pips) shows task ≠ checklist at a glance.

D3 · WORKBENCH — EMPTY BACKLOG (SIDEBAR CROPPED)

Backlog 0 open

Now

Nothing pinned

Open

—

No open tasks

This project's outstanding work will live here — log with # from any thread, or press # right here.

Log a task

No callouts — note the cost though: an empty three-column workbench is a lot of chrome for a project with zero tasks. The empty state has to sell the habit.

D4 · STARTING AN ATTEMPT — #238, INLINE PROVIDER/MODEL (CENTER COLUMN)

1 2 3

#238 Open

opened 2w ago

Thread list flickers on reconnect when >200 threads

Attempts 1

cursor ▾ composer-2 ▾ seeds a focused thread with the #238 doc + files Start

1 Reconnect flicker — attempt 1 cursor · composer-2 Working started 5s ago

Spawned focused thread · reading ThreadListVirtualizer.tsx…

▸ History · 3 events

1 "New attempt" expands to an inline provider/model row — no modal. Start spawns a focused thread pre-seeded with the task document.
2 The attempt card carries the run state (sky Working, pulsing) the moment it exists.
3 Task ≠ run: the header pill stays Open. Lifecycle state on the task, execution state on the attempt — they never merge.

D5 · BLOCKED TASK SELECTED — #243 (CENTER COLUMN INSET)

#243 Open Blocked

opened 3w ago

Auto-archive settled threads past retention window

Blocked — waiting on #231 · Decide retention policy for settled threads →

Can't pick an archive window until the retention decision lands.

Attempts

No attempts — blocked tasks can't spawn one. Unblocks automatically when #231 closes.

D6 · DONE TASK — #212, EVIDENCE + REOPEN (CENTER COLUMN INSET)

#212 Done

closed 5d ago

Migrate diff renderer to @pierre/diffs v3

1 Diff renderer migration claude · opus Done 5d ago · ran 2h 10m

Migrated 14 call sites; visual parity confirmed against the old renderer.

Verification

✓ pnpm test — 214 passed screenshot diff +38 −6 Reopen

M1 · MOBILE HOME — TASK-CENTRIC, SEGMENTED

9:41▪▪▪ ᯤ ▮

t3code

⌕

Tasks Threads

Now

#245

Focus ring lost after closing palette Attempt 2 working · 18m

›

#238

Thread list flickers on reconnect Plan ready

›

Open

#241

Add test for snooze across DST

›

#250

Composer stash lost when switching… logged 2m ago

›

#249

Crash: renaming a settling thread Suggested — accept?

›

Blocked

#231

Decide retention policy Blocked — needs decision

›

Done

#212

Migrate diff renderer to v3

✓

M2 · MOBILE TASK SCREEN — #245, STACKED CENTER COLUMN

9:41▪▪▪ ᯤ ▮

‹ Tasks

#245 Open 6w

Focus ring lost after closing command palette with Esc

Esc from the palette drops focus to body; ring gone until you Tab twice. Safari + Chrome.

Provenance

“esc out of the palette and my focus ring is just… gone”

from Pinned-thread drag ordering · 6w

Attempts · 2

Focus ring bug — #245 Failed — palette focus trap regression

›

Take 2 · cursor · composer-2 Working · a11y suite · 18m

›

+ New attempt

Live attempt row taps straight into the thread — the monitor column collapses into the list on mobile.

M3 · MOBILE QUICK CAPTURE — # CHIP ABOVE KEYBOARD

9:41▪▪▪ ᯤ ▮

‹ t3code

Reconnect flicker fix

● Working

Only flickers past ~200 threads — bisect it?

Reproduced at 240. The virtualizer remounts on reconnect — bisecting the diff now.

#250 Composer stash lost when switching… ✓ Logged

Logging a task — won't interrupt the agent

# reconnect spinner overlaps the toasts

# Task Aa @

QWERTYUIOP

ASDFGHJKL

⇧ZXCVBNM⌫

123spacelog

The # Task chip above the keyboard is the mobile log-mode toggle; the return key relabels to "log".