v0.8.45 TUI: low-information rows should be inspectable and clickable

[Hmbown]

Context

Live Work / Tasks / Agents panels can show rows with very little visible information: truncated task titles, clipped agent summaries, raw IDs, or status snippets that do not explain why the row matters. When the UI cannot show enough information inline, the row should become an affordance for more detail.

This is related to #1884 and the closed #1975 inspectability pass, but it captures the broader design rule for Work, Tasks, Agents, Recent Tools, and future workbench panels.

Principle

If a row is low-information, clipped, or ambiguous, make it inspectable.

Inline text can stay compact, but there must be an obvious way to expand or open details. Mouse click support is desirable where terminal mouse events are available, but every action needs a keyboard equivalent.

Desired behavior

• Focused row + Enter: inspect/open detail.
• Focused row + Space: expand/collapse inline when the panel supports it.
• y: copy the focused row primary reference.
• Y: copy the focused row full receipt/details.
• Mouse click, where supported: focus/inspect the row.
• Double-click or explicit chevron/caret click, where supported: expand/open details.
• Footer/help hints should describe actions that operate on the visible focused row.

Scope

Apply this to at least:

• Work queue rows
• Task rows
• Recent tool rows
• Agent rows
• Background job rows
• Any future model/provider/workbench picker rows that show clipped summaries

Acceptance criteria

• Low-information or truncated rows have a visible inspect/expand/copy path.
• Each rendered row keeps identity metadata behind it so focus/click/detail/copy operate on the same object.
• Keyboard-first behavior works without mouse support.
• Mouse click behavior is added where the terminal backend can deliver events, without making mouse support required.
• Hints never advertise actions that operate on a hidden/implicit transcript target instead of the visible focused row.
• Regression tests or focused rendering tests cover row identity and inspect/copy behavior.

Related

• TUI cockpit shows stale low-signal state and clipped recent-tool failures #1884 TUI cockpit truth-surface polish.
• v0.8.43: make Tasks sidebar inspectable, expandable, and copyable #1975 Tasks sidebar inspectability pass.
• Agent team UX: readable roles and parent-owned result review #1981 Agent team UX.
• Workbench loop: connect delegation, integration, and verification #1982 Workbench loop: delegation, integration, verification.

[Hmbown]

Addendum from the TUI workbench scout: before adding many click handlers, make row identity an explicit model. Work, Tasks, Agents, Recent Tools, and Background Jobs should render from data rows that carry a stable id, primary label, detail handle, copy payload, and supported actions. Then Enter, Space, y/Y, and mouse hit-testing can all operate on the same object.

Acceptance expansion:

• Work, Tasks, Agents, Recent Tools, and Background Jobs share a row descriptor shape or equivalent contract.
• Rendering tests prove truncated rows still retain inspect/copy metadata.
• Footer hints are computed from the focused row actions, not hardcoded per panel.
• Mouse hit maps are progressive enhancement; keyboard focus remains the canonical path.

This should be the enabling layer for #1982 child-session supervision and for the copy/select work in #1547 / #1853.

[Hmbown]

v0.8.45 assessment

This is a cross-cutting TUI architecture issue spanning Work, Tasks, Agents, Recent Tools, and Background Jobs panels — each requiring a shared row descriptor contract. The scope (6 acceptance criteria + addendum about row identity model) is too large for the v0.8.45 flash release.

What exists today

• Sidebar agents have focus/click support (v0.8.45: finished sub-agents should auto-collapse in sidebar, not sit idle taking space #2040 auto-collapse landed)
• ActiveCell provides detail inspection for transcript rows
• Sidebar work summary shows goal, plan, and todo items
• Task panel supports Enter for details

What's needed for v0.8.46

• Shared row identity model across all panels
• Keyboard-first Enter/Space/y/Y actions
• Mouse click progressive enhancement
• Footer hints computed from focused row actions
• Regression tests for row identity and inspect/copy

Moving to v0.8.46. The enabling architecture (#1982 workbench loop) should land first.