deepseek-harness/.agents/notes/archived/feature/2026-07-20-tui-startup-slogans.md

Agent Note: Startup slogans replace the configured TUI welcome line

Status: implemented Archived: 2026-07-26

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Superseded for the slogan/animation half by the banner sweep Agent Note: the slogan bank and typewriter reveal shipped, read as weird in use, and were replaced by a subtitle-free banner with a whole-banner sweep. The removal of the configured demo welcome and the animation-lifecycle groundwork (start after ui.start(), clear through detachListeners) stand.

Problem

The TUI header subtitle came from a welcome config the demo leaf set to "TUI agent ready. Give it a coding task." — instructional filler that told a returning user nothing, restated what the product is on every boot, and had a hardcoded twin ('ready.') as the schema default in two packages. The product wanted a startup moment with some character instead of a static banner caption.

Decision

• examples/tui-agent/cordis.yml no longer configures welcome; the config key stays for deployments and fixtures that need a fixed, deterministic subtitle (the Code Mode overlay and every snapshot/scripted fixture keep theirs).
• When welcome is unset, dsh-tui picks one member of an exported STARTUP_SLOGANS bank per boot (pickStartupSlogan, injectable random source) and reveals it with a typewriter animation: one character per 40 ms frame, a ▌ block cursor trailing until complete. The reveal starts only after ui.start() succeeds and its interval is cleared on dispose alongside the other listeners.
• The slogan bank is presentation copy, deliberately not config: deployments that want controlled wording already have welcome. Slogans are ASCII-only by contract because the reveal slices per character.
• dsh-tui-demo forwards welcome only when configured instead of defaulting it, so the app no longer decides the TUI's idle subtitle.
• The keyless PTY boot scenario now waits for the reveal cursor (▌ — the only source of that glyph in an empty transcript) instead of the removed welcome text.

The same change restores packages/ui/tui/src/index.ts to 100 % per-file coverage, which the color-scheme merge had broken on the integration branch: the editor border-color reassignment inside applyColorScheme was dead (the setStatus call right after re-derives it) and is removed, and the color-scheme query's .then/.catch arrows became named, tested handlers (applyReportedScheme, ignoreSchemeQueryFailure — the latter pinned by a test whose terminal throws on the DSR query write).

Alternatives considered

A fixed cooler slogan. Rejected: one string re-read on every boot decays into wallpaper exactly like the line it replaces; a small rotating bank keeps the moment alive at no complexity cost.

Making the bank and reveal speed configurable. Rejected: that is two new knobs for presentation copy; welcome is already the escape hatch for deployments with an opinion, and the no-hardcoded-tunables rule targets deployment-varying behavior, not brand copy.

Animating in HeaderComponent itself. Rejected: the component would need a TUI handle and its own lifecycle; the chat already owns a render loop, timers, and a disposal path, so the reveal lives beside the other createTuiChat effects and detachListeners clears it.

Consequences

• Boot output is no longer byte-deterministic when welcome is unset (random slogan, timed frames). Every recorded or snapshot surface pins welcome explicitly, so no snapshot changed; the PTY smoke anchors on the reveal cursor and the session-id line instead.
• The welcome schema default disappeared from both dsh-tui and dsh-tui-demo; a direct caller passing no welcome now gets a slogan, not 'ready.'.
• Adding a slogan is a one-line bank edit; tests assert membership, not specific text.

Testing

packages/ui/tui/tests/tui.spec.ts pins deterministic bank selection with an injected random source, the reveal (a bank member fully rendered, cursor frames observed), the configured-welcome path rendering verbatim with no cursor, and dispose stopping a mid-reveal animation. examples/tui-agent/tests/tui-keyless-smoke.e2e.ts boots the real tree in a PTY and waits on the reveal cursor. Verified live in tmux (mid-reveal frame no map below▌ then the full slogan).