(triggers): confirm a chain step's submission by the CLI descriptor (#407)

.ai/contexts/trigger-watcher.md

@@ -812,6 +812,79 @@ still applies once a rise is observed (unchanged by the rise-wait bound)`
 is true). The two pre-existing settle-window spec tests above — including
 the documented deadline-vs-settle trade-off — remain green unmodified.
 
+### Readiness and edge proof from the CLI descriptor (issue #407)
+
+Field case (2026-10-01): after a `/compact` chain step, the next step's text
+landed in the composer but its Enter became a line break, while the log said
+`Chain step 1 sent`. Two defects stacked. The level probe
+(`pollForBusyObserved`) accepts any `_cliBusy = true` within the window, and
+`_cliBusy` comes from OSC titles / OSC 9;4, so the spinner that ends a
+compaction satisfied it and the recovery Enter was never armed. And nothing
+waited for the CLI to be back at its prompt: #185 (settle), #190 (rise wait)
+and the `midBusy` gate all read the same terminal-derived signal, which is
+not the CLI's own account of its state (the 0.0.64 incident above: even a
+lone retry `\r` seconds later was absorbed).
+
+The CLI's own descriptor (`~/.claude/sessions/<pid>.json`, read by
+`cli-session-state.js`, see `cli-session-state.md`) is the better source:
+`status` is `idle` at the prompt, `waiting` when a dialog is open, `busy`
+while working, and `statusUpdatedAt` is written on change. The watcher reaches
+it through the optional `ctx.getCliStatus(sessionId)` (`trigger-context.js`,
+wired to `cliSessionState.getStatus` in `main.js`; `undefined` for a remote
+session, which has no local descriptor). No new watcher: it reuses the cache
+`cli-session-state.js` already keeps.
+
+- **Readiness.** A chain step that follows a `/compact` step first waits
+  (`waitForCliIdleAfter`) for `status: "idle"` with a `statusUpdatedAt` later
+  than the compact step's send time. Bounded by
+  `SWITCHBOARD_CLI_READY_WAIT_MS` (default 60 000 ms) and by the step's own
+  deadline; on expiry the step is written anyway, with the warning `CLI not
+  idle after /compact within N ms, writing chain step N anyway`. Its time is
+  counted in the step's and the chain's `waited_ms`.
+- **Proof of submission by edge.** When a descriptor with an integer
+  `statusUpdatedAt` is available, a submission counts when the descriptor
+  shows ANY status write (`busy`, `idle` or `waiting`) with a
+  `statusUpdatedAt` at or after the moment of our Enter (`cliReactedSince`):
+  the CLI reacted. `idle` alone covers a turn too fast for a poll to see
+  `busy`; `waiting` is a permission dialog our Enter opened. A spinner on the
+  level probe, or a status that began earlier, proves nothing. Otherwise the
+  existing recovery applies (one bare ``, only into a free composer, same
+  window), and the reaction is looked for again. Still nothing:
+  `confirmed: false`.
+- **The recovery Enter is never written while the descriptor reads `waiting`
+  or `busy`** (`cliForbidsRecoveryEnter`, in edge and fallback modes, whenever
+  the descriptor has a status, even without a usable timestamp): a bare Enter
+  would answer the dialog with its default, or land in a running turn. The
+  step reports `recoverySkipped` and `confirmed: false`.
+- **A descriptor whose `statusUpdatedAt` is not an integer** is treated as no
+  descriptor for readiness and proof (old behaviour), not as one that never
+  matches.
+- **Result and log.** `submitWithVerify` returns `confirmed`: `true` (edge
+  seen), `false` (descriptor available, no edge even after the recovery Enter)
+  or `null` (no descriptor: the level probe decides, as before). `true` logs
+  `Chain step N submitted to ...` (single command: `Submitted command`);
+  `false` logs the warning `Chain step N not confirmed submitted to ...`
+  (`Command not confirmed submitted`) and never `sent`; `null` keeps `sent`.
+  A confirmed step reads `submitted: "confirmed"`; an unconfirmed one reads
+  `"assumed"`, so the chain fold drops to `assumed` too. The step carries
+  `submit_confirmed` and the chain result lists `unconfirmed_steps` (indexes)
+  when there are any. Both fields are absent without a descriptor.
+- **What it does not cover.** A command that never makes the CLI busy (a
+  local slash command that answers at once) cannot show a busy edge: it takes
+  the recovery `\r` (a no-op on an empty composer) and is reported
+  unconfirmed. The descriptor is written by the CLI process; the edge is as
+  fresh as `cli-session-state.js`'s watch of that file.
+
+Unverified against a real CLI: whether waiting for the descriptor's idle
+actually makes the Enter after `/compact` submit. The deciding measurement
+(isolated instance, real CLI) is `/compact` then text with
+`SWITCHBOARD_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS` 50 / 500 / 3000, with and without the
+readiness wait. Until then the fix guarantees the failure is recovered once or
+named, not that the first Enter always lands.
+
+Tests: `test/trigger-descriptor-proof.test.js` (fake timers and a fake
+descriptor for the helpers; the real watcher for the chain wiring).
+
 ### Why `composerEmptyAfterWrite` cannot be made to prove submission, even by feeding it our own writes
 
 A proposal, considered and rejected 2026-09-04: since `submitToPty` writes

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ What changes for you in each release of Switchboard. How to write an entry: [doc
 ## Unreleased
 
 ### Fixed
+- A step of a trigger chain that follows `/compact` now waits for the CLI to be back at its prompt before it is written, and a step whose Enter did not start a turn is retried once and then reported as "not confirmed submitted" in the log and the result instead of "sent". (#407)
 - Stopping a terminal twice in quick succession, or resizing it while it is being stopped, no longer closes the Windows pseudo console twice, which could kill the whole app with no error. (#405)
 - A sandboxed session, or a sandboxed schedule, whose Additional Directories include a `.claude` or `.git` directory, or a path inside one, is now refused instead of binding it read-write over its read-only protection; add the project directory instead. A session started in a `.claude` or `.git` directory is refused too, except below `.claude/worktrees`, and Additional Directories naming your home directory or a parent of it are refused however the path is written. A relative `add-dirs` entry in a schedule is taken from the schedule's directory. (#385)
 - A session that has exited no longer keeps a busy dot in the sidebar, and the status bar's running count drops as soon as the session ends instead of waiting for the next refresh. (#375)

docs/automation.md

@@ -263,6 +263,7 @@ spends the same budget.
 | `SWITCHBOARD_TRIGGER_MAX_AGE_MS` | The staleness limit | 300 000 |
 | `SWITCHBOARD_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS` | Delay between the text and its Enter | 50 |
 | `SWITCHBOARD_SUBMIT_VERIFY_MS` | How long a submission is watched for a turn | 2 000 |
+| `SWITCHBOARD_CLI_READY_WAIT_MS` | How long a chain step after `/compact` waits for the CLI to report idle | 60 000 |
 | `SWITCHBOARD_BUSY_FALL_SETTLE_MS` | How long "not busy" must hold between chain steps | 300 |
 
 The triggers directory does not move with `SWITCHBOARD_DATA_DIR`: an instance

main.js

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 }
 
 // Shell profiles → shell-profiles.js
 const { discoverShellProfiles, getShellProfiles, resolveShell, isWindows, isWslShell, windowsToWslPath, shellArgs, quoteArgvForShell } = require('./shell-profiles');
 const { startScheduler, scheduleBindRefusals, resolveScheduleSandbox, scheduleRegistry } = require('./schedule-runner');
 const { encodeProjectPath } = require('./encode-project-path');
 const { SETTING_DEFAULTS } = require('./public/setting-defaults');
@@ -478,8 +478,8 @@
     isInitialScanComplete, setInitialScanComplete,
   },
 });
 const { readSessionFile, readFolderFromFilesystem, refreshFolder, reconcileCacheFromFilesystem,
         buildProjectsFromCache, notifyRendererProjectsChanged, sendStatus, populateCacheViaWorker,
         scanFoldersViaWorker, setRemoteRoots, resolveFolderDir, isIndexingFinished } = sessionCache;
 const { resolveJsonlPath, enumerateSessionFiles, readSubagentMeta } = require('./read-session-file');
 
@@ -2446,7 +2446,7 @@
   // WSL profiles only work for plain terminals — Claude CLI sessions need the
   // Windows shell because session data lives on the Windows filesystem.
   const requestedProfile = resolveShell(effectiveProfileId);
   const useWslProfile = isWslShell(requestedProfile.path) && isPlainTerminal;
   const shellProfile = (isWslShell(requestedProfile.path) && !isPlainTerminal)
     ? resolveShell('auto')
     : requestedProfile;
@@ -3183,7 +3183,7 @@
     // I3: wrapped in try/catch so a boot failure here doesn't abort
     // app.whenReady (auto-updater, etc. would otherwise be silently lost).
     try {
-      require('./trigger-watcher').start(createTriggerContext({ activeSessions, log }));
+      require('./trigger-watcher').start(createTriggerContext({ activeSessions, log, getCliStatus: (id) => cliSessionState.getStatus(id) }));
     } catch (err) {
       log.error('[trigger-watcher] Failed to start trigger watcher:', err.message);
     }

test/trigger-context.test.js

@@ -137,3 +137,21 @@ test('log is forwarded, and isPtyAlive is only present when supplied', () => {
   });
   assert.equal(withProbe.isPtyAlive, probe);
 });
+
+test('getCliStatus is only present when supplied, and answers for local live sessions only', () => {
+  assert.equal('getCliStatus' in createTriggerContext({ activeSessions: new Map(), log: silentLog }), false);
+
+  const sessions = new Map([
+    ['local', { pty: {}, host: null }],
+    ['remote', { pty: {}, host: 'box', handle: {} }],
+  ]);
+  const seen = [];
+  const ctx = createTriggerContext({
+    activeSessions: sessions, log: silentLog,
+    getCliStatus: (id) => { seen.push(id); return { status: 'idle', statusUpdatedAt: 5 }; },
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(ctx.getCliStatus('local'), { status: 'idle', statusUpdatedAt: 5 });
+  assert.equal(ctx.getCliStatus('remote'), undefined, 'a remote session has no local descriptor');
+  assert.equal(ctx.getCliStatus('unknown'), undefined);
+  assert.deepEqual(seen, ['local']);
+});