oikos/plans/2026-07-14-unified-agent-indicator.md

2026-07-14 — Unified agent activity indicator

Status: Planned

Current state — three separate indicators

Component	Location	Shows
Loading dots (Chat.svelte:146)	Inline in assistant bubble	3 bouncing dots when no text/tools yet
ToolCallGroup trigger row	Inline in assistant bubble	"12 tools" with spinner
Activity bar	Bottom of message list	"Agent is responding…" / "Working" / Continue button

All three overlap. The operator sees dots → then a tool count → then the activity bar — three different visual styles for the same thing: "the agent is working."

Target: single indicator appended to conversation

One row, always the last item in the message list, that replaces the loading dots, ToolCallGroup summary, and activity bar. Think of it like a system message appended at the end of the conversation.

Behavior

User: "audit fleet"
Assistant: "I'll check all hosts. Here's the plan..."  ← full message bubble

┌─ Agent is auditing… ───────────────────┐
│ ◉ apt update on lxc:jellyfin          │  ← spinner + current action
└────────────────────────────────────────┘

... agent finishes ...

Assistant: "Done. 19 LXCs have pending updates."  ← next message bubble

The indicator:

• Appears when the agent starts working (first tool_use event or streaming=true)
• Updates its description with the current tool name in flight
• Collapses/disappears when the turn ends (done event or streaming=false)
• If there were tools, shows a brief completion summary for 3 seconds then fades
• During auto-continuation (polling picks up new messages), reappears if the agent did tool calls

States

State	Icon	Description
Thinking	◉ pulse	"Agent is thinking…"
Planning	◉ pulse	"Building plan…"
Researching	◉ pulse	"Researching …"
Executing	◉ spinner	"<tool_name> …"
Done	✓	Fades out after 3s

Data source

The description comes from the most recent tool_use event's name + args. If no tools yet, show generic "thinking" message. The derived toolTimeline store already has this data.

Implementation

1. New component: AgentIndicator.svelte

Props: active: boolean, lastTool: ToolCallResult | null, toolCount: number

Renders a single compact row:

<div class="activity-indicator">
  <LoaderCircle class="animate-spin" /> <!-- or CheckIcon when done -->
  <span>{label}</span>
</div>

label is derived:

const label = $derived.by(() => {
  if (!active) return ''
  if (!lastTool) return 'Agent is thinking…'
  const args = lastTool.args ?? {}
  switch (lastTool.name) {
    case 'set_goal': return 'Setting goal…'
    case 'propose_plan': return 'Building plan…'
    case 'search_knowledge': return `Researching: ${args.query ?? ''}`
    case 'get_entity': return `Looking up ${args.slug_or_id ?? ''}`
    case 'run': return `${args.purpose ?? 'Running command…'}`
    case 'list_lxcs': return 'Listing containers…'
    case 'update_plan_step': return 'Updating progress…'
    case 'upsert_knowledge': return 'Recording knowledge…'
    case 'complete_task': return 'Wrapping up…'
    default: return `${lastTool.name}…`
  }
})

2. Chat.svelte changes

• Remove activity bar from bottom of messages
• Replace the 3 bouncing dots {#if msg.tools.length === 0} with nothing (the indicator covers this)
• Add <AgentIndicator> after the {#each} loop, before messagesEnd
• The indicator shows when $streaming || liveStatus === 'executing'
• Pass lastTool from $toolTimeline — the last tool_use entry

3. Remove activity bar code

Delete the {#if $currentSession && $messages.length > 0} block at the bottom (already moved once, now deleted entirely — replaced by AgentIndicator).

4. Remove loading dots

In Chat.svelte, remove the 3 bouncing dots block:

{:else if msg.tools.length === 0}
  <div class="flex items-center gap-1.5 py-1 text-sm text-muted-foreground">
    <span class="size-1.5 animate-bounce rounded-full bg-current ...">...</span>
  </div>

Verification

• Send "status" → indicator appears "Agent is thinking…" → agent responds → indicator fades
• Send "check updates on jellyfin" → indicator shows "Researching…" → "Listing containers…" → "Running apt list…" → fades
• Auto-continuation fires → indicator reappears with current tool → fades when done
• Scroll up during agent work → indicator stays at bottom of message list (it's just a message)
• Error during agent work → indicator shows "Error: …" with X icon