Skip to content

PATCH.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
117 lines (78 loc) · 3.64 KB

PATCH.md

File metadata and controls

117 lines (78 loc) · 3.64 KB
Raw

PATCH.md — Avoid redundant async subagent widget clears

Purpose

Reduce avoidable Pi TUI work in the installed pi-subagents package by preventing repeated setWidget(undefined) calls for the async subagent widget when that widget has never been shown. This patch targets startup/session-reset responsiveness and avoids unnecessary widget invalidation.

Root cause

renderWidget(ctx, jobs) cleared the async widget every time it was called with an empty jobs array. On session startup/reset paths, this can call ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, undefined) even when no async subagent widget is currently mounted, causing redundant UI state updates and potential TUI re-render work.

Expected outcome

When there are no async subagent jobs and the async widget has not been shown, renderWidget() returns without touching TUI widget state. If the widget was previously shown, the next empty-job render still clears it exactly once.

Scope (exact files changed)

Use POSIX-style paths for portability on Linux/macOS.

Path variables:

  • PI_AGENT_DIR=${HOME}/.pi/agent

Files:

  1. ${PI_AGENT_DIR}/npm/node_modules/pi-subagents/src/tui/render.ts

Change 1 — Track async widget visibility before clearing

File: ${PI_AGENT_DIR}/npm/node_modules/pi-subagents/src/tui/render.ts

What was changed

Added a module-level visibility flag near the TUI theme type:

Before:

type Theme = ExtensionContext["ui"]["theme"];

function getTermWidth(): number {
	return process.stdout.columns || 120;
}

After:

type Theme = ExtensionContext["ui"]["theme"];

let asyncWidgetVisible = false;

function getTermWidth(): number {
	return process.stdout.columns || 120;
}

Changed renderWidget() so empty job lists only clear the widget if this extension previously showed it:

Before:

export function renderWidget(ctx: ExtensionContext, jobs: AsyncJobState[]): void {
	if (jobs.length === 0) {
		if (ctx.hasUI) ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, undefined);
		return;
	}
	if (!ctx.hasUI) return;
	ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, buildWidgetComponent(jobs, ctx.ui.getToolsExpanded?.() ?? false));
}

After:

export function renderWidget(ctx: ExtensionContext, jobs: AsyncJobState[]): void {
	if (jobs.length === 0) {
		if (ctx.hasUI && asyncWidgetVisible) {
			ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, undefined);
			asyncWidgetVisible = false;
		}
		return;
	}
	if (!ctx.hasUI) return;
	asyncWidgetVisible = true;
	ctx.ui.setWidget(WIDGET_KEY, buildWidgetComponent(jobs, ctx.ui.getToolsExpanded?.() ?? false));
}

Why

The async widget only needs clearing after it has been mounted. Tracking visibility avoids unnecessary setWidget(undefined) calls during cold startup, session reset, or idle polling paths where no async widget existed.

Verification steps

Run from any directory:

node --experimental-strip-types --check "${HOME}/.pi/agent/npm/node_modules/pi-subagents/src/tui/render.ts"
grep -n "asyncWidgetVisible\|renderWidget" "${HOME}/.pi/agent/npm/node_modules/pi-subagents/src/tui/render.ts"

Expected:

  • node --experimental-strip-types --check exits with status 0 and prints no syntax errors.
  • grep shows the asyncWidgetVisible declaration and the guarded renderWidget() logic.

Operational notes

  • Restart Pi or run /reload for the modified installed package source to be reloaded by the TUI process.
  • This patch edits an installed npm package under ${PI_AGENT_DIR}/npm/node_modules/pi-subagents; it may be overwritten by pi update, package reinstall, or package upgrade.
  • For a durable upstream fix, apply the same source change in the pi-subagents package repository and publish/update the package.