feat: play notification sound on agent response

[hankkyy]

Feature

Play a short notification sound when the agent finishes responding, so users who switch away from the app know when an answer is ready.

Implementation

Uses the Web Audio API to generate a brief ascending two-tone beep (880 → 1100 Hz, 0.2 seconds, low volume). No external audio files needed.

The sound plays when isLoading transitions from true to false — indicating the agent has completed its response.

If AudioContext is unavailable or blocked (e.g., browser autoplay policy), the error is silently caught — the app continues normally.

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

Adds a Web Audio API notification beep that fires when isLoading transitions from true to false, signalling the end of an agent response. No external audio files are required; the sound is synthesised inline.

• AudioContext leak: a new AudioContext is created per response but never closed; browsers cap simultaneous instances (~6 in Chrome), so the feature silently stops working after a handful of chats.
• Missing active guard: every other side-effecting handler in Chat checks active before firing, but the audio effect does not, causing background sessions to also beep when their agents finish.

Confidence Score: 3/5

Safe to merge as a non-breaking change, but the notification feature will silently stop working after a few responses and will fire for background sessions.

Two issues exist in the new code path: the AudioContext is never closed, so after roughly 6 responses the browser instance limit is hit and the beep silently stops working; and the missing active guard means background sessions also trigger audio, which is almost certainly unintended behaviour.

src/renderer/src/screens/Chat/Chat.tsx — the notification useEffect needs both an active guard and an osc.onended / ctx.close() call.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
src/renderer/src/screens/Chat/Chat.tsx	Adds Web Audio API beep on agent response completion; the AudioContext is never closed (leaks past browser instance limit) and the active guard is missing (background sessions also beep).

_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "feat: play notification sound when agent..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[greptile-apps]

AudioContext is never closed — stops working after a few responses. Browsers cap the number of simultaneously-live AudioContext instances (Chrome: ~6, Safari: lower). Each agent response allocates a new one that is never released, so after ~6 chats the constructor starts throwing and the sound silently stops working — exactly the regression users won't notice until it's been broken for a while.

Suggested change

	try {
	const ctx = new AudioContext();
	const osc = ctx.createOscillator();
	const gain = ctx.createGain();
	osc.connect(gain);
	gain.connect(ctx.destination);
	osc.type = "sine";
	// Play two quick ascending tones
	osc.frequency.setValueAtTime(880, ctx.currentTime);
	osc.frequency.setValueAtTime(1100, ctx.currentTime + 0.08);
	gain.gain.setValueAtTime(0.12, ctx.currentTime);
	gain.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, ctx.currentTime + 0.2);
	osc.start(ctx.currentTime);
	osc.stop(ctx.currentTime + 0.2);
	} catch {
	// AudioContext may fail in some environments — silently ignore
	}
	try {
	const ctx = new AudioContext();
	const osc = ctx.createOscillator();
	const gain = ctx.createGain();
	osc.connect(gain);
	gain.connect(ctx.destination);
	osc.type = "sine";
	// Play two quick ascending tones
	osc.frequency.setValueAtTime(880, ctx.currentTime);
	osc.frequency.setValueAtTime(1100, ctx.currentTime + 0.08);
	gain.gain.setValueAtTime(0.12, ctx.currentTime);
	gain.gain.exponentialRampToValueAtTime(0.001, ctx.currentTime + 0.2);
	osc.start(ctx.currentTime);
	osc.stop(ctx.currentTime + 0.2);
	// Close the context once playback ends to avoid exhausting the browser limit
	osc.onended = () => { void ctx.close(); };
	} catch {
	// AudioContext may fail in some environments — silently ignore
	}

[greptile-apps]

Sound fires for every mounted Chat instance, including background sessions. Every other audio/keyboard side effect in this component guards on active (see the Cmd+N handler, context-menu handlers, etc.), but the notification sound doesn't. If a user has two background sessions finishing simultaneously they'll both beep, and a background session finishing while the user is reading the active chat will emit a misleading sound.

Suggested change

	// Play a notification sound when the agent finishes responding
	const prevLoadingRef = useRef(isLoading);
	useEffect(() => {
	const wasLoading = prevLoadingRef.current;
	prevLoadingRef.current = isLoading;
	if (!wasLoading || isLoading) return;
	// Play a notification sound when the agent finishes responding
	const prevLoadingRef = useRef(isLoading);
	useEffect(() => {
	const wasLoading = prevLoadingRef.current;
	prevLoadingRef.current = isLoading;
	if (!wasLoading || isLoading) return;
	if (!active) return;

Note: If this suggestion doesn't match your team's coding style, reply to this and let me know. I'll remember it for next time!