- ArchetypePicker: Full-screen modal with backdrop blur, 2-column grid,
Select/Edit/Create actions, 800px width for readability
- TemplatePicker: Same pattern with team size indicator and built-in badge
- Both pickers support backdrop click-to-close and keyboard navigation
## Design Decision
Per bd (bead) system design, a task should have only ONE agent archetype
assigned at a time. This provides clear ownership and simpler mental model.
## What Changed
When assigning a new archetype:
1. Remove any existing agent: labels first (DELETE API)
2. Then add the new agent: label (POST API)
3. Optimistic UI updates to match
## Why This Makes Sense
- Clear ownership: 'Who's working on this?'
- Simpler coordination between tasks
- Matches how bd/agent orchestration is intended to work
- Reassigning is still possible (just click a different archetype)
## UI Behavior
- If task has 'coder' assigned, clicking 'architect' will:
1. Remove 'coder' label
2. Add 'architect' label
- Dropdown shows 'Assigned' badge on current archetype
- X button still available to unassign completely
## Test Coverage
Added graph-node-single-archetype.test.tsx with 5 tests:
- Removes existing labels before adding new
- Calls DELETE before POST
- Only allows one archetype per task
- Preserves non-agent labels
- Returns early if same archetype clicked
## The Bug
User reported: 'An archetype can only exist on one task at a time - when
I try to make the next task have the same arch, it deleted the one I
added prior.'
## Root Cause
The SSE subscription (useBeadsSubscription) refreshes data from the server
whenever ANY change happens. When user assigns an archetype:
1. User clicks assign -> optimistic update adds label locally
2. SSE fires (from previous operation or heartbeat) -> fetches fresh data
3. useEffect syncs localLabels with data.labels (which doesn't have the
new label yet)
4. Label disappears from UI
5. Eventually API completes and another SSE refresh brings it back
This race condition causes labels to flicker or disappear entirely.
## The Fix
Track pending optimistic labels in a useRef Set, and merge them with
incoming server data during sync:
1. pendingOptimisticLabels = useRef<Set<string>>(new Set())
2. When optimistically adding: add to pending set
3. useEffect merge: combine server labels + pending labels
4. After API completes: remove from pending set
This ensures optimistic labels survive SSE refreshes.
## Test Coverage
Added graph-node-labels-optimistic.test.tsx with 10 tests:
- Uses useRef for tracking
- Tracks in a Set
- Preserves labels during sync
- Adds/removes from pending set
- Handles multiple concurrent operations
- Per-node state isolation
## Verification
- typecheck: pass
- lint: pass (0 errors)
- test: all pass
Various supporting changes made during the assign archetypes feature development:
- Added contextual-right-panel.tsx and swarm-command-feed.tsx
- Updated activity-panel.tsx with new features
- UI improvements to left-panel, mobile-nav
- Test updates for url-state-integration, mobile-nav, top-bar
- Package.json updates for dependencies
- Global CSS refinements
These changes support the main assign archetypes feature but are
not directly part of its core functionality.
## Context
This commit adds the supporting infrastructure that makes the assign
feature work end-to-end.
## Components Added/Modified
### SmartDag
- Main view component for graph-based task management
- Integrates TaskCardGrid and WorkflowGraph
- Has 'Assign' mode toggle button
- Passes archetypes and assignMode to WorkflowGraph
- Manages filter state (hideClosed, sortReadyFirst, etc.)
### useGraphAnalysis Hook
- Extracted graph analysis logic for reuse
- Returns: actionableNodeIds, cycleNodeIdSet, blockerTooltipMap, etc.
- Used by both SmartDag and AssignmentPanel
- Ensures consistent 'actionable' definition across components
### UnifiedShell
- Added assignMode state
- Added selectedAssignIssue state
- Renders AssignmentPanel when in graph view + assign mode
- Wires up onAssignModeChange and onSelectedIssueChange callbacks
## Design Philosophy
- Shared hook means single source of truth for 'actionable'
- Clean separation between view (SmartDag) and sidebar (AssignmentPanel)
- URL state preserved for navigation
## Test Coverage
- SmartDag tests: 12 tests covering buttons, callbacks, imports
- useGraphAnalysis tests: 6 tests covering cycle detection, blockers
- UnifiedShell tests: 9 tests covering state and rendering
## The Feature Request
User wanted an enhanced sidebar panel showing:
- Tasks needing agents (ready but unassigned)
- Pre-assigned tasks waiting to start
- Active workers on current epic
## Design Collaboration
We discussed what each section should show:
1. **Needs Agent**: Actionable tasks (no blockers) without agent: label
2. **Pre-assigned**: Tasks with agent: label, not yet in_progress
3. **Squad Roster**: in_progress tasks with assignee
## Technical Implementation
- Uses useGraphAnalysis hook for actionableNodeIds
- Helper functions: hasAgentLabel(), getAgentLabels(), extractArchetypeIdFromLabel()
- Quick assign dropdown on each 'Needs Agent' item
- Archetype badges shown on 'Pre-assigned' items
## UI/UX Decisions
- Each section has count badge in header
- Max-height with scroll for each section
- Consistent styling with existing panel patterns
- Uses CSS variables for theming
## Test Coverage
- Added assignment-panel-sections.test.tsx with 5 TDD tests
- Tests verify: useGraphAnalysis import, section headers, filtering logic
## Beads: beadboard-b7t (closed)
## The Collaboration Story
User requested ability to assign agent archetypes to tasks directly from
graph nodes. This was the core UI feature request.
## Design Decisions Made Together
1. **Placement**: We decided to put the assign UI at the bottom of the card
to not interfere with existing status/badges display
2. **Pattern**: Used Radix dropdown-menu (already in project) for consistency
3. **Visual feedback**: Added loading spinner during API calls, success/error
messages that auto-dismiss
4. **Closed tasks**: Excluded closed tasks from assignment (logical constraint)
## Issues We Encountered
- Initially only added POST handler for assignment
- User pointed out we needed DELETE for unassign - added that
- The unassign button (X) needed to call DELETE not POST
## API Changes
- Added DELETE handler to /api/swarm/prep for removing agent assignments
- Uses 'bd label remove' under the hood
## What the UI Shows
- Dropdown with available archetypes
- Badge showing assigned archetype name with color
- X button to unassign (on each badge)
- 'Assigned' label on already-assigned archetypes in dropdown
## Test Coverage
- Added graph-node-assign.test.tsx with 6 TDD tests
## Beads: beadboard-brq (closed)
## Context
This is the foundation commit for the 'Assign Archetypes to Tasks' feature.
We needed a way to display which agents are assigned to tasks directly on
the graph nodes.
## Decision Process
- User wanted to see agent assignments on DAG nodes
- We discovered that labels (including 'agent:archetype-id' format) weren't
being passed through the WorkflowGraph component
- Added 'labels' and 'archetypes' to GraphNodeData interface
## What Changed
- WorkflowGraph now passes issue.labels to each node's data
- GraphNodeData interface updated to include labels: string[]
- Added archetypes prop for dropdown population
## Test Coverage
- Added graph-node-labels.test.tsx with 4 passing tests
## Beads: beadboard-yo5 (closed)
This commit includes the new SwarmWorkspace with its 3 sub-tabs, the LeftPanel mission picker, and the comprehensive Operations Command Dashboard featuring the live interactive DAG telemetry and task assignment prep flow.
- Created ThreadDrawer component (24rem) that slides from right edge of middle
- RightPanel now reserved for Activity Feed + Agent roster (bb-ui2.29)
- Updated URL state: added drawer and agentId params
- Thread shows in drawer when card selected
Architecture now matches PRD:
- Right Panel (17rem): Activity Feed + Agent roster
- Thread Drawer (24rem): Opens from middle when card clicked
Beads: bb-ui2.31 thread drawer created, bb-ui2.13 closed
STORY:
Users couldn't pan to see nodes at the bottom of large graphs.
The translateExtent was limiting the viewport to a fixed area.
FIX:
Removed translateExtent entirely to allow unlimited panning in all
directions. Users can now explore the full graph regardless of size.
CLOSES: bb-ui2.21 (fitView/panning fix)
STORY:
With the shell layout complete, we needed the actual content for each view.
Three agents worked in parallel on the card components that would populate
the Social and Swarm views, plus integrating the existing graph into the shell.
COLLABORATION:
Agent bb-98c (social-card-builder) created SocialCard:
- Task ID with teal styling
- UNLOCKS section (green) showing what this task unblocks
- BLOCKS section (amber) showing what's blocking this task
- Agent avatars with liveness glow
- View-jump icons for quick navigation
Agent bb-nuy (swarm-card-builder) created SwarmCard:
- Agent roster with liveness indicators
- Progress bar (ASCII block format: ████████░░░░)
- Attention items with warning styling
- View-jump icons
Agent bb-54x (graph-integrator) integrated WorkflowGraph:
- Created GraphView wrapper with Flow/Overview tabs
- Wired into UnifiedShell when view=graph
- Connected taskId to selectedId for URL sync
- Connected graphTab to URL state
DELIVERABLES:
- src/components/social/social-card.tsx: Task card for activity feed
- src/components/swarm/swarm-card.tsx: Swarm health card
- src/components/graph/graph-view.tsx: Graph wrapper with tabs
- src/components/shared/mobile-nav.tsx: Bottom tab bar
- Tests for all components
VERIFICATION:
- npm run typecheck: PASS
- npm run lint: PASS
- npm run test: PASS
CLOSES: bb-ui2.11, bb-ui2.16, bb-ui2.20
STORY:
Phase 1 of the Unified UX epic required a complete 3-panel shell layout
with responsive behavior across mobile, tablet, and desktop breakpoints.
The existing page structure was fragmented - we needed a cohesive shell.
COLLABORATION:
Three agents (bb-5am, bb-dwz, bb-3dv) worked in parallel on:
- TopBar: View tabs (Social/Graph/Swarm) with active states, filter input
- LeftPanel: Channel tree navigation with epic filtering, responsive collapse
- RightPanel: Detail strip with sidebar (desktop) / drawer (tablet/mobile) modes
We encountered a hydration mismatch error on mobile/tablet because
useResponsive was returning different values on server vs client.
Fixed by defaulting to desktop on server and only updating after mount.
Mobile navigation (bb-ui2.27) added:
- Hamburger menu for left panel access on mobile/tablet
- Bottom tab bar for thumb-friendly view switching
DELIVERABLES:
- src/components/shared/top-bar.tsx: TopBar with view tabs + hamburger
- src/components/shared/left-panel.tsx: Epic tree with expand/collapse
- src/components/shared/right-panel.tsx: Responsive sidebar/drawer
- src/components/shared/unified-shell.tsx: Main 3-panel grid layout
- src/components/shared/mobile-nav.tsx: Bottom tab bar for mobile
- src/hooks/use-responsive.ts: Breakpoint detection (mobile/tablet/desktop)
- Tests for all components
VERIFICATION:
- npm run typecheck: PASS
- npm run lint: PASS
- npm run test: PASS
CLOSES: bb-ui2.6, bb-ui2.7, bb-ui2.8, bb-ui2.9, bb-ui2.27
- Create GraphView component with Flow/Overview tab switcher
- Wire GraphView into UnifiedShell when view=graph
- Connect taskId URL param to selectedId for node selection
- Connect graphTab URL param for tab state persistence
- ReactFlow renders in middle panel with proper layout
Closes bb-ui2.20
STORY:
Development requires supporting scripts and comprehensive test coverage.
This commit adds utility scripts and extends test suites.
COLLABORATION:
- scripts/capture-sessions.mjs: Screenshot capture for sessions hub
- scripts/capture-timeline.mjs: Timeline view capture utility
- sessions-header-logic.ts: Session header business logic
- Additional test files for sessions, hooks, and snapshot diffing
STORY:
The existing ReactFlow dependency graph lived in the /graph page, but
the Unified UX needs it as a reusable component for the graph tab.
COLLABORATION:
Extracted the core ReactFlow visualization into WorkflowGraph component:
Interface:
- beads: BeadIssue[] to render as nodes
- selectedId?: currently selected bead
- onSelect?: selection callback
- className?: styling override
- hideClosed?: filter closed beads
Features preserved:
- Dagre layout for automatic positioning
- Edge rendering with BLOCKS labels
- fitView() on mount via useReactFlow
- Existing styling and hover states
The original /graph page can now use this component or serve as reference.
DELIVERABLES:
- src/components/shared/workflow-graph.tsx
VERIFICATION:
- npm run typecheck: PASS
- npm run lint: PASS
- npm run test: PASS
CLOSES: bb-ui2.19
BLOCKS: bb-ui2.20
STORY:
The Unified UX needs reusable primitive components that work across
Social, Swarm, and Graph views. These build on shadcn/ui foundation
with consistent styling and behavior.
COLLABORATION:
Created shared primitives:
- BaseCard: Wraps shadcn Card with consistent padding, hover states,
and selection styling
- AgentAvatar: Avatar with liveness glow indicator (active/stale/stuck/dead)
- StatusBadge: Status display with consistent styling
These components use the earthy-dark tokens and are designed for
composability across all three views (Social, Graph, Swarm).
DELIVERABLES:
- src/components/shared/base-card.tsx
- src/components/shared/agent-avatar.tsx
- src/components/shared/status-badge.tsx
- src/components/shared/index.ts (barrel export)
- Tests in tests/components/shared/
VERIFICATION:
- npm run typecheck: PASS
- npm run lint: PASS
- npm run test: PASS
CLOSES: bb-ui2.3
BLOCKS: bb-ui2.5, bb-ui2.11, bb-ui2.16
STORY:
In a multi-agent control center, operators need to quickly identify
what TYPE of agent they're looking at - UI agents, graph agents,
orchestrators, or general workers.
COLLABORATION:
We implemented role-based border colors on agent avatars:
- ui agents: blue border
- graph agents: green border
- orchestrators: purple border
- default/other: gray border
The agent-station component now displays these colors, making it
instantly visible what role each agent plays in the swarm.
DELIVERABLES:
- AgentStation component with role-based styling
- agent-station-logic.ts with role color derivation
- Tests: agent-station-logic.test.ts updated and passing
VERIFICATION:
- typecheck: PASS
- lint: PASS
- test: PASS
CLOSES: bb-buff.3.4
STORY:
The session backend needed to aggregate agent health from a live
telemetry stream rather than static bead metadata. This refactor
makes liveness signals real-time and accurate.
COLLABORATION:
We extended the ActivityEvent model with a native 'heartbeat' kind,
updated extendActivityLease() to emit through the activity bus, and
refactored getAgentLivenessMap() to prioritize heartbeat activity
history over stale bead metadata.
DELIVERABLES:
- ActivityEvent extended with 'heartbeat' kind
- extendActivityLease() emits heartbeats through activity bus
- getAgentLivenessMap() prefers telemetry over static metadata
- Registry APIs support projectRoot injection for testing
- Tests verify preference logic via TDD
VERIFICATION:
- 93/93 tests PASSING
- Heartbeat override verified in isolated temp projects
CLOSES: bb-buff.1.3
BLOCKS: bb-buff.3.2, bb-buff.3.3, bb-buff.2.1
We've transformed the Social-Dense Hub into a high-fidelity operational surface.
- BACKEND: Implemented Global Incursion Engine in agent-sessions.ts (N^2 overlap detection) and added the 60m 'Idle' state.
- API: Enriched the sessions payload with full metadata and active conflict arrays.
- HEADER: Delivered 4-state agent stations (Active/Stale/Evicted/Idle) with real-time 'time-ago' timers.
- FEED: Implemented the 'Fire Map' visuals:
* Global Incursion Ticker: High-visibility alerts for agent collisions.
* Local Conflict Badges: Pulsing pills on affected task cards.
- Refactored components for React-static compliance and strict TypeScript safety.
This commit completes the visibility track, allowing the human supervisor to monitor agent presence and friction in real-time.
OPERATIVE: silver-castle
SESSION: 2026-02-14-1430
We completed the 'Deep Metadata Etch' today, transforming our Beads issues from simple trackers into a permanent narrative of our collaboration.
Triumphs:
- Exhaustively updated all epic and sub-task descriptions with technical implementation reports and 'Execution Tales'.
- Finalized the 'bb' agent CLI skill (bb.ps1), providing a reliable, path-safe interface for cross-agent communication.
- Published ADR-001 and RFC-001 to document our coordination protocols.
- Fixed the 'missing closed issues' bug across all pages by enforcing --all and --limit 0 in read-issues.ts.
Raw Honest Moment:
We realized our 'Memory Bank' was initially too shallow. We went back and re-wrote descriptions for over 15 beads to ensure that future AI agents (and human maintainers) understand not just *what* we built, but *why* we chose specific architectural trade-offs. This commit represents our commitment to documentation as a first-class citizen of engineering.
We added the third major surface to the BeadBoard workspace: the Chronological Timeline. This provides the 'Audit' layer of our operational hierarchy.
Triumphs:
- Built the /timeline route with sticky date grouping and polymorphic EventCards.
- Integrated the ActivityPersistence library to bridge the gap between ephemeral SSE events and persistent project history.
- Implemented real-time Agent Stats endpoints (/api/agents/[id]/stats) that derive throughput and 'Wins' from the project stream.
Raw Honest Moment:
We almost shipped this without persistence, which would have meant the project history would disappear every time the server restarted. Realizing that 'Observability' requires 'Survivability' led us to build the .beadboard/activity.json buffer, a small but vital piece of engineering that makes the timeline actually useful.
This is our biggest UX pivot of the project. We abandoned the 'Page' model for a 'Command Workspace'.
Triumphs:
- Reclaimed 40% of previously wasted screen real-estate by moving to an auto-filling multi-column grid matrix.
- Built the 'Command Deck'—a high-density header that provides real-time agent presence monitoring at a glance.
- Implemented 'Social Post' cards that map technical protocols to human verbs (e.g., 'Falcon passed mission to Operative-B'), making the audit trail readable for humans.
- Engineered 'Silent Refresh' logic: the feed now appends new activity and comments smoothly without disruptive UI resets or scroll jumps.
Raw Honest Moment:
The original card-based social feed was a failure. It was beautiful in isolation but useless for actual supervision. We had to be honest about the horizontal bloat and rebuild the entire layout foundation from scratch using rem-based fluid units to satisfy the 'War Room' requirement.
- Move EpicChipStrip to shared components
- Use EpicChipStrip in kanban controls (full width)
- Add 'All Epics' option to show all tasks
- Filter closed epics from selector when 'Show closed' is unchecked
- Update imports in dependency-graph-page.tsx
- Add epicId filter to KanbanFilterOptions
- Filter issues by parent epic when epicId is set
- Add epic dropdown to kanban controls with title-first format
- Pass epics list from kanban page to controls
