A `web_*` tmux session that outlives the process which created it was unreachable
from the UI, permanently. Nothing enumerated tmux — src/session/tmux.ts had
hasSession but no list — so recovery only worked if a client still had the id in
localStorage. list() walks the in-memory table, and so does reapIdle, so such a
session could not be listed, previewed, joined or killed, and never aged out.
On this host that was 69 tmux sessions with 5 clients: 64 unreachable, the oldest
from 26 Jun, one of them still running a Claude Code session with 7 agents.
This is the "catalogue" approach: make them visible and actionable WITHOUT
adopting them. Nothing is attached, because attaching makes tmux resize the window
to the new client's dimensions and SIGWINCH whatever is running inside — doing
that to dozens of live TUIs at startup is exactly the outcome to avoid. Adoption
stays an explicit user action: opening an orphan re-attaches by id through the
existing re-attach path, and it becomes an ordinary live session.
src/session/tmux.ts listSessions() + parseSessionList() (pure, so the filter
rules are unit-testable) and capturePane(), which reads a
session's current screen via `capture-pane -p -e` — no
client, no resize, colour preserved.
src/session/manager.ts listOrphans/captureOrphan/killOrphan/killOrphansIdleSince
src/server.ts GET /orphan-sessions, GET /orphan-sessions/:id/preview,
DELETE /orphan-sessions/:id, DELETE /orphan-sessions
?idleDays=N
public/ a "Recoverable" section under the home grid, reusing the
existing card/thumbnail machinery via orphanAsLive()
Guards, all enforced in the manager so no route can forget one:
- the tmux name must be `web_` + a UUID v4 (SESSION_ID_RE, the same gate the
attach protocol applies). This is what stops a hostile or malformed name from
reaching `tmux -t` — a literal `-t`, or path traversal — and it means a tmux
session the user created for their own work is never enumerated, never
previewed and never offered for deletion.
- an id the table already owns is refused everywhere: killing it via tmux would
end the shell behind a live PTY's back and leave a zombie table entry. Those go
through killById.
- every function is inert when cfg.useTmux is off, so the non-tmux deployment is
byte-for-byte unchanged.
- bulk cleanup skips ATTACHED sessions and requires idleDays >= 1: there is no
"delete everything" form of the route. "This server does not track it" is not
evidence that it is abandoned — a plain `tmux attach` and a second server
process both report as attached.
- reads carry no Origin guard (same threat model as /live-sessions); both DELETEs
do. Preview gets its own rate-limit bucket since each call spawns a process.
Two things the live run exposed and this fixes: previews were loading
sequentially (69 tmux spawns per 5 s refresh) — now once per card, fire-and-forget
— and the grid is capped at 24 cards because each thumbnail is an xterm instance.
The remainder is stated in the UI with the tmux command to reach it, never
silently truncated.
Separate wire type from LiveSessionInfo on purpose: an orphan supports none of the
live-session operations, and the Android/iOS clients decode /live-sessions, so a
variant shape there would break them.
Tests: 2203 unit (+42: parse/filter rules, all four manager guards, tmux-off
inertness) and 8 integration against real tmux — create a throwaway session,
list it, capture it while asserting it stays unattached, reject non-UUID ids,
reject a foreign Origin, kill it, 404 the second time. The integration file never
issues the bulk DELETE: it runs against the host's real tmux server and would end
the developer's own sessions. Verified live against all 69 with none harmed.
The big solid-amber "+ New session" button clashed with the refined segmented
control. Replace it with a dashed "+" tile that leads the session grid (same
size as the session cards, re-prepended each refresh), so it reads as a natural
"create" cell. Header is now just the title + Sessions/Projects toggle; the
redundant empty-state message is gone (the tile is the CTA).
Frontend-only (launcher.ts + style.css). Verified: web typecheck + build clean,
preview-grid tests green, in-browser the grid leads with the New-session tile
followed by the session cards (Open/Kill).
The Sessions chooser already shows every running session with a live thumbnail
and Open + New session, so fold delete into it and drop the separate page:
- add a Kill ✕ button to each session card (DELETE /live-sessions/:id + refresh),
reusing makePreviewCard's extraActions and the existing .mg-kill style
- remove public/manage.html + public/manage.ts and the esbuild manage entry
- remove the 🗂 toolbar button (main.ts) and the 🗂 Manage header link (launcher.ts)
Backend DELETE/preview routes stay (used by the launcher kill, thumbnails, and
the project pages). Frontend + build-config only.
Verified: full suite 453 green, web typecheck clean, build:web emits only main
(no manage.* artifacts), and in-browser the Sessions cards have Open + Kill (2→1
on kill), no Manage entry, and GET /manage.html → 404.
Opening the app no longer auto-creates a blank tab or auto-restores/discovers
sessions as tabs. Instead it lands on a launcher (session chooser): a grid of the
host's running sessions as live preview thumbnails — pick one to open (replays its
full scrollback), or '+ New session'. Closing the last tab returns to the chooser.
- public/launcher.ts: mountLauncher() renders the chooser into the terminal area
(live xterm thumbnails via /live-sessions + /preview, 5s refresh), New session +
Manage link
- tabs.ts: drop restore()/syncLiveSessions() auto-tab behavior; constructor lands
on the launcher; rebuild() toggles launcher when tab count is 0; closeTab no
longer spawns a blank tab
- style.css: .launcher chrome (reuses the .mg-* card/grid/thumbnail styles)
Verified: fresh load → 0 tabs, chooser with thumbnails; Open → tab + chooser
hides; close last tab → chooser returns. 228 tests green, tsc + build clean.
