feat(session): say when a session is watching its own background work

An agent that arms a monitor, backgrounds a shell or hands a task to a
cloud session is told to end its turn. The pane then falls quiet, Claude
Code's idle_prompt notification arrives a minute later, and every surface
files the session under NEEDS YOU with nothing for a human to answer.

Claude states what it is still running on the last row of its screen
(`⏵⏵ bypass permissions on · 1 monitor · ← for agents`). That row is now
`capabilities.workDetect.watchingLine` in the CLI registry, guarded by
compileVersionRegex() like every other config regex, and the idle probe
reads it off the capture it already takes: `watchingLabel()` in
session-activity.ts searches the last five lines only, so a session that
PRINTS "1 monitor" is not mistaken for one running it.

The label lands on Session.watching and rides toLightDetailedState() out
to every surface. The phone overview, the desktop home rail and the rich
sidebar rows wear it as a `watching` badge in the accent colour, beside
the state pill and never in place of it: an agent can arm a monitor and
ask a question in the same breath, and only the pill says which.

Verified end to end against a throwaway session on an isolated beta
instance: the payload carried `watching: "1 monitor"` once the turn
ended, the badge rendered next to a yellow `waiting` pill, and both
cleared when the monitor died.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/config/cli-registry/schema.ts

@@ -308,6 +308,16 @@ const capabilitiesSchema = z
             (src) => compileVersionRegex(src) !== null,
             'workingLine must be a regex compileVersionRegex() accepts: at most 200 characters, no nested quantifiers'
           ),
+        // Same guard, same reasons: this one runs over the foot of a pane capture every
+        // time a session settles, and ~/.codeman/clis.json can set it.
+        watchingLine: z
+          .string()
+          .min(1)
+          .refine(
+            (src) => compileVersionRegex(src) !== null,
+            'watchingLine must be a regex compileVersionRegex() accepts: at most 200 characters, no nested quantifiers'
+          )
+          .optional(),
       })
       .strict()
       .optional(),

src/config/cli-registry/stock.ts

@@ -206,6 +206,11 @@ const CLAUDE: CliEntry = {
     workDetect: {
       promptGlyph: '❯',
       workingLine: String.raw`…\s*\((?:\d+h\s+)?(?:\d+m\s+)?\d+s\b|esc to interrupt`,
+      // Claude prints what it started in the background on the footer row beneath its
+      // composer, as `⏵⏵ bypass permissions on · 1 monitor · ← for agents`. The labels are the
+      // CLI's own words for each kind of background task, and group 1 is the one Codeman
+      // badges the session with. Verified against a live 2.1.278 pane on 2026-09-21.
+      watchingLine: String.raw`(\d+ (?:monitors?|shells?|teams?|local agents?|cloud sessions?|MCP tasks?|background tasks?|(?:background|remote) dynamic workflows?|Artifact comment monitors?))`,
     },
     requiresMux: false,
     // Claude installs Codeman's own hooks block into every workspace it runs in, so its

src/config/cli-registry/types.ts

@@ -344,6 +344,14 @@ export interface CliCapabilities {
     promptGlyph: string;
     /** Source of a regex matching the status line this CLI draws while a turn runs. */
     workingLine: string;
+    /**
+     * Source of a regex matching the chip this CLI draws at the foot of its screen while
+     * work it started in the background is still running, e.g. Claude's `· 1 monitor ·`.
+     * Capture group 1 is the label Codeman shows, and the whole match stands in when the
+     * pattern declares no group. A CLI that omits this reports no background work, which
+     * is what every CLI did before the field existed.
+     */
+    watchingLine?: string;
   };
   /** No direct-PTY fallback: the CLI must run inside tmux (secrets ride tmux setenv). */
   requiresMux: boolean;

src/session-activity.ts

@@ -91,3 +91,42 @@ export function isSustainedActivity(streak: ActivityStreak | null, streakMs: num
 export function isPaneQuiet(lastActivityAt: number, now: number, silenceMs: number = IDLE_SILENCE_MS): boolean {
   return now - lastActivityAt >= silenceMs;
 }
+
+/**
+ * How many lines at the foot of a pane capture may hold the background-work chip.
+ *
+ * Claude Code draws that chip on the last row of the screen, under its composer box
+ * and under whatever status line the user configured, so five lines reach it with
+ * room to spare. The ceiling is the point of the constant: the transcript above the
+ * composer quotes arbitrary text, and a session that PRINTS the words "1 monitor"
+ * must not be read as running one.
+ */
+export const WATCHING_TAIL_LINES = 5;
+
+/**
+ * What a pane says is still running in the background, e.g. `1 monitor` or `2 shells`.
+ *
+ * The CLI writes that chip while a monitor, a backgrounded shell or a cloud session it
+ * started is still going, which is exactly the case where the agent has ended its turn
+ * without wanting anything from the user. `pattern` comes from the CLI's own registry
+ * entry (`capabilities.workDetect.watchingLine`); group 1 is the label when the pattern
+ * declares one, and the whole match stands in when it does not.
+ *
+ * @returns the label, or null when the pane shows no background work
+ */
+export function watchingLabel(paneText: string | null | undefined, pattern: RegExp): string | null {
+  if (!paneText) return null;
+  const lines = paneText
+    .split('\n')
+    .map((line) => line.trimEnd())
+    .filter((line) => line !== '');
+  if (lines.length === 0) return null;
+  // A pattern compiled by compileVersionRegex() never carries the `g` flag, but a caller
+  // reaching in from a test or a config reload might, and a stale lastIndex would make
+  // the same screen match every other call.
+  pattern.lastIndex = 0;
+  const match = pattern.exec(lines.slice(-WATCHING_TAIL_LINES).join('\n'));
+  if (!match) return null;
+  const label = (match[1] ?? match[0]).trim();
+  return label === '' ? null : label;
+}

src/session.ts

@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ import {
   trackActivityStreak,
   isSustainedActivity,
   isPaneQuiet,
+  watchingLabel,
   IDLE_RECHECK_MS,
   PANE_PROBE_MIN_INTERVAL_MS,
   PANE_PROBE_RECHECK_MS,
@@ -497,8 +498,11 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
   private _activityStreak: ActivityStreak | null = null; // Unbroken run of PTY repaints (working detection)
   private _lastPaneProbeAt = 0; // Throttle for the tmux screen probe
   private _lastPaneProbeWorking: boolean | null = null; // Its last verdict (null = could not read)
+  private _watching: string | null = null; // Background work the pane's own footer reports
   /** Lazily compiled `capabilities.workDetect.workingLine`. See _workingLinePattern(). */
   private _workingLineRe: RegExp | undefined = undefined;
+  /** Lazily compiled `capabilities.workDetect.watchingLine`. See _watchingLinePattern(). */
+  private _watchingLineRe: RegExp | null | undefined = undefined;
   private _trustDialogAccepted: boolean = false; // Stops the trust-dialog scan (answered, or given up)
   private _trustDialogAttempts = 0; // Keystrokes sent at the trust dialog
   private _lastTrustDialogScanAt = 0; // Throttle for the trust-dialog screen read
@@ -1118,6 +1122,16 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
     return this._isWorking;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * What the pane says is still running in the background, e.g. `1 monitor`, or null when
+   * nothing is. A session with a label here has ended its turn without wanting anything
+   * from the user, so a surface that would otherwise file it under "needs you" can say
+   * what it is waiting for instead.
+   */
+  get watching(): string | null {
+    return this._watching;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Check if the session's process tree has active child processes beyond Claude itself.
    * Detects running bash tools, test suites, builds, servers, etc. that Claude spawned.
@@ -1675,6 +1689,7 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
       totalCost: this._totalCost,
       messageCount: this._messages.length,
       isWorking: this._isWorking,
+      watching: this._watching,
       lastPromptTime: this._lastPromptTime,
       // Buffer statistics for monitoring long-running sessions
       bufferStats: {
@@ -2709,9 +2724,43 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
     this._lastPaneProbeAt = now;
     const text = this._mux.capturePaneText?.(this._muxSession.muxName) ?? null;
     this._lastPaneProbeWorking = text === null ? null : this._workingLinePattern().test(text);
+    this._readWatching(text);
     return this._lastPaneProbeWorking;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Read the background-work chip off the same capture the working probe just took.
+   *
+   * The two questions are different. A turn that is running is work the user is waiting
+   * for; a monitor, a backgrounded shell or a cloud session the agent started is work
+   * the AGENT is waiting for, and it is the reason a pane can sit at its composer with
+   * nothing to say and still not want anything from the user. `_confirmIdle` takes this
+   * capture at exactly the moment the turn ends, which is the moment the answer starts
+   * mattering.
+   *
+   * A capture that could not be read leaves the last answer standing, the way the
+   * working probe treats its own null: no evidence is not evidence of none.
+   */
+  private _readWatching(paneText: string | null): void {
+    const pattern = this._watchingLinePattern();
+    if (!pattern || paneText === null) return;
+    this._watching = watchingLabel(paneText, pattern);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * The regex matching this CLI's background-work chip, or null for a CLI whose registry
+   * entry declares none. Compiled once per session, like the working-line pattern, and
+   * null rather than a fallback: no other CLI has been measured drawing such a chip, and
+   * guessing one would badge sessions on the strength of an unread screen.
+   */
+  private _watchingLinePattern(): RegExp | null {
+    if (this._watchingLineRe === undefined) {
+      const src = getCli(this.mode)?.capabilities.workDetect?.watchingLine;
+      this._watchingLineRe = src ? compileVersionRegex(src) : null;
+    }
+    return this._watchingLineRe;
+  }
+
   /**
    * The regex matching this CLI's "a turn is running" status line.
    *
@@ -3963,6 +4012,9 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
   async stop(killMux: boolean = true): Promise<void> {
     // Set stopped flag first to prevent new timers from being created
     this._isStopped = true;
+    // A pane that is gone is watching nothing. Nothing probes a stopped session, so
+    // without this the last chip it drew would ride along on its row forever.
+    this._watching = null;
 
     this._clearAllTimers();
 

src/web/public/app.js

@@ -4574,6 +4574,11 @@ class CodemanApp {
     return {
       state,
       pill: this._sidebarRichPillLabel(state),
+      // What the pane's own footer says is still running in the background ("1 monitor",
+      // "2 shells"). A row that has one went quiet because the agent is waiting for that,
+      // which is a different thing from waiting for the user — so it rides BESIDE the
+      // state pill and never replaces it.
+      watching: typeof session.watching === 'string' ? session.watching : '',
       createdAt: Number(session.createdAt) || 0,
       since: this._mobileOverviewSince ? this._mobileOverviewSince(state, session) : null,
     };
@@ -4609,6 +4614,13 @@ class CodemanApp {
       parts.push(stamp(row.since.key, row.since.at, 'for', 'tab-meta-since'));
     }
     parts.push(`<span class="tab-pill tab-pill--${escapeHtml(row.state)}">${escapeHtml(row.pill)}</span>`);
+    // The word is duplicated from mobile-overview.js for the same reason the pill labels
+    // above are: it is one word, and this file must render a complete row even when a
+    // stale cached mobile-overview.js has arrived without it.
+    if (row.watching) {
+      const title = escapeHtml(`Still running in the background: ${row.watching}`);
+      parts.push(`<span class="tab-pill tab-pill--watching" title="${title}">watching</span>`);
+    }
     // Both absolute stamps ALSO on the line itself, not only on the two items.
     // Below 288px the rail hides `.tab-meta-created` (the `tab-rail-tight`
     // rule), and a tooltip on a `display: none` element has no hover target —
@@ -4646,7 +4658,7 @@ class CodemanApp {
     const prev = tab.dataset.tabState;
     // The since ANCHOR moves without the state changing (each new turn re-stamps
     // lastSubmitAt), so key the compare on both.
-    const sig = `${row.state}:${row.since ? row.since.at : 0}:${row.createdAt}`;
+    const sig = `${row.state}:${row.since ? row.since.at : 0}:${row.createdAt}:${row.watching}`;
     if (tab.dataset.tabMetaSig === sig) return;
     tab.dataset.tabMetaSig = sig;
     tab.dataset.tabState = row.state;

src/web/public/home-sessions.js

@@ -212,6 +212,9 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
         dir: this._shortenHomePath ? this._shortenHomePath(session.workingDir) : session.workingDir || '',
         state,
         pill: HOME_SESSIONS_PILL_LABEL[state] || state,
+        // What the pane's footer says is still running in the background, straight off
+        // the session payload. Same field, same meaning as on the phone overview.
+        watching: typeof session.watching === 'string' ? session.watching : '',
         // Epoch ms, straight off the session payload; formatting happens at
         // render time so the clock below can redo it without a re-render.
         createdAt: Number(session.createdAt) || 0,
@@ -450,6 +453,12 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
     // what stops it ellipsizing.
     const meta = this._buildHomeSessionsMeta(row);
     meta.appendChild(pill);
+    // Built by the phone overview so both home screens word the badge identically.
+    // Guarded like every other cross-file call here: a stale cached mobile-overview.js
+    // must cost the badge, not the rail.
+    if (row.watching && typeof this._buildWatchingBadge === 'function') {
+      meta.appendChild(this._buildWatchingBadge(row.watching, 'home-sessions-pill'));
+    }
     item.appendChild(meta);
 
     return item;

src/web/public/mobile-overview.js

@@ -61,6 +61,14 @@ const MOBILE_OVERVIEW_RUN_MODES = [
 ];
 
 /** Pill copy per state. Kept short: a phone row has ~90px for it. */
+/**
+ * The one word every surface puts on the watching badge, and the tooltip that says
+ * what the pane actually reported. Both live here so the phone overview, the desktop
+ * home rail and the rich sidebar rows cannot word the same badge three ways.
+ */
+const WATCHING_BADGE_TEXT = 'watching';
+const watchingBadgeTitle = (label) => 'Still running in the background: ' + label;
+
 const MOBILE_OVERVIEW_PILL_LABEL = {
   needs: 'needs you',
   error: 'error',
@@ -185,6 +193,10 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
         dir: this._shortenHomePath ? this._shortenHomePath(session.workingDir) : session.workingDir || '',
         state,
         pill: MOBILE_OVERVIEW_PILL_LABEL[state] || state,
+        // What the pane's own footer says is still running in the background ("1 monitor",
+        // "2 shells"), straight off the session payload. A row that has one is quiet
+        // because the agent is waiting for that, not because it is waiting for you.
+        watching: typeof session.watching === 'string' ? session.watching : '',
         // Epoch ms, straight off the session payload; formatting happens at
         // render time so the clock can redo it without a re-render.
         createdAt: Number(session.createdAt) || 0,
@@ -713,6 +725,8 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
     pill.textContent = row.pill;
     item.appendChild(pill);
 
+    if (row.watching) item.appendChild(this._buildWatchingBadge(row.watching, 'mobile-overview-pill'));
+
     const chevron = document.createElement('span');
     chevron.className = 'mobile-overview-chevron';
     chevron.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
@@ -734,6 +748,35 @@ Object.assign(CodemanApp.prototype, {
     return item;
   },
 
+  // ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+  // Watching badge
+  // ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+  /**
+   * The badge a session wears while work it started in the background is still
+   * running: a monitor, a backgrounded shell, a cloud session.
+   *
+   * It says one word, and the label the pane itself printed ("1 monitor") rides in
+   * the tooltip, because the badge shares a row with the state pill on the narrowest
+   * screen this app renders on. It does NOT replace that pill: an agent can arm a
+   * monitor and ask the user a question in the same breath, so the row still says
+   * "needs you" and this says what else is going on.
+   *
+   * Shared with the desktop home rail (home-sessions.js), for the same reason
+   * `_mobileOverviewState` is: one badge, one wording, one place to change it. The
+   * caller names its own pill class, because each surface styles its pills itself and
+   * the phone's live inside a media query the desktop never enters.
+   */
+  _buildWatchingBadge(label, baseClass) {
+    const badge = document.createElement('span');
+    const base = baseClass || 'mobile-overview-pill';
+    badge.className = base + ' ' + base + '--watching';
+    badge.setAttribute('data-i18n-skip', '');
+    badge.textContent = WATCHING_BADGE_TEXT;
+    badge.title = watchingBadgeTitle(label);
+    return badge;
+  },
+
   // ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
   // Age stamps: started / how long in this state
   // ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

src/web/public/mobile.css

@@ -2961,6 +2961,13 @@ html.mobile-init .file-browser-panel {
     color: var(--green);
   }
 
+  /* Accent, and none of the three above: a session watching work it started itself
+     is not asking the user for anything, and red and yellow are what say it is. */
+  .mobile-overview-pill--watching {
+    border-color: var(--accent);
+    color: var(--accent);
+  }
+
   .mobile-overview-chevron {
     flex-shrink: 0;
     color: var(--text-muted);

src/web/public/styles.css

@@ -16249,6 +16249,17 @@ html[data-tab-orientation='vertical'] .home-sessions {
   color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--green) 45%, var(--text-muted));
 }
 
+/* Accent, deliberately none of the three above: a session that is watching something
+   it started (a monitor, a backgrounded shell, a cloud session) is not asking for
+   anything, so it must not borrow the red or the yellow that mean it is. This badge
+   sits BESIDE the state pill rather than replacing it, since an agent can arm a
+   monitor and ask a question in the same breath. */
+.home-sessions-pill--watching {
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, transparent);
+  border-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 40%, transparent);
+  color: var(--accent);
+}
+
 /* Row accents: same language as the session tabs and the phone overview — red
    means a question is pending, yellow means it wants input, green means work is
    happening. Nothing else on this screen may reuse these colors. */
@@ -18311,6 +18322,16 @@ html[data-tab-orientation='vertical'][data-tab-rail-detail='rich']:not(.tab-rail
   color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--green) 45%, var(--text-muted));
 }
 
+/* Accent, deliberately none of the three above: a watching session is waiting for
+   work it started itself, not for the user, and the red and yellow here are spoken
+   for by sessions that ARE waiting for the user. */
+html[data-sidebar-detail="rich"] .session-sidebar .tab-pill--watching,
+html[data-tab-orientation='vertical'][data-tab-rail-detail='rich']:not(.tab-rail-compact) .tab-rail .tab-pill--watching {
+  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, transparent);
+  border-color: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 40%, transparent);
+  color: var(--accent);
+}
+
 /* Three lines of content per row instead of two, so give them room to breathe
    and stop the row actions crowding the pill.