fix(sessions): stop pinning the w1-myapp placeholder as Claude's /resume title (#457)

* fix(sessions): stop pinning the w1-myapp placeholder as Claude's /resume title

Local claude spawns passed the tab name as `--name`. That flag is not only the
cross-session peer name: it is also the prompt-box label, the `/resume` picker
entry and the terminal title, and a pinned title stops Claude generating its own
(`customTitle ?? aiTitle`). So every conversation of a case was listed in
`/resume` as the same `w1-myapp`, and none of them got a generated title. On one
workspace, 34 of 34 conversations spawned with `--name` had no ai-title, while
every conversation spawned without it had one.

Only a name the user chose is pinned now: `Session.cliPinnedName` is the name
when `nameSource === 'manual'`, carried to the builders as a separate `cliName`
so the tab/mux name is untouched. Placeholder and auto names let Claude title
the conversation again.

A rename in Codeman also reaches `/resume`: the new name is appended to the
conversation's transcript as the `custom-title` row `/rename` writes (never
creating the file, never writing an empty title). For a pane spawned without
`--name` this holds immediately; a pane spawned with one re-appends its own
title each turn, so there the new name holds from the next spawn.

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

* fix(sessions): skip no-op renames and docker sessions when syncing the /resume title

A same-name PUT (the Session Options field saves on blur and recomposes the
unchanged placeholder) no longer flips nameSource to manual or appends a
custom-title row, and docker sessions skip the host transcript scan since their
transcript lives in the container. The skill pages no longer use a w<N>- name
as the peer-name example, and the changeset notes the re-append caveat.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

* docs: record that nameSource decides --name and renames reach /resume

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: codeman-local <codeman@local>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/claude-session-title.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/**
+ * @fileoverview Carry a Codeman rename into Claude Code's own session title.
+ *
+ * Claude Code keeps a conversation's title in its transcript as a
+ * `{"type":"custom-title"}` row (what `/rename` writes), last row wins, and the
+ * `/resume` picker shows `customTitle ?? aiTitle`. Renaming a tab in Codeman
+ * used to change only the tab, so `/resume` kept listing the old name.
+ *
+ * Appending the row is enough for a pane that was spawned WITHOUT `--name`
+ * (every placeholder- or auto-named tab, see `Session.cliPinnedName`): that
+ * process holds no title of its own and never writes one back. A process that
+ * WAS spawned with `--name` re-appends its in-memory title after each turn, so
+ * there the new title holds from the next spawn, which pins the new name.
+ *
+ * @module claude-session-title
+ */
+
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+
+/**
+ * Append a `custom-title` row for `conversationId` to an existing transcript.
+ * Never creates the file: a missing transcript means the conversation has not
+ * been written yet, and a file of only a title row would show up in `/resume`
+ * as an empty conversation. Returns whether a row was written.
+ */
+export async function appendClaudeCustomTitle(
+  transcriptPath: string,
+  conversationId: string,
+  title: string
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  const customTitle = title.trim();
+  // Claude reads the row through `customTitle ?? aiTitle`, so an empty string
+  // would blank the picker entry rather than fall back to the generated title.
+  if (!customTitle) return false;
+  try {
+    if (!(await fs.stat(transcriptPath)).isFile()) return false;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+  // One O_APPEND write of one line, the same way Claude appends its own rows,
+  // so it cannot interleave with a row the live process is writing.
+  const row = JSON.stringify({ type: 'custom-title', customTitle, sessionId: conversationId });
+  await fs.appendFile(transcriptPath, `${row}\n`);
+  return true;
+}

src/mux-interface.ts

@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@ export interface CreateSessionOptions {
   workingDir: string;
   mode: SessionMode;
   name?: string;
+  /**
+   * Name pinned on a claude spawn as `--name` (version-gated, sanitized, local only).
+   * Deliberately NOT `name`: `--name` owns the prompt-box label, the `/resume` picker
+   * entry and the terminal title, and a pinned title stops Claude generating its own,
+   * so only a user-chosen name belongs here (see `Session.cliPinnedName`).
+   */
+  cliName?: string;
   niceConfig?: NiceConfig;
   model?: string;
   claudeMode?: ClaudeMode;
@@ -123,8 +130,15 @@ export interface RespawnPaneOptions {
   sessionId: string;
   workingDir: string;
   mode: SessionMode;
-  /** Session display name; a respawned claude keeps its `--name` peer name (version-gated, local only). */
+  /** Session display name (tab name). */
   name?: string;
+  /**
+   * Name pinned on a respawned claude as `--name` (version-gated, sanitized, local only).
+   * Deliberately NOT `name`: `--name` owns the prompt-box label, the `/resume` picker
+   * entry and the terminal title, and a pinned title stops Claude generating its own,
+   * so only a user-chosen name belongs here (see `Session.cliPinnedName`).
+   */
+  cliName?: string;
   niceConfig?: NiceConfig;
   model?: string;
   claudeMode?: ClaudeMode;

src/session.ts

@@ -1560,6 +1560,19 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
     return this._nameSource;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * The name to pin on the Claude CLI as `--name`, or undefined to let Claude
+   * title the conversation itself. `--name` is the prompt-box label, the
+   * `/resume` picker entry and the terminal title all at once, and a pinned
+   * title stops Claude generating its own, so only a name the user chose is
+   * worth pinning. Pinning the `w1-myapp` placeholder gave every conversation
+   * in a case the same `/resume` entry; an auto name is a cut of the first
+   * prompt, which Claude's own generated title already beats.
+   */
+  get cliPinnedName(): string | undefined {
+    return this._nameSource === 'manual' ? this._name : undefined;
+  }
+
   setAutoClear(enabled: boolean, threshold?: number): void {
     this._autoOps.setAutoClear(enabled, threshold);
   }
@@ -2093,6 +2106,7 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
       workingDir: this.workingDir,
       mode: this.mode,
       name: this._name,
+      cliName: this.cliPinnedName,
       niceConfig: this._niceConfig,
       model: this._model,
       claudeMode: this._claudeMode,
@@ -2561,6 +2575,7 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
             workingDir: this.workingDir,
             mode: this.mode,
             name: this._name,
+            cliName: this.cliPinnedName,
             niceConfig: this._niceConfig,
             model: this._model,
             claudeMode: this._claudeMode,
@@ -2699,7 +2714,7 @@ export class Session extends EventEmitter {
           this._model,
           this._allowedTools,
           this._effort,
-          this._name,
+          this.cliPinnedName,
           getClaudeCliVersion()
         );
         this.ptyProcess = spawnPtyWithHelperRepair(() =>

src/tmux-manager.ts

@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ export function buildSpawnCommand(options: {
   effort?: EffortLevel;
   /** Resolved by resolveStatusLineCliCommand (hooks-config.ts) — undefined skips the exporter. Claude only. */
   statusLineCommand?: string;
-  /** Codeman session name, passed to claude as `--name` (version-gated, sanitized; local spawns only). */
+  /** Name pinned on claude as `--name` (version-gated, sanitized; local spawns only). Only a user-chosen name: see `Session.cliPinnedName`. */
   sessionName?: string;
   /**
    * Claude CLI version for the `--name` gate. Omitted = probe the local CLI
@@ -2054,6 +2054,7 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
       workingDir,
       mode,
       name,
+      cliName,
       niceConfig,
       model,
       claudeMode,
@@ -2157,7 +2158,7 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
       resumeSessionId,
       effort,
       statusLineCommand,
-      sessionName: name,
+      sessionName: cliName,
     });
 
     const config = niceConfig || DEFAULT_NICE_CONFIG;
@@ -2385,7 +2386,7 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
       effort,
       remote,
       docker,
-      name,
+      cliName,
     } = options;
     const session = this.sessions.get(sessionId);
     if (!session) return null;
@@ -2422,7 +2423,7 @@ export class TmuxManager extends EventEmitter implements TerminalMultiplexer {
       resumeSessionId,
       effort,
       statusLineCommand,
-      sessionName: name,
+      sessionName: cliName,
     });
     const config = niceConfig || DEFAULT_NICE_CONFIG;
     const cmd = wrapWithNice(baseCmd, config);

src/web/routes/session-routes.ts

@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ import {
   selectLastAnsweredTurn,
 } from '../response-viewer-transcript.js';
 import { readDeepSeekLastResponse } from '../../deepseek-transcript.js';
+import { appendClaudeCustomTitle } from '../../claude-session-title.js';
 
 // Path to linked-cases registry (same file used by case-routes resolveCasePath)
 const LINKED_CASES_FILE = dataPath('linked-cases.json');
@@ -1162,10 +1163,14 @@ export function registerSessionRoutes(
     const session = findSessionOrFail(ctx, id, req);
 
     const name = String(body.name || '').slice(0, MAX_SESSION_NAME_LENGTH);
+    // A no-op rename (the Session Options name field saves on blur and recomposes the same
+    // string) must not flip nameSource to 'manual' or append a custom-title row to the transcript.
+    if (name === session.name) return { name: session.name };
     session.name = name;
     // Also update the mux session name if applicable
     ctx.mux.updateSessionName(id, session.name);
     persistAndBroadcastSession(ctx, session);
+    await syncClaudeTitle(session);
     return { name: session.name };
   });
 
@@ -2392,6 +2397,26 @@ export function registerSessionRoutes(
     return full ? { text: lastText, timestamp: lastTimestamp, messages } : { text: lastText, timestamp: lastTimestamp };
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Mirror a rename into the conversation's `/resume` title (claude-session-title.ts).
+   * Local Claude-format transcripts only: a remote pane's transcript lives on the remote host and a
+   * docker pane's inside the container (HOME=/home/agent), never under the host's projects dir. Best
+   * effort: the tab rename has already happened and must not fail on this.
+   */
+  async function syncClaudeTitle(session: Session): Promise<void> {
+    if (getCli(session.mode)?.capabilities.transcript !== 'claude-jsonl' || session.remote || session.docker) return;
+    try {
+      const projectsDir = join(process.env.HOME || '/tmp', '.claude', 'projects');
+      const hookPath = ctx.getTranscriptPath(session.id);
+      const transcript = hookPath
+        ? { sessionId: basename(hookPath, '.jsonl'), path: hookPath }
+        : await findClaudeTranscript(projectsDir, session.claudeSessionId || session.id, session.id);
+      if (transcript) await appendClaudeCustomTitle(transcript.path, transcript.sessionId, session.name);
+    } catch (err) {
+      console.warn(`[Session] Could not carry rename into the Claude transcript for ${session.id}:`, err);
+    }
+  }
+
   /** Locate a top-level Claude transcript, including recovered tmux sessions. */
   async function findClaudeTranscript(
     projectsDir: string,