fix(trigger-watcher): discrete-Enter submit + chain triggers; prune stale sidebar cache

main.js

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 const { app, BrowserWindow, clipboard, dialog, ipcMain, Menu, screen, shell } = require('electron');
 const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
 const { execFile } = require('child_process');
 const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs');
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 }
 
 // getFolderIndexMtimeMs moved to session-cache.js
 const { startMcpServer, shutdownMcpServer, shutdownAll: shutdownAllMcp, resolvePendingDiff, rekeyMcpServer, cleanStaleLockFiles } = require('./mcp-bridge');
 const { fetchAndTransformUsage } = require('./claude-auth');
 log.transports.file.level = app.isPackaged ? 'info' : 'debug';
 log.transports.console.level = app.isPackaged ? 'info' : 'debug';
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 );
 
 // Shell profiles → shell-profiles.js
 const { discoverShellProfiles, getShellProfiles, resolveShell, isWindows, isWslShell, windowsToWslPath, shellArgs } = require('./shell-profiles');
 const { startScheduler } = require('./schedule-runner');
 const { encodeProjectPath } = require('./encode-project-path');
 
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
   getMeta, getAllMeta, toggleStar, setName, setArchived,
   isCachePopulated, getAllCached, getCachedByFolder, getCachedByParent, getCachedFolder, getCachedSession, upsertCachedSessions,
   deleteCachedSession, deleteCachedFolder,
   getFolderMeta, getAllFolderMeta, setFolderMeta,
   upsertSearchEntries, updateSearchTitle, deleteSearchSession, deleteSearchFolder, deleteSearchType,
   searchByType, isSearchIndexPopulated, searchFtsRecreated,
   getSetting, setSetting, deleteSetting,
@@ -289,8 +289,8 @@
     setFolderMeta, getAllFolderMeta, getAllMeta, getAllCached, getSetting, getMeta, setName,
   },
 });
 const { readSessionFile, readFolderFromFilesystem, refreshFolder, populateCacheFromFilesystem,
         buildProjectsFromCache, notifyRendererProjectsChanged, sendStatus, populateCacheViaWorker } = sessionCache;
 const { resolveJsonlPath, enumerateSessionFiles } = require('./read-session-file');
 
 
@@ -1383,7 +1383,7 @@
   // WSL profiles only work for plain terminals — Claude CLI sessions need the
   // Windows shell because session data lives on the Windows filesystem.
   const requestedProfile = resolveShell(effectiveProfileId);
   const useWslProfile = isWslShell(requestedProfile.path) && isPlainTerminal;
   const shellProfile = (isWslShell(requestedProfile.path) && !isPlainTerminal)
     ? resolveShell('auto')
     : requestedProfile;
@@ -1912,7 +1912,18 @@
       log.error('[trigger-watcher] Failed to start trigger watcher:', err.message);
     }
 
-    // Re-index search if FTS table was recreated (e.g. tokenizer config change)
+    // Full cache rebuild on every startup — prunes stale rows for deleted
+    // transcripts (sub-agent/workflow runs cleaned up between sessions leave
+    // ghost rows in session_cache that show in the sidebar but are
+    // inaccessible on open). populateCacheViaWorker runs in a Worker thread
+    // and is non-blocking; concurrent callers share the same in-flight
+    // Promise so the FTS-recreated path below (if also triggered) is free.
+    populateCacheViaWorker();
+
+    // Re-index search if FTS table was recreated (e.g. tokenizer config change).
+    // populateCacheViaWorker is already running above; the guard inside it
+    // (populatePromise !== null) means this is a no-op on the same tick and
+    // returns the shared Promise — no double scan.
     if (searchFtsRecreated) populateCacheViaWorker();
 
     // Check for updates after launch

test/trigger-watcher.test.js

@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 // No mocks — ctx provides a concrete in-memory PTY stand-in.
 'use strict';
 
+// Keep the discrete-Enter submit delay tiny so the suite stays fast and the
+// turn-completion timing in makeChainCtx is not perturbed by a 50ms wait.
+process.env.SWITCHBOARD_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS = '1';
+
 const test   = require('node:test');
 const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
 const fs     = require('fs');
@@ -129,7 +133,7 @@ test('happy path: trigger → pty.write called, result ok:true, trigger deleted'
     assert.equal(typeof result.waited_ms, 'number', 'waited_ms should be a number');
 
     // pty.write called with command + \r
-    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact\r'], 'pty.write called with command + \\r');
+    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact', '\r'], 'pty.write: command text then discrete Enter');
 
     // Trigger file deleted
     assert.equal(fs.existsSync(triggerPath), false, 'trigger file should be deleted');
@@ -272,7 +276,7 @@ test('wait:idle while busy → flips to idle after 150ms → write happens, wait
       result.waited_ms >= 100,
       `waited_ms (${result.waited_ms}) should be >= 100ms`,
     );
-    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact\r'], 'PTY write should happen after idle');
+    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact', '\r'], 'PTY write should happen after idle');
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -522,7 +526,7 @@ test('W4 concurrency cap: 12 simultaneous triggers all get processed', async ()
     }
 
     // 12 PTY writes should have happened
-    assert.equal(ctx._written.length, COUNT, `expected ${COUNT} PTY writes`);
+    assert.equal(ctx._written.filter((w) => w === '\r').length, COUNT, `expected ${COUNT} submitted commands`);
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -624,7 +628,7 @@ test('inFlight dedup: same filename event fired twice → processed at most once
     assert.equal(result.ok, true);
     // The trigger file is deleted after first processing, so any second fs.watch
     // event for the same name finds no file and is silently skipped.
-    assert.equal(ctx._written.length, 1, 'pty.write called exactly once');
+    assert.equal(ctx._written.filter((w) => w === '\r').length, 1, 'command submitted exactly once');
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -704,7 +708,7 @@ test('W6 timeout_ms: per-trigger timeout_ms honored, overrides env-var fallback'
     const result = readResult(path.join(tmp, 'processed'), uuid);
     assert.equal(result.ok, true, 'result should be ok when timeout_ms overrides short env var');
     assert.ok(result.waited_ms >= 100, `waited_ms (${result.waited_ms}) should be >= 100ms`);
-    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact\r'], 'PTY write should happen');
+    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact', '\r'], 'PTY write should happen');
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -986,7 +990,7 @@ test('W7 default helper: real-pid mock passes default signal-0 probe → happy p
 
     const result = readResult(path.join(tmp, 'processed'), uuid);
     assert.equal(result.ok, true, 'live pid → default helper returns true → ok');
-    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/help\r']);
+    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/help', '\r']);
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -1015,8 +1019,9 @@ function makeChainCtx(sessionId, opts = {}) {
     write(data) {
       if (opts.ptyThrows) throw new Error('PTY closed');
       written.push(data);
-      // Auto-simulate a turn: become busy after 50ms, then idle after 200ms
-      if (!opts.noAutoTurn) {
+      // A turn only starts on submit (the discrete Enter), not when the command
+      // text lands. Auto-simulate: busy after 50ms, then idle after 200ms.
+      if (!opts.noAutoTurn && data === '\r') {
         setTimeout(() => { busy = true; }, 50);
         setTimeout(() => { busy = false; }, 200);
       }
@@ -1087,7 +1092,7 @@ test('chain happy path: 3-step chain → 3 PTY writes, result ok:true with steps
     assert.equal(typeof result.total_waited_ms, 'number');
 
     // All 3 writes happened in order
-    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact\r', 'verify result file and commit\r', 'open the PR\r']);
+    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/compact', '\r', 'verify result file and commit', '\r', 'open the PR', '\r']);
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -1354,8 +1359,10 @@ test('chain timeout mid-chain: global timeout fires → ok:false, partial:true,
     assert.match(result.error, /timeout/i, 'error should mention timeout');
     assert.equal(result.steps_completed, 1, 'steps_completed should be 1 (step 0 done, step 1 failed)');
 
-    assert.equal(ctx._written[0], '/compact\r', 'step 0 should be written');
-    assert.equal(ctx._written[1], 'step-two\r', 'step 1 should be written (it was sent, just stuck)');
+    assert.equal(ctx._written[0], '/compact', 'step 0 text should be written');
+    assert.equal(ctx._written[1], '\r', 'step 0 Enter should be written');
+    assert.equal(ctx._written[2], 'step-two', 'step 1 should be written (it was sent, just stuck)');
+    assert.equal(ctx._written[3], '\r', 'step 1 Enter should be written');
 
     watcher.close();
   } finally {
@@ -1573,7 +1580,7 @@ test('chain instant-reply mid-chain: step 1 never sets busy → proceeds to step
     const result = readResult(path.join(tmp, 'processed'), uuid);
     assert.equal(result.ok, true, 'chain should succeed via instant-reply path');
     assert.equal(result.steps.length, 3, 'all 3 steps must have run');
-    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/first\r', '/second\r', '/third\r']);
+    assert.deepEqual(ctx._written, ['/first', '\r', '/second', '\r', '/third', '\r']);
     // Step 1's instant-reply path should have spent ~2s (BUSY_RISE_TIMEOUT_MS)
     assert.ok(result.steps[1].waited_ms >= 1900 && result.steps[1].waited_ms <= 2400,
       `step 1 should have waited ~2000ms for the rising edge; got ${result.steps[1].waited_ms}ms`);

trigger-watcher.js

@@ -46,6 +46,15 @@ const MAX_CHAIN_LENGTH  = 20;         // max steps per chain (W8)
 // Claude may answer so fast that we never observe the rising edge;
 // after BUSY_RISE_TIMEOUT_MS we assume the turn completed instantly and move on.
 const BUSY_RISE_TIMEOUT_MS   = 2000; // ms
+// Delay (ms) between writing a command's text and the Enter keypress that
+// submits it. The Enter MUST arrive as a discrete PTY read — concatenated onto
+// the text in a single write, Claude Code (kitty keyboard protocol) absorbs it
+// as a literal newline in the composer and the command never submits. xterm.js
+// sends every keypress as its own write, which is why the web terminal submits
+// correctly; we mirror that. Reproduced 2026-06-02: free-text trigger commands
+// landed in the composer but did not submit; only the short menu-driven
+// /compact path submitted. Override via SWITCHBOARD_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS.
+const DEFAULT_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS = 50; // ms
 // Control chars forbidden in command: CR, LF, NUL, ESC (W3)
 const FORBIDDEN_COMMAND_RE = /[\r\n\0\x1b]/;
 
@@ -65,6 +74,21 @@ function defaultIsPtyAlive(ptyProcess) {
   }
 }
 
+function delay(ms) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
+}
+
+// Submit a command to a PTY the way a human terminal does: write the text,
+// then send Enter as a SEPARATE write so it is read as a discrete "submit"
+// keypress rather than a trailing newline. See DEFAULT_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS.
+async function submitToPty(ptyProcess, command) {
+  ptyProcess.write(command);
+  const envMs = Number(process.env.SWITCHBOARD_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS);
+  const ms = Number.isFinite(envMs) && envMs >= 0 ? envMs : DEFAULT_SUBMIT_ENTER_DELAY_MS;
+  await delay(ms);
+  ptyProcess.write('\r');
+}
+
 function getTriggersDir() {
   return process.env.SWITCHBOARD_TRIGGERS_DIR || DEFAULT_TRIGGERS_DIR;
 }
@@ -445,9 +469,9 @@ async function processTriggerFile(name, ctx, triggersDir, processedDir) {
       return;
     }
 
-    // Write to PTY
+    // Write to PTY: text, then Enter as a discrete keypress (see submitToPty).
     try {
-      ptyProcess.write(command + '\r');
+      await submitToPty(ptyProcess, command);
     } catch (err) {
       ctx.log.error('[trigger-watcher] PTY write failed:', err.message);
       await writeResult({ ok: false, error: 'pty write failed: ' + err.message, sessionId });
@@ -528,7 +552,7 @@ async function processTriggerFile(name, ctx, triggersDir, processedDir) {
     if (i === 0) step0SentAt = stepSentAt;
 
     try {
-      entry.ptyProcess.write(step.command + '\r');
+      await submitToPty(entry.ptyProcess, step.command);
     } catch (err) {
       ctx.log.error(`[trigger-watcher] PTY write failed at chain step ${i}:`, err.message);
       await writeResult({ ok: false, error: 'pty write failed: ' + err.message, partial: true, steps_completed: i, sessionId, sent_at: step0SentAt, steps, total_waited_ms: totalWaitedMs });