feat(statusfile): render the ambient drift line when idle

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

internal/statusfile/statusfile.go

@@ -34,12 +34,15 @@ func DefaultPath() (string, error) {
 }
 
 // Render produces the single status line for the harness envelope, dispatching
-// on the active mode. An idle harness ("") renders "idle"; an unknown kind
+// on the active mode. An idle harness ("") renders the ambient coaching line as
-// renders a generic fallback so a future mode degrades gracefully rather than
+// "⚠ <line>" when one is present, else "idle"; an unknown kind renders a generic
-// rendering nothing.
+// fallback so a future mode degrades gracefully.
-func Render(env mode.Envelope, now time.Time) string {
+func Render(env mode.Envelope, ambientLine string, now time.Time) string {
 	switch env.ActiveMode {
 	case "":
+		if line := strings.TrimSpace(ambientLine); line != "" {
+			return "⚠ " + line
+		}
 		return "idle"
 	case "focus":
 		st, ok := env.Mode.(focus.State)
@@ -121,11 +124,12 @@ func remaining(st focus.State, now time.Time) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("%dm", mins)
 }
 
-// Writer periodically renders the harness envelope and writes it to a file,
+// Writer periodically renders the harness envelope (plus the ambient line) and
-// rewriting only when the line changes.
+// writes it to a file, rewriting only when the line changes.
 type Writer struct {
 	path    string
 	state   func() mode.Envelope
+	ambient func() string
 	now     func() time.Time
 	wake    chan struct{}
 
@@ -133,10 +137,11 @@ type Writer struct {
 	wrote bool
 }
 
-// NewWriter builds a Writer for path, reading the harness envelope via the given
+// NewWriter builds a Writer for path, reading the harness envelope via state and
-// accessor (typically harness.State).
+// the ambient coaching line via ambient (either may be supplied; a nil ambient
-func NewWriter(path string, state func() mode.Envelope) *Writer {
+// is treated as "" by write).
-	return &Writer{path: path, state: state, now: time.Now, wake: make(chan struct{}, 1)}
+func NewWriter(path string, state func() mode.Envelope, ambient func() string) *Writer {
+	return &Writer{path: path, state: state, ambient: ambient, now: time.Now, wake: make(chan struct{}, 1)}
 }
 
 // Wake asks the writer to re-render now rather than at the next tick. It is the
@@ -174,14 +179,18 @@ func (w *Writer) Run(ctx context.Context) {
 }
 
 func (w *Writer) write() {
-	line := Render(w.state(), w.now())
+	line := ""
-	if w.wrote && line == w.last {
+	if w.ambient != nil {
+		line = w.ambient()
+	}
+	rendered := Render(w.state(), line, w.now())
+	if w.wrote && rendered == w.last {
 		return
 	}
-	if err := os.WriteFile(w.path, []byte(line), 0o644); err != nil {
+	if err := os.WriteFile(w.path, []byte(rendered), 0o644); err != nil {
 		log.Printf("statusfile: write %s: %v", w.path, err)
 		return
 	}
-	w.last = line
+	w.last = rendered
 	w.wrote = true
 }

internal/statusfile/statusfile_test.go

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func TestRender(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, tc := range cases {
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			if got := Render(tc.env, now); got != tc.want {
+			if got := Render(tc.env, "", now); got != tc.want {
 				t.Errorf("Render() = %q, want %q", got, tc.want)
 			}
 		})
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ func TestWriterWritesAndDedups(t *testing.T) {
 	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "status")
 	now := time.Unix(1_000_000, 0)
 	env := focusEnv(focusState(domain.RuntimePlanning))
-	w := NewWriter(path, func() mode.Envelope { return env })
+	w := NewWriter(path, func() mode.Envelope { return env }, nil)
 	w.now = func() time.Time { return now }
 
 	w.write()
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func TestWriterRemovesFileOnCancel(t *testing.T) {
 	path := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "status")
 	w := NewWriter(path, func() mode.Envelope {
 		return focusEnv(focusState(domain.RuntimePlanning))
-	})
+	}, nil)
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	done := make(chan struct{})
 	go func() { w.Run(ctx); close(done) }()
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ func TestWriterWakeRendersPromptly(t *testing.T) {
 
 	var mu sync.Mutex
 	st := activeState(in10m, "ontask", "")
-	w := NewWriter(path, func() mode.Envelope { mu.Lock(); defer mu.Unlock(); return focusEnv(st) })
+	w := NewWriter(path, func() mode.Envelope { mu.Lock(); defer mu.Unlock(); return focusEnv(st) }, nil)
 	w.now = func() time.Time { return now }
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
@@ -148,6 +148,27 @@ func TestWriterWakeRendersPromptly(t *testing.T) {
 	waitFor(t, func() bool { return fileEquals(path, "⚠ DRIFT 10m") })
 }
 
+func TestRenderIdleShowsAmbientLine(t *testing.T) {
+	got := Render(mode.Envelope{ActiveMode: ""}, "deep in YouTube, no goal", time.Unix(0, 0))
+	if got != "⚠ deep in YouTube, no goal" {
+		t.Fatalf("idle+ambient render = %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRenderIdleNoAmbientLineIsIdle(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := Render(mode.Envelope{ActiveMode: ""}, "", time.Unix(0, 0)); got != "idle" {
+		t.Fatalf("idle+no-ambient render = %q, want idle", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestRenderActiveModeIgnoresAmbientLine(t *testing.T) {
+	// A non-idle envelope renders its own mode, never the ambient line.
+	got := Render(mode.Envelope{ActiveMode: "offscreen", Mode: map[string]any{"status": "proposed", "next_action": "walk"}}, "ambient ignored", time.Unix(0, 0))
+	if got == "ambient ignored" || got == "⚠ ambient ignored" {
+		t.Fatalf("active mode must not render the ambient line, got %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func fileEquals(path, want string) bool {
 	b, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	return err == nil && string(b) == want