Composer · background work

Today on main · a card above the composer

It works, but it's the one notice that doesn't use the bar pattern, and its full Button gives Stop more weight than anything else above the field. Stacked with a goal and the context warning, it's a third shape in the same column.

Five ways to show it

Each option shows the watcher alone, then the busy case: a goal in progress and context at 84%. Switch Running above to see background tasks, and Tone for grey vs the blue that tool calls use in the transcript.

Lifecycle · option B

The status header already says "Working" during a turn. B lets it keep talking after the turn ends, so the composer tells one continuous story. Sending a message is allowed throughout. It starts a new turn, which is why the send button stays live next to Stop.

Desktop · A and B

Same parts, wider column. Both shown with the context warning, so you can see how much space each one takes.

Picks

My pick

B, status header, in grey. It adds no new chrome. Stop sits where it always sits, and the header already means "something is running". It doesn't stack, so a goal plus a context warning still leaves the transcript room on a phone. Grey matches the sidebar's Monitoring row. Blue reads as "a tool is running", which is accurate but louder than a quiet wait needs.

Runner-up

A, a bar. It's the most consistent with the other notices, and Stop as a text action is gentle. The cost is height: three bars plus the composer is about 40% of a phone screen.

Avoid

D hides a button that kills the process behind a chip near the home-bar swipe zone. E scrolls away as soon as you read back.

Build note

B is a third mode for ComposerStatusHeader: show it when backgroundWork && !isProcessing(), glyph from the kind, plus a soft Stop beside send that calls the existing handleStop. No elapsed time: SessionInfo has no start time for background work, so adding one would mean server changes.