TUI: formalize the status-bar color grammar + surface repo/worktree state

[Hmbown]

Origin

External design review of the full-screen TUI (2026-08-16). The reviewer's
conclusion after seeing the whole interface: the colors are not "too many" —
they are a color vocabulary, and it works. Verdict on the current palette:
keep it (maintainer agrees — operate purple, Full Access orange, etc. stay).

What the review asks for

1. Formalize the color grammar and refuse to violate it as the UI expands.
   The language the interface already speaks:

   Color	Meaning
   GREEN	outcome / success / model output
   ORANGE	cognition / consequential action / elevated capability
   CYAN	currently active / orchestration
   PURPLE	user-selected mode / policy
   BLUE	identity / navigation
   GRAY	passive metadata / historical state
   RED	actual failure / destructive warning ONLY

   Reserve true red so it stays powerful when it appears (tool denied,
   destructive confirmation, crashed agent, context failure). Concretely: a
   docs/design/ note naming the grammar + a single palette/style module the
   widgets share, so new UI can't introduce an eighth semantic or spend red on
   something non-failing.

2. Repository state is the missing piece of the runtime header. The top bar
   reads provider · model · mode · effort · permissions · fs scope · ctx · version — for a coding agent, repo · branch* (branch + dirtiness) tells
   you where the agent is operating and is arguably more valuable than the
   provider company. Suggested placement: left of the model segment or as the
   first telemetry segment. (Worktree name matters here too — see the fleet
   lanes.)

3. Optional polish, low priority: group effort with mode (operate:max)
   for scannability. Not retracted by the reviewer but minor; the full-screen
   read made the current operate · max acceptable.

Acceptance

• Color grammar documented in docs/design/ and enforced by a shared
  palette module (no widget invents its own semantic color).
• Repo/worktree segment renders in the status bar (branch + dirty marker),
  updates on branch switch and worktree operations.
• No regression to bar density at narrow widths (it must degrade, not wrap).
• Screenshot evidence at wide + narrow widths in the PR.

Not in scope: changing existing color assignments (explicitly keep), adding
new orange semantics (explicitly refuse).

[wuisabel-gif]

Hi @Hmbown, I would like to contribute a focused slice of this issue by adding repository and worktree status to the TUI status bar.

I would keep the scope limited to:

• showing the current branch or worktree;
• showing a clear dirty-state marker;
• refreshing the value after branch or worktree changes;
• preserving the existing narrow-width layout behavior;
• adding provider-free unit or snapshot coverage.

I would leave the broader color grammar documentation and palette refactor for a separate follow-up. I would also keep the existing semantic color assignments unchanged.

Relevant starting points appear to be the repository-state helpers in crates/tui/src/tui/git_status.rs and the status bar and header rendering paths.

Would this be an acceptable first slice to take?

[Hmbown]

Hi @Hmbown, I would like to contribute a focused slice of this issue by adding repository and worktree status to the TUI status bar.

I would keep the scope limited to:

• showing the current branch or worktree;
• showing a clear dirty-state marker;
• refreshing the value after branch or worktree changes;
• preserving the existing narrow-width layout behavior;
• adding provider-free unit or snapshot coverage.

I would leave the broader color grammar documentation and palette refactor for a separate follow-up. I would also keep the existing semantic color assignments unchanged.

Relevant starting points appear to be the repository-state helpers in crates/tui/src/tui/git_status.rs and the status bar and header rendering paths.

Would this be an acceptable first slice to take?

Absolutely!!

[Hmbown]

Rolled to v0.9.10: the v0.9.9 release branch merged to main tonight (#5476) without this landing; nothing here is closed or dropped.

[wuisabel-gif]

Thanks, noted. I opened PR #5511 for the approved repository and worktree status slice:

#5511

The PR targets current main for the v0.9.10 cycle. It adds repository/worktree identity, branch and dirty markers, narrow-header coverage, and synchronized changelog entries. The broader color grammar and palette work remain separate follow-ups.