From 10fa9eca3a32cc5d051f00ced31eee3da4e55d2f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: rcourtman <courtmanr@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2026 04:00:30 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Mark Assistant provider retries as live activity

---
 .../v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md      |  4 ++
 .../src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx    | 38 ++++++++++++--
 .../AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx         |  3 ++
 .../AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx    |  2 +
 .../Chat/__tests__/activeTurnStatus.test.ts   |  8 +--
 .../components/AI/Chat/activeTurnStatus.ts    | 14 +++--
 .../src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx          | 52 ++++++++++++++-----
 7 files changed, 97 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md
index 15a879f53..4625529b7 100644
--- a/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md
+++ b/docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md
@@ -348,6 +348,10 @@ deriving an older display status from `workflowStatusHistory`.
    export status lines must normalize internal tool identifiers such as
    `pulse_query`, `pulse_read`, and `pulse_exec` into operator-facing activity
    labels, while preserving the raw typed event payload for Details/debug paths.
+   Provider retry states are a distinct live activity kind: a `provider_retry`
+   workflow status must render as retrying in the active-turn footer and live
+   workflow row so the operator sees selected-route recovery in progress rather
+   than another generic waiting/thinking state.
    Assistant-authored visible answer prose is part of the same boundary: model
    text may describe the action in operator vocabulary such as "read command"
    or "inventory lookup", but raw internal identifiers such as `pulse_read`
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx
index d0e6e8b5b..85a37df7d 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/MessageItem.tsx
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { ThinkingBlock } from './ThinkingBlock';
 import { getAssistantAnswerText } from './assistantAnswerText';
 import { stripAssistantOutputArtifacts } from './assistantOutputHygiene';
 import { formatAssistantTurnDuration } from './assistantTurnSummary';
-import { formatAssistantWorkflowStatus } from './activeTurnStatus';
+import { assistantWorkflowStatusKind, formatAssistantWorkflowStatus } from './activeTurnStatus';
 import { groupStreamEventsForDisplay } from './streamEventGrouping';
 import {
   createPacedWorkflowStatus,
@@ -429,6 +429,22 @@ export const MessageItem: Component<MessageItemProps> = (props) => {
     }
     return `${message}${elapsedSuffix}`;
   };
+  const workflowStatusToneClass = (status?: WorkflowStatus) => {
+    const kind = assistantWorkflowStatusKind(status);
+    if (kind === 'retrying') {
+      return 'border-amber-200 bg-amber-50 text-amber-800 dark:border-amber-900/60 dark:bg-amber-950/30 dark:text-amber-200';
+    }
+    if (kind === 'tool') {
+      return 'border-blue-200 bg-blue-50 text-blue-700 dark:border-blue-900/60 dark:bg-blue-950/30 dark:text-blue-200';
+    }
+    return 'border-blue-200 bg-blue-50 text-blue-700 dark:border-blue-900/60 dark:bg-blue-950/30 dark:text-blue-200';
+  };
+  const workflowStatusDotClass = (status?: WorkflowStatus) => {
+    const kind = assistantWorkflowStatusKind(status);
+    if (kind === 'retrying') return 'bg-amber-500';
+    if (kind === 'tool') return 'bg-blue-500';
+    return 'bg-blue-500';
+  };
   const workflowStatusText = createMemo(() =>
     formatWorkflowStatus(currentWorkflowStatus(), true),
   );
@@ -578,11 +594,18 @@ export const MessageItem: Component<MessageItemProps> = (props) => {
               </Show>
               <Show when={shouldShowHeaderWorkflowStatus()}>
                 <span
-                  class="inline-flex min-w-0 max-w-[18rem] items-center gap-1.5 rounded border border-blue-200 bg-blue-50 px-1.5 py-0.5 text-[10px] font-medium text-blue-700 dark:border-blue-900/60 dark:bg-blue-950/30 dark:text-blue-200"
+                  class={`inline-flex min-w-0 max-w-[18rem] items-center gap-1.5 rounded border px-1.5 py-0.5 text-[10px] font-medium ${workflowStatusToneClass(
+                    currentWorkflowStatus(),
+                  )}`}
                   title={workflowStatusText()}
                   aria-live="polite"
+                  data-status-kind={assistantWorkflowStatusKind(currentWorkflowStatus())}
                 >
-                  <span class="h-1.5 w-1.5 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-blue-500 animate-pulse" />
+                  <span
+                    class={`h-1.5 w-1.5 shrink-0 rounded-full animate-pulse ${workflowStatusDotClass(
+                      currentWorkflowStatus(),
+                    )}`}
+                  />
                   <span class="truncate">{workflowStatusText()}</span>
                 </span>
               </Show>
@@ -660,16 +683,21 @@ export const MessageItem: Component<MessageItemProps> = (props) => {
                           }
                         >
                           <div
-                            class="my-1 inline-flex max-w-full items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-blue-200 bg-blue-50 px-2.5 py-1.5 text-xs font-medium text-blue-700 dark:border-blue-900/60 dark:bg-blue-950/30 dark:text-blue-200"
+                            class={`my-1 inline-flex max-w-full items-center gap-2 rounded-md border px-2.5 py-1.5 text-xs font-medium ${workflowStatusToneClass(
+                              visibleWorkflowStatus(),
+                            )}`}
                             role="status"
                             aria-live="polite"
                             title={formatWorkflowStatus(
                               visibleWorkflowStatus(),
                               props.message.isStreaming,
                             )}
+                            data-status-kind={assistantWorkflowStatusKind(visibleWorkflowStatus())}
                           >
                             <span
-                              class="h-1.5 w-1.5 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-blue-500 animate-pulse"
+                              class={`h-1.5 w-1.5 shrink-0 rounded-full animate-pulse ${workflowStatusDotClass(
+                                visibleWorkflowStatus(),
+                              )}`}
                               aria-hidden="true"
                             />
                             <span class="min-w-0 truncate">
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx
index 11c8f7b2f..13d969535 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx
@@ -5559,6 +5559,9 @@ describe('AIChat', () => {
       expect(screen.getByLabelText('Assistant active turn status')).toHaveTextContent(
         'Provider connection failed before any output; retrying. · attempt 2/3 · retrying in 1.9s',
       );
+      expect(
+        screen.getByTestId('assistant-activity-dock').querySelector('[data-status-kind="retrying"]'),
+      ).not.toBeNull();
     });
 
     it('prefers workflow progress over selected model route evidence', () => {
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx
index 2e4343f4e..7b08388ca 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/MessageItem.test.tsx
@@ -762,6 +762,7 @@ describe('MessageItem', () => {
           'Provider connection failed before any output; retrying. · attempt 2/3 · retrying in 1.2s',
         ),
       ).toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.getByRole('status')).toHaveAttribute('data-status-kind', 'retrying');
       expect(screen.queryByText('Thinking...')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
     });
 
@@ -807,6 +808,7 @@ describe('MessageItem', () => {
           /Provider connection failed before any output; retrying\. · attempt 2\/3 · retrying in 1\.9s/,
         ),
       ).toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.getByRole('status')).toHaveAttribute('data-status-kind', 'retrying');
     });
 
     it('paces replacing workflow activity through one live transcript row', async () => {
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/activeTurnStatus.test.ts b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/activeTurnStatus.test.ts
index 570c00442..7e2e471fa 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/activeTurnStatus.test.ts
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/activeTurnStatus.test.ts
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ describe('getAssistantActiveTurnStatus', () => {
         1_200,
       ),
     ).toEqual({
-      type: 'thinking',
+      type: 'retrying',
       text: 'Provider connection failed before any output; retrying. · attempt 2/3 · retrying in 3.2s',
       startedAt: 1_200,
     });
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ describe('getAssistantActiveTurnStatus', () => {
         true,
       ),
     ).toEqual({
-      type: 'thinking',
+      type: 'retrying',
       text: 'Provider connection failed before any output; retrying. · attempt 2/2 · retrying in 200ms',
       startedAt,
     });
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ describe('getAssistantActiveTurnStatus', () => {
         2_300,
       ),
     ).toEqual({
-      type: 'thinking',
+      type: 'retrying',
       text: 'Provider connection failed before any output; retrying. · attempt 2/2 · retrying in 1.9s',
       startedAt,
     });
@@ -522,7 +522,7 @@ describe('getAssistantActiveTurnStatus', () => {
         4_500,
       ),
     ).toEqual({
-      type: 'thinking',
+      type: 'retrying',
       text: 'Provider connection failed before any output; retrying. · attempt 2/2 · retrying now',
       startedAt,
     });
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/activeTurnStatus.ts b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/activeTurnStatus.ts
index 3fa224d77..87c8763f9 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/activeTurnStatus.ts
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/activeTurnStatus.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
   toolValueText,
 } from './toolPresentation';
 
-export type AssistantActiveTurnStatusKind = 'thinking' | 'tool' | 'generating';
+export type AssistantActiveTurnStatusKind = 'thinking' | 'tool' | 'generating' | 'retrying';
 
 export interface AssistantActiveTurnStatus {
   text: string;
@@ -204,6 +204,14 @@ const formatPendingToolStatus = (tool?: PendingTool): string => {
   return `Running ${toolLabel}`;
 };
 
+export const assistantWorkflowStatusKind = (
+  status?: WorkflowStatus,
+): AssistantActiveTurnStatusKind => {
+  if (status?.phase === 'provider_retry') return 'retrying';
+  if (status?.tool) return 'tool';
+  return 'thinking';
+};
+
 const activePendingToolFromEvents = (events?: StreamDisplayEvent[]): PendingTool | undefined => {
   const completedToolKeys = new Set<string>();
 
@@ -429,7 +437,7 @@ const latestStreamActivityStatus = (
         const text = formatAssistantWorkflowStatus(workflowStatus, now);
         if (text) {
           candidate = {
-            type: workflowStatus?.tool ? 'tool' : 'thinking',
+            type: assistantWorkflowStatusKind(workflowStatus),
             text,
             startedAt: workflowStatus?.startedAt || event.startedAt,
             activityAt: eventActivityAt(event),
@@ -506,7 +514,7 @@ const workflowStatusCandidate = (
   const text = formatAssistantWorkflowStatus(status, now);
   if (!text) return null;
   return {
-    type: status?.tool ? 'tool' : 'thinking',
+    type: assistantWorkflowStatusKind(status),
     text,
     startedAt: status?.startedAt,
     activityAt: status?.startedAt,
diff --git a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx
index 74266d059..776547dec 100644
--- a/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx
+++ b/frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx
@@ -2441,6 +2441,25 @@ export const AIChat: Component<AIChatProps> = (props) => {
     if (elapsedSeconds < 2) return status.text;
     return `${status.text} (${elapsedSeconds}s)`;
   });
+  const currentStatusKind = createMemo(() => currentStatus()?.type);
+  const currentStatusRowClass = createMemo(() => {
+    if (currentStatusKind() === 'retrying') {
+      return 'bg-amber-50/80 text-amber-900 dark:bg-amber-950/25 dark:text-amber-100';
+    }
+    return '';
+  });
+  const currentStatusIconClass = createMemo(() => {
+    if (currentStatusKind() === 'retrying') {
+      return 'animate-spin text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-300';
+    }
+    if (currentStatusKind() === 'generating') {
+      return 'text-emerald-500 dark:text-emerald-300';
+    }
+    return 'animate-spin text-blue-600 dark:text-blue-300';
+  });
+  const currentStatusDotClass = createMemo(() =>
+    currentStatusKind() === 'retrying' ? 'bg-amber-400' : 'bg-blue-400',
+  );
   const activeTurnRoute = createMemo<AssistantActiveRoutePresentation | null>(() => {
     if (!currentStatus()) return null;
     const model = activeAssistantMessage()?.model?.trim() || selectedChatModel().trim();
@@ -4487,33 +4506,42 @@ export const AIChat: Component<AIChatProps> = (props) => {
                 data-testid="assistant-activity-dock"
               >
                 <Show when={currentStatus()}>
-                  <div class="flex min-h-8 min-w-0 items-center gap-2 px-2.5 py-1.5 text-xs">
+                  <div
+                    class={`flex min-h-8 min-w-0 items-center gap-2 px-2.5 py-1.5 text-xs ${currentStatusRowClass()}`}
+                    data-status-kind={currentStatusKind()}
+                  >
                     <div
                       class="flex min-w-0 flex-1 items-center gap-2"
                       role="status"
                       aria-label="Assistant active turn status"
                       aria-live="polite"
                     >
-                      <LoaderCircleIcon
-                        class={`h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0 ${
-                          currentStatus()?.type === 'generating'
-                            ? 'text-emerald-500 dark:text-emerald-300'
-                            : 'animate-spin text-blue-600 dark:text-blue-300'
-                        }`}
-                        aria-hidden="true"
-                      />
+                      <Show
+                        when={currentStatusKind() === 'retrying'}
+                        fallback={
+                          <LoaderCircleIcon
+                            class={`h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0 ${currentStatusIconClass()}`}
+                            aria-hidden="true"
+                          />
+                        }
+                      >
+                        <RefreshCwIcon
+                          class={`h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0 ${currentStatusIconClass()}`}
+                          aria-hidden="true"
+                        />
+                      </Show>
                       <span class="min-w-0 flex-1 truncate font-medium">{currentStatusText()}</span>
                       <span class="flex shrink-0 gap-0.5" aria-hidden="true">
                         <span
-                          class="h-1 w-1 rounded-full bg-blue-400 animate-bounce"
+                          class={`h-1 w-1 rounded-full animate-bounce ${currentStatusDotClass()}`}
                           style="animation-delay: 0ms; animation-duration: 1s"
                         />
                         <span
-                          class="h-1 w-1 rounded-full bg-blue-400 animate-bounce"
+                          class={`h-1 w-1 rounded-full animate-bounce ${currentStatusDotClass()}`}
                           style="animation-delay: 150ms; animation-duration: 1s"
                         />
                         <span
-                          class="h-1 w-1 rounded-full bg-blue-400 animate-bounce"
+                          class={`h-1 w-1 rounded-full animate-bounce ${currentStatusDotClass()}`}
                           style="animation-delay: 300ms; animation-duration: 1s"
                         />
                       </span>