Surface Assistant workflow progress status

docs/release-control/v6/internal/subsystems/ai-runtime.md

@@ -1190,7 +1190,10 @@ Assistant chat must not render Pulse-authored explore pre-pass cards or
 internal workflow-state cards as assistant output. The user-facing stream is
 model text, model thinking where supported, model-selected tool calls, governed
 approval requests, and model questions; internal runtime telemetry stays out of
-the chat transcript.
+the chat transcript. The browser runtime may keep the latest `workflow_state`
+message on the in-flight assistant turn only as drawer status text while waiting
+for model content, so provider/session progress is visible without turning
+runtime telemetry into transcript content.
 Cold-start Assistant chat session creation is also stream-owned. Ordinary first
 messages may call `/api/ai/chat` without a `session_id`; `chat.Service.ExecuteStream`
 must create or resolve the durable session before provider execution and emit a

frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/AIChat.test.tsx

@@ -2134,6 +2134,32 @@ describe('AIChat', () => {
       expect(screen.queryByText('Generating response...')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
     });
 
+    it('shows workflow progress while the assistant turn waits for the first token', () => {
+      mockChat.isLoading.mockReturnValue(true);
+      mockChat.messages.mockReturnValue([
+        {
+          id: 'msg-1',
+          role: 'assistant' as const,
+          content: '',
+          timestamp: new Date(),
+          isStreaming: true,
+          streamEvents: [],
+          workflowStatus: {
+            phase: 'plan',
+            message: 'Planning governed action and safety checks before execution.',
+            state: 'READING',
+            tool: 'pulse_exec',
+          },
+        },
+      ]);
+      renderChat();
+      expect(
+        screen.getByText('Planning governed action and safety checks before execution.'),
+      ).toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.queryByText('Thinking...')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.queryByText('Generating response...')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    });
+
     it('shows tool status when assistant has pending tools', () => {
       mockChat.isLoading.mockReturnValue(true);
       mockChat.messages.mockReturnValue([

frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/__tests__/useChat.test.ts

@@ -661,6 +661,12 @@ describe('useChat', () => {
       const assistant = chat.messages().find((m) => m.role === 'assistant')!;
       expect(assistant.content).toBe('');
       expect(assistant.streamEvents).toEqual([]);
+      expect(assistant.workflowStatus).toEqual({
+        phase: 'plan',
+        message: 'Planning governed action and safety checks before execution.',
+        state: 'READING',
+        tool: 'pulse_exec',
+      });
       dispose();
     });
 

frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/hooks/useChat.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import type {
   PendingApproval,
   PendingQuestion,
   PendingTool,
+  WorkflowStatus,
 } from '../types';
 
 const generateId = () => Math.random().toString(36).substring(2, 9);
@@ -182,6 +183,24 @@ export function useChat(options: UseChatOptions = {}) {
     return '';
   };
 
+  const extractWorkflowStatus = (data: unknown): WorkflowStatus | null => {
+    if (!data || typeof data !== 'object') return null;
+    const record = data as Record<string, unknown>;
+    const message = typeof record.message === 'string' ? record.message.trim() : '';
+    if (!message) return null;
+
+    const phase = typeof record.phase === 'string' ? record.phase.trim() : '';
+    const state = typeof record.state === 'string' ? record.state.trim() : '';
+    const tool = typeof record.tool === 'string' ? record.tool.trim() : '';
+
+    return {
+      message,
+      phase: phase || undefined,
+      state: state || undefined,
+      tool: tool || undefined,
+    };
+  };
+
   const extractSessionId = (data: unknown): string => {
     if (!data || typeof data !== 'object') return '';
     const record = data as Record<string, unknown>;
@@ -239,6 +258,11 @@ export function useChat(options: UseChatOptions = {}) {
               };
             }
 
+            case 'workflow_state': {
+              const workflowStatus = extractWorkflowStatus(event.data);
+              return workflowStatus ? { ...msg, workflowStatus } : msg;
+            }
+
             case 'tool_start': {
               const data = (event.data || {}) as {
                 id?: string;
@@ -494,9 +518,9 @@ export function useChat(options: UseChatOptions = {}) {
             case 'done': {
               const tokens = extractTokens(event.data);
               if (tokens && (tokens.input > 0 || tokens.output > 0)) {
-                return { ...msg, isStreaming: false, pendingTools: [], tokens };
+                return { ...msg, isStreaming: false, pendingTools: [], tokens, workflowStatus: undefined };
               }
-              return { ...msg, isStreaming: false, pendingTools: [] };
+              return { ...msg, isStreaming: false, pendingTools: [], workflowStatus: undefined };
             }
 
             case 'error': {
@@ -507,6 +531,7 @@ export function useChat(options: UseChatOptions = {}) {
                 ...msg,
                 isStreaming: false,
                 pendingTools: [],
+                workflowStatus: undefined,
                 error: errorMsg || 'Request failed',
               };
             }

frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/index.tsx

@@ -603,6 +603,11 @@ export const AIChat: Component<AIChatProps> = (props) => {
       return { type: 'tool', text: `Running ${toolName}...` };
     }
 
+    const workflowMessage = lastMessage.workflowStatus?.message.trim();
+    if (lastMessage.isStreaming && !lastMessage.content.trim() && workflowMessage) {
+      return { type: 'thinking', text: workflowMessage };
+    }
+
     const isWaitingForFirstToken =
       lastMessage.isStreaming &&
       !lastMessage.content.trim() &&

frontend-modern/src/components/AI/Chat/types.ts

@@ -102,6 +102,13 @@ export interface StreamDisplayEvent {
   question?: PendingQuestion; // For question events
 }
 
+export interface WorkflowStatus {
+  phase?: string;
+  message: string;
+  state?: string;
+  tool?: string;
+}
+
 export interface ChatMessage {
   id: string;
   role: 'user' | 'assistant';
@@ -118,6 +125,7 @@ export interface ChatMessage {
   tokens?: { input: number; output: number };
   toolCalls?: ToolExecution[];
   isStreaming?: boolean;
+  workflowStatus?: WorkflowStatus;
   pendingTools?: PendingTool[];
   pendingApprovals?: PendingApproval[];
   pendingQuestions?: PendingQuestion[];