Stream Deck SD+: two-zone builder workflow (selectors + action palette, dial-driven feedback queue)

[amrmelsayed]

Problem

We now have one key per builder (#1404: merged Builder Action, phase-aware press that also selects the builder). But covering a builder end-to-end needs several actions (approve a gate, run dev, send review feedback), and the recently added queued code-review feedback has no hardware trigger. We want an efficient SD+ layout where the deck is a remote control and VSCode is the screen, bound by a single shared selection.

Ground truth

• A shared zoom cursor already exists (store.cursor, selectedBuilder()); DevServerAction, the diff dials, ScrollNav, and ZoomNav act on it. After Stream Deck: merge Fleet Slot into Builder Action (phase-aware press) #1404, pressing a Builder Action key sets that cursor (syncToBuilder).
• Diff dials already use all three gestures each (rotate = navigate, press = forward-*, tap = jump-to-first). They are at gesture budget.
• We support SD+ only for now: 8 LCD keys (2 rows of 4) + 4 dials + touchstrip.
• Feedback delivery mode (forward immediately vs queue) is a VSCode workspace setting the engineer sets; the deck must follow it, not guess.

Requirements

1. Two stable zones (no modal re-organization).
   • Row 1 (4 keys): fleet selectors = the Stream Deck: merge Fleet Slot into Builder Action (phase-aware press) #1404 Builder Action keys. Render status; press selects (+ opens the phase artifact). A 4-wide window onto the fleet; the Select dial reaches builders past the first four.
   • Row 2 (4 keys): action palette, fixed in place, always acting on the selected builder: [Approve gate] [Run Dev] [Send Fb (N)] [ Next / free ]. Rejected: activating a builder to re-flow all keys (modal, kills muscle memory, ambiguous state).
2. Dials collect, key commits. Repoint each diff dial press from immediate send to submitting the chunk as feedback via a mode-neutral verb (feedback-file / feedback-hunk / feedback-selection). VSCode routes it forward-now or enqueue per the workspace setting. Dial rotate = navigate (unchanged), tap = jump-to-first (unchanged).
3. Send Fb (N) key = flush. Fires a send-queue verb; badge N mirrors the per-builder queued count from the overview. In immediate mode N stays 0 and the key is inert; in queued mode N climbs and the key sends. No deck-side mode inference.
4. Legibility, not just correctness. Because the same dial press sends in one workspace and queues in another, surface the current mode on the dial touchscreen (e.g. Files · queue vs Files · send) so a press is never a surprise.
5. Overview wire. Add a per-builder queued-feedback count so the deck can render N (alongside the queue capability already added on the VSCode side).
6. No approval semantics leak. Row 2 Approve acts on the selected builder and routes through the existing confirmation. Decide deliberately whether it supersedes the standalone ApproveGate singleton, or the singleton's "jump to next pending" folds into a Row 2 Next / attention key (jump selection to the highest-priority builder). Don't ship two muddy approve affordances.

Out of scope / relation

• The Fleet Slot merge and phase-aware select+open press ship in Stream Deck: merge Fleet Slot into Builder Action (phase-aware press) #1404. This issue builds on that.
• Verb behavior change (forward-* immediate to feedback-* mode-routed + send-queue) touches the VSCode command relay; coordinate with the review-queue work.

Suggested protocol

PIR: the dial feedback loop, the mode-follows-setting behavior, and the Row 2 palette all need hardware verification before a PR.

[amrmelsayed]

Architect review (streamdeck lane)

Adopting this into the lane's backlog: the grounding is accurate (shared cursor, dial gesture budget, queue capability on the VSCode side) and the two-zone concept is the right shape for one-selection deck control. Requirements review:

1. Layout conflict with Stream Deck: phase-aware review dials — canvas navigation reuses the diff dials (deck half; bridge is #1401) #1400, must be reconciled at spec time. This design claims all 8 SD+ keys (4 selectors + 4 palette), but Stream Deck: phase-aware review dials — canvas navigation reuses the diff dials (deck half; bridge is #1401) #1400 (canvas review navigation, sequenced after artifact-canvas: remote command channel for review navigation (Tower relay + sdk route) #1401's bridge) carries reserved profile headroom per its requirement 2: jump keys and a reading-mode toggle, plus a traversal dial — and the 4 dials are already at gesture budget. Candidate reconciliations: a second profile page for the reading context, folding canvas actions into the [Next / free] key's slot, or a swap of Row 2 when a canvas is focused (in tension with requirement 1's no-modal-reflow rule, so it needs care). This is a spec-time layout decision in the streamdeck lane; do not let either issue silently claim the same keys.
2. Requirement 6 (approve affordances): agreed, and my prior is exactly one approve affordance on the deck. If Row 2 Approve ships, the standalone singleton's jump-to-next-pending folds into [Next / attention] and the singleton retires. Two approve keys with different targeting is the confusing outcome to avoid.
3. Requirement 2/3 (mode-neutral feedback verbs + send-queue) is the cross-area half: VSCode command-relay changes coordinate with the review-queue work (vscode: codelens-driven review comments in the unified diff editor — per-builder queue with batched submit to PTY (follow-up to #789) #1037/vscode: codelens-driven review comments in the builder diff — per-builder queue with batched submit to PTY (#1037) #1382, panel vscode: contextual bottom panel that adapts to active editor (mode resolver + Attention fallback) #1049). Relabeled area/cross-cutting accordingly (deck + vscode + overview wire).
4. Sequencing: after Stream Deck: merge Fleet Slot into Builder Action (phase-aware press) #1404 ships; the feedback-queue half additionally waits on vscode: contextual bottom panel that adapts to active editor (mode resolver + Attention fallback) #1049's panel semantics being stable. Not before.

Process note for the record: spin-off designs route through the architect (raise the idea, architect files or delegates filing) rather than being self-filed from a builder session. Content here was worth keeping, so the issue stands adopted; the convention stands too.

[amrmelsayed]

Layout-conflict resolution: #1400 was revised (2026-08-12, owner-directed) to phase-aware reuse of the existing diff dials — when the selected builder is in spec/plan state the Files/Changes dials drive canvas navigation instead, gesture roles constant, touchstrips always naming the current semantic. Consequence for this issue: the eight-key claim stands — no reserved fleet-layout keys are needed for canvas review anymore. The only residual layout question shared with this design is where the reading-mode toggle lives (a Row 2 slot is one candidate). The single-approve-affordance point from my review is unchanged.