Live Activity: see at a glance which agent thread needs you

[ndycode]

Problem

The iOS Live Activity should answer three questions at a glance: is my agent working, does it need me, and which thread should I open?

Today it answers the first one. The other two take reading:

• The compact Island says "Approval" or "Input" next to the T3 mark. The minimal Island is a generic exclamation or question circle, and VoiceOver reads it as an unlabeled image.
• The expanded Island leads with a bare count ("T3 1") and a flat list. It doesn't say which thread needs you or why.
• When one thread asks for approval just as another finishes, both rows have the same weight. You read the whole card to find the one that needs you.

Proposal

Give T3 a tiny terminal prompt whose cursor changes with the phase. Lead every presentation with the thread that needs you.

Phase	Mark
starting	›
running	›_
waiting_for_input	›?
waiting_for_approval	shield (exclamationmark.shield.fill)
completed	check
failed	octagon (xmark.octagon.fill)
stale	clock (clock.arrow.circlepath)

• Compact and minimal Islands show the mark of the thread that needs you, so approval beats the thread that just finished. While agents only work, the Island stays a quiet ›_.
• Expanded Island and Lock Screen lead with that thread's title and what it needs ("Needs approval" or "Needs your input"). The other threads sit below in quieter rows, with "+N more" when the payload has more rows than fit.
• Tapping opens that thread through the existing t3code://threads/<environment>/<thread> link.
• VoiceOver reads a sentence, for example "Fix login redirect needs approval. 1 needs you, 1 done".
• Monochrome, Always-On and Reduce Motion: each state has its own shape, so the card still reads without the phase colors. The only motion is one 0.3 s in-place swap of the mark when the phase changes.
• No new data: every count and status comes from the existing relay payload. The payload has no percent complete or time remaining, so the card shows neither.

Same scene, before and after (iOS Simulator)

"Fix login redirect" asks for approval just as "Update snapshots" finishes.

	Before	After
Compact
Expanded
Lock Screen
Needs input

The handoff on the simulator: both threads working, then approval, then expand, then tap opens "Fix login redirect".

Videos: after, approval · after, input · before

Simulator screenshots leave out the Dynamic Island, so the compact and expanded stills are frames from agent-device device recordings. The simulator can't be locked, so the "Lock Screen" shots are Notification Center pulled down, which shows the same Live Activity layout. I couldn't capture the minimal Island because no second app had a Live Activity. Not tested on a physical device.

Designs considered

I built three directions against the same scene before writing widget code:

1. Terminal cursor (proposed). Every state is a glyph that reads at 13 pt without color. The state change uses only what the installed @expo/ui 58.0.20 bridge can animate: contentTransition plus one animation keyed on the phase.
2. Thread stack. Each thread is an editor tab, and the one that needs you comes forward. It works well in the expanded view with many agents. In the compact and minimal Islands the tabs shrink to about 10 pt, and without color a waiting tab looks like a working one.
3. Signal flag. A folded flag opens once and settles into the request symbol. It's strong on the Lock Screen. But the bridge can't drive a two-step unfurl (no keyframes, no triggered symbolEffect), so on a phone it would collapse to one crossfade. The large filled pennant is also bright on Always-On.

Browser comparison of the three designs on the same scene:

Open questions

• Should the relay include the per-thread detail it already has, such as the command waiting for approval? The card could then say what needs approval, not just that something does. That's a payload contract change, so I left it out. It's close to [Feature] Show actual agent progress in iOS Live Activities and Android Live Updates #14114, which asks for real agent progress in Live Activities.
• Is › alone clear enough for "starting", or should starting reuse ›_ in a dimmer tint?

An implementation is ready for review if maintainers agree with the direction: #28233.

[ndycode]

Follow-ups built on the same design, each stacked on #28233 with simulator captures in the PR:

• feat(mobile): see agent status from home screen and Lock Screen widgets #28321: home screen and Lock Screen widgets with the same marks and "needs you first" order. Each thread row opens its thread, and old snapshots switch to "Out of date".
• feat(mobile): see an all-done summary when every agent finishes #28380: an "All done" summary when every agent finishes, with failures leading.
• feat(mobile): read agent status on Apple Watch, CarPlay and StandBy #28394: the small card for Apple Watch and CarPlay, plus a StandBy layout. These are browser renders only; the watch simulator never received the activity.

These are proposals pending your call on the direction here. Happy to drop or trim any of them.