fix(claude): launch Claude prompts behind -- so Orca still recognizes the pane by luisgonzaleznf · Pull Request #36439 · stablyai/orca

luisgonzaleznf · 2026-10-30T20:48:46Z

ELI5

When Orca starts Claude with a task, it puts the task text on Claude's command line. Later, Orca reads that command line back to check "is this pane Claude?". If the task text happened to contain -p (as in mkdir -p), Orca mistook the pane for a one-off claude -p job and stopped treating it as an agent. Messages sent to the pane then went in as raw keystrokes, and long ones got cut off. Now Orca puts -- before the task text. That tells both Claude and Orca's check that everything after it is the prompt.

What Changed

The fix: in src/shared/agent-launch/catalog/tui-agent-config.ts, Claude now sets argvPromptSeparator: '--'. Its prompt launch becomes claude [flags] -- '<prompt>' instead of claude [flags] '<prompt>'.
Before: the process table shows argv without quotes. A launch prompt containing mkdir -p … or pytest -q -p … made isPrintModeHeadlessOneShotCommand classify the interactive Claude as headless, and the pane was never recognized again. terminal send then fell back to unframed keystrokes, which Claude on macOS can truncate at 1,022 bytes.
After: the print-mode check stops at --, so the prompt's words are never read as flags.
One separator, not two: an override like claude-wrapper -- keeps its -- instead of getting a second. A -- that is an option's value or a wrapper's (env -- claude) doesn't count. This also applies to Trae, Prime Agent, Grok and Devin.
Tests:
- the launch-command expectations now include --;
- one regression test builds Claude's startup plan with a mkdir -p prompt, turns it into the unquoted process-table form, and checks that it is still recognized as Claude;
- one table pins the three separator-reuse cases above.

Why

The failure: #36438. Across six weeks of local transcripts, three of four production panes that received unframed sends had launch prompts containing -p. Panes launched without -p were framed every time.

Why this approach:

It reuses an existing pattern: argvPromptSeparator: '--' is how Trae, Prime Agent, Grok and Devin already keep prompt text from being read as CLI syntax, and the print-mode check already honours --.
The alternatives are worse:
- Making the matcher stop at the first non-flag token would need a table of which Claude options take values, and it would miss real claude --model x -p runs.
- Keeping argv boundaries in the process table would be a cross-platform change to every process reader.

Linked Issue

Fixes #36438

Refs #10416, #36431

Visual Proof

N/A: this changes how the agent is launched; there is no UI change.

Testing

Affected tests: every test file that embeds a Claude launch command or feeds one through a fixture: 12 files, 442 passed.
The tests catch the bug: each added case fails without the config line or without the reuse check.
Lint and types: pnpm typecheck, pnpm check:code-quality:changed, oxlint and oxfmt are clean.
Platforms: macOS only. The separator goes through the same startup builder the other four agents already use on every shell.
I manually tested these changes locally
Automated tests added/updated, or explained why not below
Every added test fails without this change and avoids the test anti-patterns

Risk

Level: Low

Claude accepts --: claude -p --model haiku -- "Reply OK … mkdir -p …" answered normally.
Only new launches change. Resume launches carry no prompt and are unchanged. Panes that are already running stay affected until they are relaunched.
Back out: a plain revert.

AI Disclosure

Investigated and written with Claude Code (Claude Opus 5.5).

Review

Agent skill upstream boundary

Not applicable, or this change copies or mechanically translates no upstream skill-installer source, tests, fixtures, registry entries, path tables, comments, or documentation.

Notes

Cross-platform: the launch string gains -- before the quoted prompt, built by the same code as Trae, Prime Agent, Grok and Devin on POSIX shells, PowerShell, cmd and WSL.
Remote SSH: remote launches use the same builder.
Mobile: not affected.

Checklist

This PR is small and focused
I explained what changed and why (ELI5, the user-facing before/after, the mechanism, and why over the alternatives)
I stated the risk: what could break, for whom, and how to back it out
Before/after screenshots or videos attached for UI changes, or N/A with reason
Self-reviewed for correctness, security, and performance
Cross-platform, SSH/remote, and path/shortcut impact considered (or N/A)
pnpm lint, pnpm typecheck, pnpm test, and pnpm build pass (or CI will cover; local preferred). Focused tests and lint ran on the changed files; CI covers the rest.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

… the pane Claude launch prompts go in argv, and the process table shows argv without quotes. Orca re-splits that line to recognize the agent, so a prompt containing `mkdir -p` or `pytest -p ...` looked like headless `claude -p` and the pane stopped being recognized for the life of the process. terminal send then fell back to unframed keystrokes and Claude on macOS dropped the start of long prompts. Use the argvPromptSeparator that Trae, Prime Agent, Grok and Devin already use; the print-mode check stops at `--`. Collapse Gemini's two-property entry to one line to stay under the file's line cap. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

coderabbitai · 2026-10-30T20:57:14Z

Walkthrough

Claude’s TUI configuration now sets -- as the prompt separator. The startup planner checks whether tokenized launch arguments already end option parsing before adding that separator. New tests cover prompts containing -p, existing terminators, and a -- consumed as an option value. Updated launch expectations include the separator before Claude prompts across platform, workspace, renderer, runtime, and prepared-action cases.

Severity of issue fixed: Medium

Merge Risk: Low · up to db653

Some TRAE wrapper overrides can interpret a prompt as a command. This is limited to affected overrides and has a workaround.

Pre-merge checks: 4 · 1

Failed checks: 1 warning

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 75.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documenta…	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

Passed checks: 4 passed

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: launching Claude prompts after `--` so Orca recognizes the pane.
Linked Issues check		The active directly linked issue [`#36438`] requires Claude panes to remain recognizable when prompt text contains `-p`. `tui-agent-config.ts` sets `argvPromptSeparator: '--'`, and startup-plan logic pl…
Out of Scope Changes check		The changes remain within [`#36438`]. Startup-plan handling prevents duplicate separators and distinguishes a required option value from an option terminator. Updated command expectations and recognitio…
Description check		The description follows the template and explains the change, linked issue, testing, platform coverage, and rollback. It gives a reason for omitting visual proof.

Full details: Linked Issues check

Explanation

The active directly linked issue [#36438] requires Claude panes to remain recognizable when prompt text contains -p. tui-agent-config.ts sets argvPromptSeparator: '--', and startup-plan logic places prompt text after the separator. The new regression test uses mkdir -p and verifies Claude recognition from the process-table form. Updated launch expectations and focused tests cover the changed behavior. The issue exclusions for --prefill drafts and already-running panes do not require additional work in this change.

Full details: Out of Scope Changes check

Explanation

The changes remain within [#36438]. Startup-plan handling prevents duplicate separators and distinguishes a required option value from an option terminator. Updated command expectations and recognition tests support the fix. The Gemini formatting change preserves behavior and supports the stated line-limit requirement. No unrelated behavior change is demonstrated.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 75.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documentation-only edits and deletions within surviving functions are included; unchanged diff context and fully deleted functions are excluded. Analyzed 4 functions across 13 files.

Resolution

Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

Autofix · Keep fixing CodeRabbit findings and required CI, and resolving merge conflicts

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coderabbitai

Actionable comments posted: 1

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 6a9b1d7 and 2ba40be.

Files selected for processing: 5

src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/folder-workspace-composer-submit-host-platform.test.ts
src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/folder-workspace-composer-submit.test.ts
src/renderer/src/lib/tui-agent-startup.test.ts
src/shared/startup-line-prompt-carry.test.ts
src/shared/tui-agent-config.ts

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…eparator A command override or agent args that already end in `--` made the argv prompt launch `claude ... -- -- '<prompt>'`, where the second `--` is a positional argument. Tokenize the built command with the shell-aware tokenizer and append the separator only when it is not already last. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

coderabbitai

Actionable comments posted: 1

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src/renderer/src/lib/tui-agent-startup.test.ts
src/shared/tui-agent-startup-shell.ts
src/shared/tui-agent-startup.ts

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src/renderer/src/lib/tui-agent-startup.test.ts

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Checking just the last token let a required option's `--` value, such as `--system-prompt '--'`, stand in for the separator. Reuse agentArgTerminatorIndex, which skips required option values, and append `--` only when the launch command has no real terminator. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

…-argv-prompt-separator # Conflicts: # src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/folder-workspace-composer-submit-host-platform.test.ts # src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/folder-workspace-composer-submit.test.ts # src/renderer/src/lib/tui-agent-startup.test.ts # src/shared/agent-launch/startup/tui-agent-startup.ts # src/shared/startup-line-prompt-carry.test.ts

…rity expectations Main grew launch-command expectations while this branch sat: the parity row tables, the source-control action dialog and the prepared-action fixtures all pin a built `claude …` string, and every one that carries a prompt on argv now reads `-- '<prompt>'`. Only the argv carriers move. The `--prefill` rows beside them deliver the prompt as a draft flag, never as a positional, so they keep their old shape. `resources/plugins/declarative/orca-testing.mjs` is regenerated because the declarative plugin runtime bundles `tui-agent-config.ts`, so the checked-in artifact carries the new `argvPromptSeparator` line (config/scripts/build-plugin-declarative-runtime.test.mjs pins the two in sync). The two new cases live in claude-argv-prompt-separator.spec.ts: main turned the old renderer test into a barrel of per-concern specs, so they follow that shape. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

…-argv-prompt-separator

The prompt-route rule it now enforces lives in its body, not its signature: an argv agent with an argvPromptSeparator gets the terminator unless the resolved command already ends option parsing. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

The spec file is part of the diff, so its helper counts toward the same docstring scope as the production functions. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

luisgonzaleznf · 2026-11-04T22:16:36Z

@coderabbitai review

The last review here is from 39864557f6a, five days and four pushes ago, so the pre-merge panel is reporting a head that no longer exists. Since then this branch has been merged up to current main twice (the shared src/shared tree moved under agent-launch/), and the docstring gap it flagged is closed — buildAgentStartupPlan and the spec helper both carry docstrings now, at db653cf6115.

coderabbitai · 2026-11-04T22:16:41Z

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luisgonzaleznf · 2026-11-04T22:47:54Z

@coderabbitai full review

Incremental review was skipped above, but the panel is still reporting 39864557f6a — four pushes and two merges into current main behind the head, which is now db653cf6115. Asking for a full review so the checks describe the code that is actually there.

coderabbitai · 2026-11-04T22:48:00Z

Action performed

Full review finished.

coderabbitai

Actionable comments posted: 1

Prompt to fix all issues

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only still-valid issues, skip the rest with a brief reason, keep changes
minimal, and validate.

Failed pre-merge checks:
- Docstring Coverage:
Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage
threshold.

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`resources/plugins/declarative/orca-testing.mjs`

`src/main/ipc/pty/pty-launch-parity-caller.test-cases.ts`

`src/main/runtime/runtime-worktree-agent-startup.test.ts`

`src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/source-control/ai/SourceControlAgentActionDialog.picker.test.tsx`

`src/renderer/src/components/right-sidebar/source-control/ai/useSourceControlAgentActionDialog.test.tsx`

`src/renderer/src/components/settings/repository/source-control/RepositorySourceControlAiSection.test.ts`

`src/renderer/src/components/sidebar/workspace-creation/folder/folder-workspace-composer-submit-host-platform.test.ts`

`src/shared/agent-launch/catalog/tui-agent-config.ts`

`src/shared/agent-launch/startup/claude-argv-prompt-separator.spec.ts`

`src/shared/agent-launch/startup/tui-agent-startup.test.ts`

`src/shared/agent-launch/startup/tui-agent-startup.ts`

`src/shared/launch-parity-window-cases.test-fixture.ts`

`src/shared/launch-parity-workspace-start-cases.test-fixture.ts`

`tests/e2e/prepared-action-launch.test-fixture.ts`

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launchCommandEndsOptions treated any `--` in the resolved command as the agent own terminator. A wrapper override like `env -- claude` ends env options and then names the command, so the agent itself never had its options ended and the prompt still needs one. The guard suppressed it, and the prompt went back to riding argv unterminated -- a regression this PR introduced, since the builder appended unconditionally before the guard existed. Only a terminator in the last position now counts. Unsure means append, which matches the pre-guard behaviour, so no case is worse than main. Also documents independentActionEffortPlan, whose expectation this PR edits. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

…-argv-prompt-separator

… per behaviour The four docstrings this PR adds become one line each, as AGENTS.md asks; each stays a JSDoc so the docstring-coverage check still counts it. The spec keeps the recognition regression and pins the separator guard with one row per behaviour: a trailing `--` is reused, an option's `--` value is not a terminator, and a wrapper's `--` is not Claude's. The bare `claude -- '<prompt>'` assertion is already pinned by the updated launch expectations (runtime-worktree-agent-startup.test.ts and the launch-parity fixtures), and `env -- claude --verbose` took the same branch as `env -- claude`. No behaviour change. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Oct 30, 2026

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Comment thread src/shared/agent-launch/catalog/tui-agent-config.ts Resolved

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Oct 30, 2026

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Comment thread src/shared/tui-agent-startup-shell.ts Resolved

luisgonzaleznf and others added 6 commits October 30, 2026 18:29

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into luisgonzaleznf/claude…

1843030

…-argv-prompt-separator

docs(startup): document the spec helper that builds the launch command

db653cf

The spec file is part of the diff, so its helper counts toward the same docstring scope as the production functions. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

coderabbitai Bot reviewed Nov 4, 2026

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Comment thread src/shared/agent-launch/startup/tui-agent-startup.ts Resolved

luisgonzaleznf and others added 3 commits November 5, 2026 00:02

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into luisgonzaleznf/claude…

e17746c

…-argv-prompt-separator

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fix(claude): launch Claude prompts behind -- so Orca still recognizes the pane - #36439

fix(claude): launch Claude prompts behind -- so Orca still recognizes the pane#36439
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ELI5

What Changed

Why

Linked Issue

Visual Proof

Testing

Risk

AI Disclosure

Review

Agent skill upstream boundary

Notes

Checklist

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