feat(desktop): let the agent drive the shell — preview pane + pane focus - #69519
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Add a desktop-gated open_preview tool so 'open cnn.com in the preview pane' works. The tool (check_fn on HERMES_DESKTOP, zero footprint elsewhere) emits a preview.open event through a gateway-injected emitter, mirroring the close_terminal -> terminal.close bridge. The desktop handles it in usePreviewRouting, normalizing the target and opening the pane for the active session only -- a background turn never hijacks it. Bare domains and localhost are coaxed into fetchable URLs (www.cnn.com -> https://, localhost:3000 -> http://); file paths and schemes pass through to the renderer's normalizer.
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Extract the open_preview emitter into a shared tools/desktop_ui bridge (one gateway-injected sink, routed by HERMES_UI_SESSION_ID) and add a second desktop-gated tool on top of it: - focus_pane(chat|files|terminal|review|sessions) -> pane.reveal event. The desktop runs each pane's own reveal path (revealDesktopPane table) and only acts on the active window -- a background turn never moves the user's focus (desktop AGENTS.md: offer, don't hijack). open_preview now emits through the same bridge. Both tools are check_fn on HERMES_DESKTOP (zero footprint elsewhere), sitting beside read_terminal/close_terminal in _HERMES_CORE_TOOLS. Deliberately not adding run_slash: letting the agent fire slash commands mid-turn (/model, /new, /clear) fights prompt-cache + conversation invariants.
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July 22, 2026 17:18
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…eview-open feat(desktop): let the agent drive the shell — preview pane + pane focus
33hodl
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…eview-open feat(desktop): let the agent drive the shell — preview pane + pane focus
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Why
On Hermes Desktop the agent could generate UI (TUI widgets, desktop plugins, HTML → preview webview) but couldn't drive the shell around it. The Preview pane only opened when the user clicked; the agent had no way to reveal panes on request. So "open cnn.com in the preview pane" or "show me the terminal" did nothing.
What
Two desktop-gated tools on a shared event bridge — same idiom as
read_terminal/close_terminal.tools/desktop_ui.py— one gateway-injected emitter both tools share. Routes byHERMES_UI_SESSION_IDso events land on the window that owns the turn.Noneoff-desktop → tools report "desktop only".open_preview(url[, label])→preview.open. Opens a URL / localhost / file in the preview pane. Bare domains + loopback are coaxed into fetchable URLs (www.cnn.com→https://…,localhost:3000→http://…); paths/schemes pass through to the renderer's normalizer. Handled inusePreviewRouting.focus_pane(chat|files|terminal|review|sessions)→pane.reveal. The desktop runs each pane's own reveal path (revealDesktopPanetable) — some are toggle-bound, so a revealed pane matches a user-driven open. Handled ingateway-event.ts.Both are
check_fnonHERMES_DESKTOP(zero model-tool footprint on CLI/messaging), listed in_HERMES_CORE_TOOLSbeside the other GUI affordances.Offer, don't hijack
Both open only for the active session — a background turn never moves the user's focus or pops a pane (desktop AGENTS.md). Legit here because it's an explicit user request the agent is fulfilling, not a background side effect.
Footprint / deliberate omissions
Highest rung on the ladder: service-gated tools, not always-on core tools, and one shared bridge rather than a per-tool sink.
Not adding
run_slash(agent firing slash commands):/model,/new,/clearmid-turn fight prompt-cache + conversation invariants.open_fileis subsumed byopen_preview(it takes a path).Tests
test_desktop_ui.py(routing/availability),test_open_preview_tool.py,test_focus_pane_tool.py— gating, validation, normalization, emit payloads, failure reporting.pane-focus.test.ts(each pane → its reveal path; unknown → no-op),use-preview-routing.test.tsx(active opens; background ignored).Python + vitest green; desktop
typecheck+ eslint clean; core-tool-list regression suites unchanged.