🤖 Add splash screen for instant startup feedback

Makefile

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 include fmt.mk
 
 .PHONY: all build dev start clean help
-.PHONY: build-renderer version build-icons
+.PHONY: build-renderer version build-icons build-static
 .PHONY: lint lint-fix typecheck static-check
 .PHONY: test test-unit test-integration test-watch test-coverage test-e2e
 .PHONY: dist dist-mac dist-win dist-linux
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ start: node_modules/.installed build-main build-preload ## Build and start Elect
 	@bun x electron --remote-debugging-port=9222 .
 
 ## Build targets (can run in parallel)
-build: node_modules/.installed src/version.ts build-renderer build-main build-preload build-icons ## Build all targets
+build: node_modules/.installed src/version.ts build-renderer build-main build-preload build-icons build-static ## Build all targets
 
 build-main: node_modules/.installed dist/main.js ## Build main process
 
@@ -86,6 +86,10 @@ build-renderer: node_modules/.installed src/version.ts ## Build renderer process
 	@echo "Building renderer..."
 	@bun x vite build
 
+build-static: ## Copy static assets to dist
+	@echo "Copying static assets..."
+	@cp static/splash.html dist/splash.html
+
 # Always regenerate version file (marked as .PHONY above)
 version: ## Generate version file
 	@./scripts/generate-version.sh

src/main.ts

@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ if (!gotTheLock) {
 }
 
 let mainWindow: BrowserWindow | null = null;
+let splashWindow: BrowserWindow | null = null;
 
 function createMenu() {
   const template: MenuItemConstructorOptions[] = [
@@ -182,6 +183,44 @@ function createMenu() {
   Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Create and show splash screen - instant visual feedback (<100ms)
+ *
+ * Shows a lightweight native window with static HTML while services load.
+ * No IPC, no React, no heavy dependencies - just immediate user feedback.
+ */
+function showSplashScreen() {
+  splashWindow = new BrowserWindow({
+    width: 400,
+    height: 300,
+    frame: false,
+    transparent: true,
+    alwaysOnTop: true,
+    center: true,
+    resizable: false,
+    webPreferences: {
+      nodeIntegration: false,
+      contextIsolation: true,
+    },
+  });
+
+  void splashWindow.loadFile(path.join(__dirname, "splash.html"));
+
+  splashWindow.on("closed", () => {
+    splashWindow = null;
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Close splash screen
+ */
+function closeSplashScreen() {
+  if (splashWindow) {
+    splashWindow.close();
+    splashWindow = null;
+  }
+}
+
 async function createWindow() {
   // Lazy-load Config and IpcMain only when window is created
   // This defers loading heavy AI SDK dependencies until actually needed
@@ -218,11 +257,17 @@ async function createWindow() {
     // Hide menu bar on Linux by default (like VS Code)
     // User can press Alt to toggle it
     autoHideMenuBar: process.platform === "linux",
+    show: false, // Don't show until ready-to-show event
   });
 
   // Register IPC handlers with the main window
   ipcMain.register(electronIpcMain, mainWindow);
 
+  // Show window once it's ready to avoid white flash
+  mainWindow.once("ready-to-show", () => {
+    mainWindow?.show();
+  });
+
   // Open all external links in default browser
   mainWindow.webContents.setWindowOpenHandler(({ url }) => {
     void shell.openExternal(url);
@@ -278,7 +323,12 @@ if (gotTheLock) {
     }
 
     createMenu();
+
+    // Show splash screen immediately, then load services, then show main window
+    // This gives instant visual feedback (<100ms) while services load (~6-13s)
+    showSplashScreen();
     await createWindow();
+    closeSplashScreen();
 
     // Start loading tokenizer modules in background after window is created
     // This ensures accurate token counts for first API calls (especially in e2e tests)
@@ -301,7 +351,10 @@ if (gotTheLock) {
     // Only create window if app is ready and no window exists
     // This prevents "Cannot create BrowserWindow before app is ready" error
     if (app.isReady() && mainWindow === null) {
-      void createWindow();
+      showSplashScreen();
+      void createWindow().then(() => {
+        closeSplashScreen();
+      });
     }
   });
 }

static/splash.html

@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<head>
+  <meta charset="UTF-8">
+  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+  <title>cmux - Loading</title>
+  <style>
+    * {
+      margin: 0;
+      padding: 0;
+      box-sizing: border-box;
+    }
+
+    body {
+      width: 400px;
+      height: 300px;
+      /* Match --color-background (hsl(0 0% 12%)) */
+      background: hsl(0 0% 12%);
+      display: flex;
+      flex-direction: column;
+      align-items: center;
+      justify-content: center;
+      font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, sans-serif;
+      /* Match --color-text (hsl(0 0% 83%)) */
+      color: hsl(0 0% 83%);
+      overflow: hidden;
+      border-radius: 12px;
+      box-shadow: 0 8px 32px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
+    }
+
+    .logo {
+      font-size: 48px;
+      font-weight: 700;
+      letter-spacing: -2px;
+      margin-bottom: 24px;
+      /* Gradient from plan mode blue (hsl(210 70% 40%)) to exec mode purple (hsl(268.56deg 94.04% 55.19%)) */
+      background: linear-gradient(135deg, hsl(210 70% 45%) 0%, hsl(268.56deg 94.04% 55.19%) 100%);
+      -webkit-background-clip: text;
+      -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent;
+      background-clip: text;
+    }
+
+    .loading-text {
+      font-size: 16px;
+      /* Match --color-text-secondary (hsl(0 0% 42%)) */
+      color: hsl(0 0% 42%);
+      margin-bottom: 16px;
+    }
+
+    .spinner {
+      width: 40px;
+      height: 40px;
+      /* Match --color-border (hsl(240 2% 25%)) */
+      border: 3px solid hsl(240 2% 25%);
+      /* Match --color-plan-mode (hsl(210 70% 40%)) */
+      border-top-color: hsl(210 70% 40%);
+      border-radius: 50%;
+      animation: spin 0.8s linear infinite;
+    }
+
+    @keyframes spin {
+      to { transform: rotate(360deg); }
+    }
+
+    .version {
+      position: absolute;
+      bottom: 20px;
+      font-size: 11px;
+      /* Match --color-text-secondary (hsl(0 0% 42%)) */
+      color: hsl(0 0% 42%);
+    }
+  </style>
+</head>
+<body>
+  <div class="logo">cmux</div>
+  <div class="loading-text">Loading services...</div>
+  <div class="spinner"></div>
+  <div class="version">coder multiplexer</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+