feat(web): workflow threads show their run like a chat turn

[t3dotgg]

Opening a workflow's thread showed the raw JS script as a chat message. You could not see which phase was running, which agents had failed, or what each agent did. We already get all of this from the provider but did not show it.

Before	After

Now the workflow thread shows the run, and it reads like a chat turn. It uses parts the timeline already has:

• A "Ran workflow script" row. Open it to read the script.
• One block per phase, built like the "N subagents" group in chat: stacked avatars, the phase name, a status line such as "3 running · 3 done · 1 failed", and elapsed time. The running phase opens itself.
• Agent rows built like the timeline's subagent rows. Each shows a status dot, its result or error (or "Working"), tokens, and time. Click a row to open that agent's chat.
• The coordinator's answer as markdown, then a "Working for" or "Worked for" line with Stop.

The workflow snapshot lives on the coordinator's subagent record in the parent thread, so the view reads the parent thread. It does this only for provider-native subagent threads. While the parent loads, the view shows "Loading…", so the script chat does not flash first. If the parent fails to load, the normal chat shows.

A phase open after the run	Script open

Done	390px wide

The "before" shot is the live skate-build run as it looked on main. The "after" shots use the real skate-build workflow snapshot, copied into an isolated dev database. The server marks a copied run as finished when it starts, so for the "Running" shot I set the status to running in local code for one capture, then reverted it.

Not in this PR: a timeline view, the parent chat card, the lineage panel, and the mobile app (#18642 covers mobile workflow cards).

Reviewed with sol-loop: 6 rounds with GPT-6.1-Sol on high (3 on the first table design, 3 on this one). Sol verdict: approved

🤖 Generated with Claude Code using Claude Opus 5.5.

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Needs Human Approval

Macroscope's review found this PR not approvable — This PR introduces a substantial workflow-run UI with new phase and agent rendering, parent-thread loading, navigation, markdown output, and a Stop interaction, replacing the existing workflow-thread presentation. Its user-facing scope and runtime behavior change warrant human review.

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[github-actions]

Thread transfer impact

✅ Thread transfer remains within every enforced ceiling.

Provider	Metric	Main baseline	This PR	Impact	PR ceiling
Codex	Total thread wire	5.0 KiB	5.0 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	6.8 KiB	✅
Codex	Thread snapshot wire	3.8 KiB	3.8 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	4.9 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket wire	1.2 KiB	1.2 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	2.0 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket decoded	20.9 KiB	20.9 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	29.3 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn messages	2	2	0 (0.0%)	8	✅
Claude	Total thread wire	5.0 KiB	5.0 KiB	−24 B (−0.5%)	6.8 KiB	✅
Claude	Thread snapshot wire	3.8 KiB	3.8 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	4.9 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket wire	1.2 KiB	1.2 KiB	−24 B (−2.0%)	2.0 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket decoded	21.2 KiB	21.2 KiB	−41 B (−0.2%)	29.3 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn messages	2	1	−1 (−50.0%)	8	✅

Baseline: 00cdceb · PR result: ae1764c · Source CI: success

Scenario and decoded snapshot size

10 historical turns, 5 command tools per turn, 878.9 KiB retained MCP result per historical turn, and a 1.05 MiB retained result in the measured turn.

• Codex decoded thread snapshot: 108.5 KiB
• Claude decoded thread snapshot: 108.8 KiB

Updated in place by a trusted workflow. PR artifacts are strictly validated and never executed.

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📒 Files selected for processing: 1

• apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.tsx

🚧 Files skipped from review as they are similar to previous changes: 1

• apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.tsx

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📝 Walkthrough

The chat view now displays coordinator workflows with phase and agent details, workflow totals, results, and a conditional stop action. When no coordinator workflow applies, it renders the existing timeline.

Changes: Workflow run interface

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Workflow phases and summaries apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.logic.ts, apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.logic.test.ts, apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadLineageWorkflowRow.tsx	Helpers group unphased agents under “Other,” calculate counts and phase status, and create answer previews. Tests cover phase summaries, settled counts, cancellation, unphased agents, and answer previews. phaseElapsed is now exported without a behavior change.
Workflow run display apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.tsx	The run view displays phases, agent status and details, results, elapsed time, counts, and available token usage. Agent rows open child threads when available.
Chat integration and timeline layout apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.tsx, apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx, apps/web/src/index.css	ChatView wraps the timeline with WorkflowRunSurface. The surface looks up workflow data from the parent thread, provides a conditional stop action, and renders the timeline when no coordinator workflow applies. CSS applies the existing padding rules to the workflow lane.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant ChatView
  participant WorkflowRunSurface
  participant ParentThreadProjection
  participant WorkflowRunView
  ChatView->>WorkflowRunSurface: Pass thread and environment context with timeline
  WorkflowRunSurface->>ParentThreadProjection: Look up coordinator workflow data
  ParentThreadProjection-->>WorkflowRunSurface: Return projected workflow data
  WorkflowRunSurface->>WorkflowRunView: Render workflow run

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Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to ae176

Workflow threads now show the run view instead of the raw script chat. The supplied evidence shows no concrete merge-blocking risk.

Pre-merge checks: 3 · 1

Failed checks: 1 warning

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Description check		The description clearly explains the problem, implementation, scope exclusions, UI behavior, and includes before-and-after screenshots. However, it does not provide the required section structure, exp…	Add the required Problem, Change, Scope and approval, and Verification sections. Link the triaged issue or explicit maintainer approval, or explain why the change qualifies for an exemption. List focused tests or manual checks, their observ…

Passed checks: 3 passed

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the primary change: workflow threads now display their run as a chat turn. It also follows the repository's conventional commit format.

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Explanation

The description clearly explains the problem, implementation, scope exclusions, UI behavior, and includes before-and-after screenshots. However, it does not provide the required section structure, explicit triaged issue or maintainer approval, or focused test and manual verification results.

Resolution

Add the required Problem, Change, Scope and approval, and Verification sections. Link the triaged issue or explicit maintainer approval, or explain why the change qualifies for an exemption. List focused tests or manual checks, their observed results, and anything not checked.

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

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• 🪄 Fix comments: Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

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Inline comments:
Review comments at @apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.tsx:
- Around line 358-370: Update the unresolved-parent handling in
WorkflowRunSurface so it does not return null indefinitely while the parent
state atom has no data; release the slot or show a loading/error state with
retry behavior until the parent resolves.

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between c02ca6d and b9f8903.

📒 Files selected for processing: 5

• apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadLineageWorkflowRow.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.logic.test.ts
• apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.logic.ts
• apps/web/src/components/chat/WorkflowRunView.tsx

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[juliusmarminge]

Note

Grok responding on behalf of Julius.

Closing as superseded by #20857, which just landed on main: a workflow coordinator thread now opens with its phases and agents (status, answers, elapsed time, links to each agent thread) instead of the raw script, with the script folded behind "Show full script", on both web and mobile. This branch also conflicts with main now. If any piece here is still missing, like the per-phase status line or the coordinator answer with Stop, a small follow-up PR on top of #20857 would be the way to go.