feat: add status indication to macOS menu bar icon

clients/macos/vellum-assistant/App/AppDelegate+MenuBar.swift

@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ extension AppDelegate {
             button.action = #selector(statusBarButtonClicked(_:))
             button.target = self
         }
+
+        // Start observing daemon connection state immediately so the icon
+        // reflects disconnected/connected before the main window opens.
+        connectionStatusCancellable = daemonClient.$isConnected
+            .receive(on: RunLoop.main)
+            .sink { [weak self] _ in
+                self?.updateMenuBarIcon()
+            }
     }
 
     func setupFileMenu() {
@@ -80,6 +88,7 @@ extension AppDelegate {
 
         let status = currentAssistantStatus
         let dotColor = status.statusColor
+        let dotAlpha = status.shouldPulse ? pulsePhase : 1.0
 
         let composited = NSImage(size: NSSize(width: iconSize, height: iconSize))
         composited.lockFocus()
@@ -94,14 +103,38 @@ extension AppDelegate {
         let dotRect = NSRect(x: dotX, y: dotY, width: dotSize, height: dotSize)
         NSColor.black.withAlphaComponent(0.5).setFill()
         NSBezierPath(ovalIn: dotRect.insetBy(dx: -0.5, dy: -0.5)).fill()
-        dotColor.setFill()
+        dotColor.withAlphaComponent(dotAlpha).setFill()
         NSBezierPath(ovalIn: dotRect).fill()
         composited.unlockFocus()
         composited.isTemplate = false
         button.image = composited
+
+        managePulseTimer(for: status)
+    }
+
+    /// Starts or stops the pulse timer based on the current status.
+    private func managePulseTimer(for status: AssistantStatus) {
+        if status.shouldPulse {
+            guard pulseTimer == nil else { return }
+            pulsePhase = 1.0
+            pulseTimer = Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 0.05, repeats: true) { [weak self] _ in
+                Task { @MainActor in
+                    guard let self, self.statusItem != nil, let button = self.statusItem.button else { return }
+                    // Triangle wave between 0.3 and 1.0 over ~1.4s (28 frames at 50ms)
+                    self.pulsePhase -= 0.05
+                    if self.pulsePhase <= 0.3 { self.pulsePhase = 1.0 }
+                    self.configureMenuBarIcon(button)
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            pulseTimer?.invalidate()
+            pulseTimer = nil
+            pulsePhase = 1.0
+        }
     }
 
     var currentAssistantStatus: AssistantStatus {
+        if !daemonClient.isConnected { return .disconnected }
         guard let viewModel = mainWindow?.threadManager.activeViewModel else { return .idle }
         if let error = viewModel.errorText { return .error(error) }
         if viewModel.isThinking { return .thinking }

clients/macos/vellum-assistant/App/AppDelegate.swift

@@ -12,12 +12,14 @@ enum AssistantStatus {
     case idle
     case thinking
     case error(String)
+    case disconnected
 
     var menuTitle: String {
         switch self {
         case .idle: return "Assistant is idle"
         case .thinking: return "Assistant is thinking..."
         case .error(let msg): return "Error: \(msg)"
+        case .disconnected: return "Disconnected from daemon"
         }
     }
 
@@ -26,6 +28,7 @@ enum AssistantStatus {
         case .idle: return .systemGray
         case .thinking: return .systemGreen
         case .error: return .systemRed
+        case .disconnected: return .systemOrange
         }
     }
 
@@ -38,6 +41,12 @@ enum AssistantStatus {
         image.unlockFocus()
         return image
     }
+
+    /// Whether the dot should pulse (animate opacity)
+    var shouldPulse: Bool {
+        if case .thinking = self { return true }
+        return false
+    }
 }
 
 enum InteractionType {
@@ -103,6 +112,9 @@ public final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
     private var quickChatShortcutObserver: AnyCancellable?
     private weak var recordingViewModel: ChatViewModel?
     private var statusIconCancellable: AnyCancellable?
+    private var connectionStatusCancellable: AnyCancellable?
+    private var pulseTimer: Timer?
+    private var pulsePhase: CGFloat = 1.0
     var cachedSkills: [SkillInfo] = []
     var refreshSkillsTask: Task<Void, Never>?
     var cachedApps: [AppItem] = []
@@ -377,6 +389,10 @@ public final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
             }
             statusIconCancellable?.cancel()
             statusIconCancellable = nil
+            connectionStatusCancellable?.cancel()
+            connectionStatusCancellable = nil
+            pulseTimer?.invalidate()
+            pulseTimer = nil
 
             if let item = statusItem {
                 NSStatusBar.system.removeStatusItem(item)
@@ -490,6 +506,10 @@ public final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
         }
         statusIconCancellable?.cancel()
         statusIconCancellable = nil
+        connectionStatusCancellable?.cancel()
+        connectionStatusCancellable = nil
+        pulseTimer?.invalidate()
+        pulseTimer = nil
 
         if let item = statusItem {
             NSStatusBar.system.removeStatusItem(item)
@@ -1564,6 +1584,9 @@ public final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
             NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(observer)
         }
         statusIconCancellable?.cancel()
+        connectionStatusCancellable?.cancel()
+        pulseTimer?.invalidate()
+        pulseTimer = nil
         voiceInput?.stop()
         ambientAgent.teardown()
         surfaceManager.dismissAll()