UI refactor needed

[mo-vic]

Output is hard to copy, and the confirmation pop-up hides the main interface while showing mostly useless information.

[github-actions]

Thanks @mo-vic for the report.

This repository is currently observing a maintainer-managed contribution gate in dry-run mode, so this issue is staying open. When enforcement is enabled, issues from contributors who are not listed in .github/APPROVED_CONTRIBUTORS will be closed automatically.

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for the expected issue shape. A maintainer can grant issue access by commenting /lgtmi on an issue.

[aboimpinto]

Output is hard to copy, and the confirmation pop-up hides the main interface while showing mostly useless information.

Hello,
Can you explain in detail what you are experiencing and what you expect the CodeWhale to do

thanks
Paulo Aboim Pinto

[mo-vic]

1. Output is hard to copy
   Many times I want to copy the LLM-generated content, but the selection in the TUI also includes the UI components of the right-side Tasks panel

Proposed Solution: Provide a toggle to disable the Tasks side panel, or offer a slash command like /copy or /transcript to enter a full-screen mode that shows only the chat history, without displaying the Tasks side panel. The first option seems better because the user doesn't need to type anything.

2. The confirmation pop-up hides the main interface while showing mostly useless information.

Take write_file as an example:

I actually want to review the content to be written, but it's collapsed into something like Params: {"content":"import random\n\n\ndef quicksort(arr, low=0, high=None):\n \"\"\.... While pressing v does show the full parameters, as a human user—not an LLM—I don't want to read unformatted JSON content.

Proposed Solution: Display only the useful information, for example a diff of the changes. Show the diff directly for small chunks; for larger ones, use v to view the full content. Alternatively, remove this pop-up entirely and show the information directly in the agent output panel.

[aboimpinto]

Thanks for the details, and from your first message, I would not imagine this is what you meant.

I will do what I can.
Paulo Aboim Pinto

[aboimpinto]

Opened draft PR #2788 for the sidebar/copy-friction part of this issue:

#2788

What we found while testing:

• CodeWhale already has keyboard support for toggling/hiding the right sidebar.
• The shortcut can be terminal/layout dependent. In my Windows PowerShell setup, Ctrl+Alt+0 was interpreted as } instead of toggling the sidebar, while Ctrl+Shift+Alt+0 worked.
• The PR adds a proper /sidebar slash command so users have a stable, discoverable way to toggle the sidebar without depending on terminal key translation.
• The command reports Sidebar is hidden / Sidebar is visible through the normal chat note path and avoids duplicating the message in the footer/statusline.

This is intentionally scoped as the first Quality-of-Life PR for #2766. The approval popup / JSON presentation problem should remain a separate PR.

Paulo Aboim Pinto

[mo-vic]

Thanks for the quick follow-up and for opening #2788 so fast, really appreciate it.

[aboimpinto]

Following up on the second part of this issue, the confirmation pop-up hides the main interface.

I would like to involve @Hmbown here in these decisions.

I looked into the code to understand what's there today. A few observations:

What exists already
The approval modal has a collapsed mode (press Tab) that reduces the full-screen takeover to a single-line banner at the bottom, keeping the transcript visible. The keyboard shortcuts (y/a/n/Esc) work the same in either state. So the infrastructure for a lighter touch is already in place — it's just not the default.

Possible directions

1. Default to collapsed — one field flip in ApprovalView::new_for_locale. Tab still toggles to the full card for anyone who wants it.

2. Config option — something like [ui] approval_style = "takeover" | "banner" | "toast" so users pick their preferred interaction model.

3. Inline footer bar — render the approval decision as part of the footer layout instead of a modal overlay. The transcript stays fully visible; decisions are made via the same keyboard shortcuts.

4. Remove the modal entirely for YOLO mode — YOLO already auto-approves everything, so the popup shouldn't appear at all. If the concern is about non-YOLO modes, a quick-key passthrough (toast + keyboard shortcuts, no view-stack push) would keep the interface unobstructed.

My perspective
I personally find these confirmation pop-ups in TUI apps disruptive — they break the reading flow and force a context switch on every tool. I'd lean toward making the collapsed/banner mode the default, with a config escape hatch for users who want the full card.

What approach would you prefer? Happy to discuss and open a PR once we settle on a direction.

Paulo Aboim Pinto

[Hmbown]

Status update: the sidebar/copy-friction slice landed via #2796 and is included in green #2762 at 15c506b77. /sidebar can now toggle/show/hide the sidebar with optional persistence.

Thanks @mo-vic for the report and @aboimpinto for the implementation. Leaving this issue open for the remaining approval-modal and diff-display copy concerns.