ui: ascii avatar in bottom-left margin - #51
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A small 3-row × 5-col face lives in the bottom-left margin and
reflects what the agent is doing — thinking, speaking, reading,
writing, running bash, alerting, erroring, done. Sits inside the
chat band's centering indent so it never overlaps content.
## States and art
Idle: ,-, ,-,
(o o) (- -) ← blinks
\_/ \_/
Thinking: ? ?
(o ·) (· o) ← eyes shift
\_/ \_/
Speaking: ,-, ,-,
(o o) (o o)
\o/ \O/ ← mouth opens
Reading: ,-, ,-,
[@ @] [@ @] ← scan-eye brackets
\_/ \../
Writing: ,-, ,-,
(>_<) (-_-) ← concentration / focus
\_/ \_/
Bash: [___] [___]
[$_$] [$ $] ← prompt brackets
[___] [___]
Alert: !
(O_O)
/!\\
Error: ,-,
(x_x)
/v\\
Done: ,-,
(^_^)
\_/
## Implementation
`src/ui/avatar.rs` — `AvatarState` enum, `art(state, tick)` returns
3 lines × 5 cols of ASCII, `from_tool_name(name)` maps known tools
to read/write/bash families.
Renderer state: `avatar_state: AvatarState`, `avatar_tick: bool`.
`set_avatar_state(state)` updates from the UI loop; `avatar_tick`
flips in `draw_bottom` alongside the spinner_tick so the avatar
animates each redraw while the agent is running.
`draw_avatar(stdout, input_top)` paints at cols 0..5, rows
`input_top - 3 .. input_top`. Skipped when `content_indent < 6`
(narrow terminals where there's no margin for the avatar) or
when there's not enough vertical room above the input.
Called from `draw_bottom` after the panel paint so the avatar
sits below the chat scrollback and just above the prompt — it
stays put while content scrolls.
## State transitions
- `AgentEvent::Reasoning` -> Thinking
- `AgentEvent::Token` -> Speaking
- `AgentEvent::ToolCall { name }` -> from_tool_name(name)
- `AgentEvent::Done` -> Done
- `AgentEvent::Error` -> Error
- Permission-alert render path -> Alert
## Test plan
- [x] 2 new `ui::avatar::tests`:
- every state x tick produces uniform 5×3 dimensions (a
typo'd asymmetric face would visually wobble)
- tool-name mapping covers the common families
- [x] `cargo test --features plugin` -> 601 pass, 0 fail.
- [x] Both build profiles -> 0 warnings.
- [ ] Eyeball: avatar appears in bottom-left, animates while
the agent is thinking/streaming, switches faces per tool,
goes back to Idle/Done on completion.
allen-munsch
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Jun 3, 2026
A small 3-row × 5-col face lives in the bottom-left margin and
reflects what the agent is doing — thinking, speaking, reading,
writing, running bash, alerting, erroring, done. Sits inside the
chat band's centering indent so it never overlaps content.
## States and art
Idle: ,-, ,-,
(o o) (- -) ← blinks
\_/ \_/
Thinking: ? ?
(o ·) (· o) ← eyes shift
\_/ \_/
Speaking: ,-, ,-,
(o o) (o o)
\o/ \O/ ← mouth opens
Reading: ,-, ,-,
[@ @] [@ @] ← scan-eye brackets
\_/ \../
Writing: ,-, ,-,
(>_<) (-_-) ← concentration / focus
\_/ \_/
Bash: [___] [___]
[$_$] [$ $] ← prompt brackets
[___] [___]
Alert: !
(O_O)
/!\\
Error: ,-,
(x_x)
/v\\
Done: ,-,
(^_^)
\_/
## Implementation
`src/ui/avatar.rs` — `AvatarState` enum, `art(state, tick)` returns
3 lines × 5 cols of ASCII, `from_tool_name(name)` maps known tools
to read/write/bash families.
Renderer state: `avatar_state: AvatarState`, `avatar_tick: bool`.
`set_avatar_state(state)` updates from the UI loop; `avatar_tick`
flips in `draw_bottom` alongside the spinner_tick so the avatar
animates each redraw while the agent is running.
`draw_avatar(stdout, input_top)` paints at cols 0..5, rows
`input_top - 3 .. input_top`. Skipped when `content_indent < 6`
(narrow terminals where there's no margin for the avatar) or
when there's not enough vertical room above the input.
Called from `draw_bottom` after the panel paint so the avatar
sits below the chat scrollback and just above the prompt — it
stays put while content scrolls.
## State transitions
- `AgentEvent::Reasoning` -> Thinking
- `AgentEvent::Token` -> Speaking
- `AgentEvent::ToolCall { name }` -> from_tool_name(name)
- `AgentEvent::Done` -> Done
- `AgentEvent::Error` -> Error
- Permission-alert render path -> Alert
## Test plan
- [x] 2 new `ui::avatar::tests`:
- every state x tick produces uniform 5×3 dimensions (a
typo'd asymmetric face would visually wobble)
- tool-name mapping covers the common families
- [x] `cargo test --features plugin` -> 601 pass, 0 fail.
- [x] Both build profiles -> 0 warnings.
- [ ] Eyeball: avatar appears in bottom-left, animates while
the agent is thinking/streaming, switches faces per tool,
goes back to Idle/Done on completion.
Co-authored-by: Yogthos <yogthos@gmail.com>
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A 3-row × 5-col ASCII face in the bottom-left margin reflects agent state (Thinking, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Bash, Alert, Error, Done, Idle). Animates each redraw while the agent runs. 601 tests pass.