brain-of-reese/.agents/phases/todo/161_reasoning_bubble/01_live_container.md

Task 01 — The live reasoning container

Phase: 161_reasoning_bubble · Source: TODO.md:3 — "The reasoning process should be one collapsible section that **stays open** during the reasoning process and shows all thinking and tool calls in order. Right now the thinking, tool calling, thinking, tool calling blocks take up a ton of space and obscure the answer. We need to condense this while still letting the user watch the thinking process happen so the latency doesn't feel super low. This new thinking/tool calling bubble should only collapse once the final response has been returned and the session has stopped." Story: n/a

Objective

One details.reasoning container per brain message wraps the phase-158 per-run timeline live: created on the turn's first thinking/tool frame, open until the turn settles (done / stop / failed-finalize), condensed in a bounded 320px live window with pinned-tail follow, the summary carrying the D6 status literals; the per-run blocks are re-anchored into the container (their structure and open/fold behavior are unchanged).

Work

1. frontend/assets/app.js — createReasoningWrap() (beside createThinkingBlock ~L1068): createElement only (innerHTML ABSENT) — details (class reasoning) + summary (class reasoning-summary, textContent = "Reasoning", the ONLY new static literal — D6) + span (class reasoning-status, empty until a frame sets it) + div (class reasoning-body); return the details element. The docstring cites this phase + D1/D6.
2. frontend/assets/app.js — module scope reasoningWrapEl = null (beside segRuns/currentRun ~L1464–1465) + ensureReasoningWrap (wrap) (get-or-create: on the turn's first thinking/tool frame — createReasoningWrap(), open = true (D1), inserted before wrap.querySelector(".msg-body").querySelector(".bubble"), stored in reasoningWrapEl); reset in runTurn alongside segRuns = [] (~L3304 — the pagehide partial reads the live container, so the module scope is readable there like segRuns).
3. frontend/assets/app.js — re-anchor the per-run inserts: in ensureThinkingRun (~L1103) and ensureToolRun (~L1122), the body.insertBefore(block, body.querySelector(".bubble")) line becomes ensureReasoningWrap(wrap).querySelector(".reasoning-body") .appendChild(block) (the wrap param — both functions already receive it). EVERYTHING ELSE in both functions is UNCHANGED (the closeCurrentRun() call, the open = true, the segRuns.push, currentRun). The container is created by the FIRST run's ensureReasoningWrap call — no other call site.
4. frontend/assets/app.js — settleReasoning(wrap) (beside closeAllRuns ~L1149): wrap?.querySelector("details.reasoning")?.removeAttribute("open") (idempotent; a no-op without a container — the plain-answer turn settles byte-identically). Called alongside closeAllRuns(wrap) at the THREE settle sites: the done branch (~L3570), the STOP path (~L3752), finalizeFailedTurn (~L3218). The delta branch (~L3553) is UNCHANGED — closeCurrentRun() folds the active run; the container STAYS OPEN (D2 — the TODO's core contract).
5. frontend/assets/app.js — the D6 status: in the thinking frame branch (~L3381, after ensureThinkingRun), set reasoningWrapEl?.querySelector(".reasoning-status")?.textContent = "Thinking…"; in the tool frame branch (~L3501, after ensureToolRun), set "Calling " + name + "…" (the name the appendToolLine call already receives — the phase-70 legacy-name mapping already produced it); at the three settle sites (alongside settleReasoning), set "${segRuns.length} steps" (the live N — D6; the settle sites read segRuns — module scope).
6. frontend/assets/app.js — the D3 live follow: the REASONING_NEAR_BOTTOM_PX = 32 constant (beside the phase-17 THINKING_NEAR_BOTTOM_PX) + the follow helpers — isReasoningPinned(el) (the pre-update capture — the phase-17 pre-measure convention: el.scrollTop + el.clientHeight >= el.scrollHeight - REASONING_NEAR_BOTTOM_PX) and scrollReasoningToBottom(el) (the post-append apply: el.scrollTop = el.scrollHeight). Called from BOTH the thinking frame branch (pre: after the existing isThinkingNearBottom capture; post: after the block re-render) and the tool frame branch (pre: before appendToolLine; post: after it) — el = reasoningWrapEl?.querySelector(".reasoning-body") (a no-op when absent — the plain-answer turn never creates one). The EXISTING per-block isThinkingNearBottom(textEl) follow is UNCHANGED (harmless — task 03 makes the inner .thinking-text non-scrollable inside the container, so it no-ops there). The phase-87 armToolLineClock/settleToolLine wrap-scoped queries are DESCENDANT-scoped — UNCHANGED (they match the nested runs).
7. tests/unit/test_reasoning_bubble.py (new) — the source-level pins: createReasoningWrap's createElement shape (the reasoning / reasoning-summary / reasoning-status / reasoning-body classes, the Reasoning literal, innerHTML ABSENT), ensureReasoningWrap's get-or-create + open = true + the reset in runTurn, the per-run inserts append into .reasoning-body (the insertBefore(…bubble) per-run anchor is GONE from ensureThinkingRun/ensureToolRun), settleReasoning defined + called at the THREE settle sites and NOT at the delta branch, the status literals (Thinking… / Calling / steps), the REASONING_NEAR_BOTTOM_PX = 32 constant + the pre/post split, and the pagehide partial's readability (the module scope reset pattern).

Testing & Quality

• Unit: tests/unit/test_reasoning_bubble.py (above) — all pins green.
• Coverage: >90% on this task's new/modified code (frontend — the app/ gate is untouched; held by the suite).

Completion Criteria

• tests/unit/test_reasoning_bubble.py green (uv run pytest tests/unit/test_reasoning_bubble.py -v --no-cov)
• the full test suite green (uv run pytest)
• no behavior change in completed work beyond the documented anchor supersession (the per-run blocks' structure + open/fold behavior is byte-identical; only their parent changed)