Wispterm Diagnostics

WispTerm Diagnostics

Overview

Generate a safe, copyable Markdown diagnostic report for users filing WispTerm issues. On Windows, installed WispTerm release packages include this plugin, so the preferred user-facing path is to ask the user to invoke $wispterm-diagnostics from WispTerm's AI Chat or Copilot and include their symptoms/reproduction steps. The skill then uses the bundled PowerShell script to collect WispTerm, Windows, OpenSSH, WebView2, bundled ConPTY, GPU, logs, and config details. Do not ask Windows users to find a source checkout first.

On macOS, there is no equivalent script yet — use the manual bash workflow in the macOS section below.

Windows Workflow

1. If a user needs instructions, tell them to open a WispTerm AI Chat tab or Copilot sidebar and send a request like:

$wispterm-diagnostics
Problem type: ssh-disconnect
Symptom: SSH Profile disconnects after 5-10 minutes idle with "Connection reset".
Repro steps: connect to the saved SSH profile, leave it idle, then run ls.
What I already tried: external ssh.exe with ServerAliveInterval works.

2. Infer -ProblemType from the user's text. If it is unclear, use other and keep the user's symptom/repro text in the generated issue draft.
3. Run the script from this skill directory as the implementation detail:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\collect_wispterm_diagnostics.ps1 -ProblemType "other"

Use pwsh instead of powershell only if Windows PowerShell is unavailable.

Recommended labels: startup/crash, rendering/DPI, high-cpu, keyboard/input, selection/copy/scrolling, SSH/SCP, ssh-image-preview, html-preview, ssh-disconnect, file explorer, WebView2/browser panel, updater, remote console, other.

4. For rendering/DPI/multi-monitor glitch reports, first check whether render-diagnostic.log is already present. If not, ask the user to add wispterm-debug-render = true to their config (press Ctrl+, to open it), restart WispTerm, reproduce the glitch, then run the script. The log is written to %APPDATA%\wispterm\render-diagnostic.log.

   For high-cpu reports, run the script while WispTerm is exhibiting the high-CPU behavior so the 3-second CPU sample captures the real usage.

5. For startup/crash reports, run the automated startup probe. It enables WISPTERM_RENDER_DIAGNOSTICS=1 only for the probe process, starts WispTerm with auto-update disabled, waits briefly, then closes/kills the process if it did not crash:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\collect_wispterm_diagnostics.ps1 -ProblemType "startup/crash" -StartupProbe

6. If the user is willing to reproduce a crash and can share a dump privately, enable Windows Error Reporting local dumps before the startup probe:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\collect_wispterm_diagnostics.ps1 -ProblemType "startup/crash" -StartupProbe -EnableCrashDumps

This writes HKCU-only WER settings for wispterm.exe and reports the dump folder. Do not ask the user to attach .dmp files publicly; dumps may contain terminal text, environment fragments, tokens, paths, or other process memory.

7. Return a GitHub-ready Markdown issue body. Include the user's symptom, reproduction steps, expected behavior, diagnostic report, and issue-specific next steps. Ask them to review it before posting publicly and remove secrets.

If WispTerm cannot start or the AI Agent is unavailable, use the script command above from the installed/extracted WispTerm folder that contains plugins\skills\wispterm-diagnostics. That is a fallback, not the normal FAQ path.

High-Signal Issue Workflows

Use these on top of the Windows report. The script intentionally avoids logging into remote hosts; ask the user to run the remote commands manually and paste only non-secret output.

SSH image preview fails, Markdown preview works

1. Use the skill with this context:

$wispterm-diagnostics
Problem type: ssh-image-preview
Symptom: SSH image preview fails, but Markdown/text preview works.
Repro steps: ...

2. Ask the user to confirm the SSH tab was opened from WispTerm's built-in SSH profile launcher. Remote previews require WispTerm SSH metadata; a tab where the user typed ssh user@host inside a local shell is treated as local and cannot use remote preview helpers.
3. Ask for the file extension, approximate size, path shape (absolute, relative, contains spaces/CJK), and whether both Ctrl-click and File Explorer double-click fail.
4. Ask them to Ctrl+Shift-click the same remote image to download it. If download also fails, investigate SSH/SCP/path metadata. If download works but preview fails, investigate image decode/rendering.

HTML preview fails

1. Use the skill with this context:

$wispterm-diagnostics
Problem type: html-preview
Symptom: HTML preview or browser panel fails.
Repro steps: ...

2. Identify the environment: local Windows, WSL, or SSH. For SSH, confirm it is a WispTerm SSH profile session, not a manually typed SSH tab.
3. HTML preview serves the file's directory over HTTP so relative CSS/JS/images work. Ask the user to run this in the target environment:

command -v python3 python node npx
python3 --version 2>/dev/null || true
python --version 2>/dev/null || true
node --version 2>/dev/null || true
npx --version 2>/dev/null || true

4. Ask for the visible toast/error text, especially HTML server not reachable or HTML SSH tunnel failed. For SSH HTML, also ask whether normal loopback URLs printed by the remote host open through WispTerm.

SSH disconnects (ssh_packet_write_poll, eother, idle reset)

1. Use the skill with this context:

$wispterm-diagnostics
Problem type: ssh-disconnect
Symptom: SSH drops with ssh_packet_write_poll/eother or idle-time Connection reset.
Repro steps: ...

2. Treat client_loop: ssh_packet_write_poll ... eother as a Windows OpenSSH network-write failure until evidence says otherwise. Do not anchor on unrelated VT warnings such as CSI t or mode 9001.
3. If the disconnect happens only after 5-10 minutes idle with client_loop: send disconnect: Connection reset, test it as an idle-timeout/keepalive case. WispTerm SSH profile sessions are expected to launch OpenSSH with ServerAliveInterval=60 and ServerAliveCountMax=3; collect the exact WispTerm version/package and compare external OpenSSH with and without those options.
4. Ask for these comparisons:

# Outside WispTerm, without keepalive:
ssh.exe -tt user@host

# Outside WispTerm, from Windows Terminal / cmd / PowerShell:
ssh.exe -vvv -tt -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -o ServerAliveInterval=60 -o ServerAliveCountMax=3 user@host

# In WispTerm config, then fully restart and retest:
windows-conpty = system

# If available:
wsl -- ssh -vvv -tt user@host

If Windows ssh.exe fails outside WispTerm, focus on Win32-OpenSSH, network, or server logs. If only bundled ConPTY fails, compare windows-conpty = system. If WispTerm fails with both ConPTY modes but external ssh.exe does not, then investigate WispTerm PTY input/output.

macOS Workflow

No automated script yet. Collect the following manually using bash and paste the results into a Markdown report:

# WispTerm version and config path
/Applications/WispTerm.app/Contents/MacOS/wispterm --version
/Applications/WispTerm.app/Contents/MacOS/wispterm --show-config-path

# macOS version and hardware
sw_vers
uname -m
sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string
sysctl -n hw.memsize

# GPU and connected monitors (resolution, DPI, color depth)
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType 2>/dev/null | grep -E "Chipset|VRAM|Vendor|Metal|Resolution|Pixel Depth|Mirror|Color"

# Config file (sanitize API keys / passwords before pasting)
CONF="$HOME/Library/Application Support/wispterm/config"
[ -f "$CONF" ] && cat "$CONF" || echo "config not found"

# List files under wispterm data dir
ls -la "$HOME/Library/Application Support/wispterm/"

# Recent WispTerm crash reports (last 7 days)
find "$HOME/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports" -name "WispTerm*" -mtime -7 2>/dev/null

# Render diagnostic log (if present)
# NOTE: the log only exists when wispterm-debug-render = true is set in config.
# For rendering/DPI issues: add that key, restart WispTerm, reproduce the glitch,
# then collect the log.
LOG="$HOME/Library/Application Support/wispterm/render-diagnostic.log"
[ -f "$LOG" ] && tail -80 "$LOG" || echo "render-diagnostic.log not found — add wispterm-debug-render = true to config and reproduce the issue first"

# CPU usage sample (run while WispTerm is showing high CPU)
pid=$(pgrep -x wispterm 2>/dev/null | head -1)
if [ -n "$pid" ]; then
  ps -p "$pid" -o pid,pcpu,pmem,rss,comm
  # macOS: sample over 3 seconds
  top -l 3 -pid "$pid" -stats pid,cpu,mem,time 2>/dev/null | tail -5
else
  echo "wispterm not running"
fi

Remind the user to review the output before pasting publicly: remove any API keys, SSH passwords, tokens, or other sensitive values the config may contain.

What The Report Covers (Windows script)

• WispTerm version, executable path, package flavor, version.txt, config path, portable config presence, WebView2Loader.dll, bundled conpty.dll, and bundled OpenConsole.exe.
• Windows edition, display version, build, architecture, locale, PowerShell, and current shell process.
• ssh.exe / scp.exe path and version, plus whether WispTerm's ssh_hosts file exists and how many saved profiles it contains.
• GPU and driver details, connected monitors with resolutions, WebView2 runtime version, and nearby WebView2Loader.dll presence.
• wispterm.exe CPU sample (3 seconds) when -ProblemType "high-cpu" is used.
• Startup/crash context: recent Windows Application Error / Windows Error Reporting entries for wispterm.exe, sanitized module/exception/offset fields, optional startup probe result, WER local dump configuration, and whether dump files exist.
• %APPDATA%\wispterm\wispterm-debug.log and render-diagnostic.log presence and sanitized tail excerpts when available.
• Relevant WispTerm files under %APPDATA%\wispterm.
• A sanitized WispTerm config excerpt.
• Failed diagnostic commands.

Privacy Rules

The script is intended to be safe to paste into a public GitHub issue. Do not add collection of public IP addresses, Wi-Fi passwords, SSH passwords, decoded SSH profile fields, SSH private keys, tokens, remote session keys, full environment variable dumps, browser data, process inventories, license keys, serial numbers, or unique hardware IDs.

The script redacts sensitive config values by default. It also redacts common local paths (%USERPROFILE%, %APPDATA%, %LOCALAPPDATA%, %TEMP%), computer name, Windows SIDs, remote session keys, token/password-like output, and non-WispTerm URLs. Still remind the user to review the final Markdown before posting.

Never paste raw Event Viewer XML when the script can summarize it; raw XML can include machine/user identifiers. Never paste .dmp crash dumps into a public issue.

Validation (Windows script)

When modifying the script, run on Windows:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\collect_wispterm_diagnostics.ps1 -SelfTest

Then run a normal report generation command and a startup/crash report command without -EnableCrashDumps. The script must complete even when WispTerm, OpenSSH, WebView2, Event Viewer records, render diagnostics, or config files are missing; missing data should be reported as not found, not applicable, or unavailable.