Formax Tool UI Blocks Workflow

Formax Tool UI Blocks (C-lite) Workflow

Goal

Stabilize and evolve the tool transcript UI with minimal churn:

• Centralize common formatting (⏺ spacing, ⎿/indent rules) in one renderer.
• Keep per-tool custom UI possible, but avoid “change one space → edit 20 files”.
• Migrate tools incrementally (dual-track: legacy React presenter + blocks presenter).

Scope / non-goals

• Do not redesign tool semantics (e.g. “Read+Edit => Update”) unless explicitly requested.
• Do not run bun run test:coverage for this workflow; only run tests for touched files.

Current building blocks

• Renderer: packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolUiBlocks.tsx
• Block types: packages/core/src/components/tool/toolUiBlocksTypes.ts
• Dispatch: packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolRouter.tsx
• Presenter typing helpers: packages/core/src/shared/toolPresenterContracts.ts
• Shared primitives:
  • packages/core/src/components/ui/PulsingDot.tsx
  • packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolHeaderLine.tsx
  • packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolSubline.tsx
  • packages/core/src/components/tool/toolUi.ts

Workflow (repeatable loop)

Migration prioritization template

When deciding which tools to migrate next, use this ordering to minimize risk and maximize payoff:

1. Simple + high frequency: pure renderers with stable output and no React hooks (e.g. read, grep, glob).
2. Simple + formatting sensitive: tools whose transcript format is often tweaked (indent/spacing), and currently cause multi-file churn.
3. Moderate complexity: presenters that assemble multiple lines but still have no hooks (e.g. webSearch, webFetch), migrate only after 1–2 is stable.
4. Do not migrate yet: anything that needs hooks/interaction or complex previews (e.g. approval/policy overlays, edit/write patch previews). Keep as React presenters until they’re explicitly refactored into “data shaping” + “rendering”.

Rule of thumb: migrate 2–4 tools per commit and keep each commit testable with 1–3 focused test files.

1) Lock the behavior with tests first

Add or update targeted tests before refactoring:

• For spacing/indent rules: packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolUiBlocks.test.tsx
• For dispatch rules (legacy vs blocks): packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolRouter.test.tsx
• For a migrated tool: its packages/core/src/tools/modules/<name>/presenter.test.tsx

Prefer assertions on plain-text frames (via ink-testing-library) that verify:

• ⏺ has exactly one trailing space (⏺ Read, not ⏺Read or ⏺ Read)
• Subline uses the Claude-style prefix and indent rules (e.g. ⎿ + following content)
• No “double indent” artifacts for sublines

2) Apply changes in the centralized layer

If the change is “global formatting”, change it in one of:

• PulsingDot.tsx for bullet spacing
• ToolHeaderLine.tsx for header composition (dot + label + params)
• ToolSubline.tsx / packages/core/src/components/tool/toolUi.ts for subline prefix + indentation
• ToolUiBlocks.tsx for block-to-UI mapping and composition

Do not change dozens of tool presenters for global spacing changes.

3) Migrate a tool to blocks presenter (optional, incremental)

Only migrate tools that are “simple UI” (no hooks, no interactive UI) first.

Steps:

1. In packages/core/src/tools/modules/<name>/presenter.tsx, switch to blocks presenter:
   • Return { blocks: ToolUiBlock[] }
   • Wrap with createToolBlocksPresenter(...)
2. Keep legacy presenters untouched for other tools.
3. Update that tool’s presenter.test.tsx to render the blocks output through <ToolUiBlocks />.

4) Run only the relevant tests

Run Vitest for the touched files only. Example:

bun run test -- packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolUiBlocks.test.tsx
bun run test -- packages/core/src/components/tool/ToolRouter.test.tsx
bun run test -- packages/core/src/tools/modules/<name>/presenter.test.tsx

5) Run Codex review before committing

Follow AGENTS.md -> Review Profile (Single Source of Truth). Fix high/medium findings; only take low-risk low findings when low-churn.

6) Commit

Use a conventional message, e.g.:

• refactor(tool-ui): migrate grep to blocks presenter
• fix(tool-ui): keep single space after bullet

Gotchas / guardrails

• Case-insensitive filesystem collisions (macOS):
  • Avoid having both ToolUiBlocks.* and toolUiBlocks.* with similar names that can be confused by tooling.
  • Prefer a distinct type filename like toolUiBlocksTypes.ts.
• Avoid hidden whitespace from JSX formatting:
  • For spacing-sensitive UI, prefer composing the full string ({⏺ }) rather than placing newlines/indentation inside <Text>...</Text>.
• Hooks rule:
  • Blocks presenters are plain functions; they must not call React hooks.
  • If a tool presenter needs hooks, keep it as a React presenter and consider a later refactor to split “data shaping” from “rendering”.