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stopped variant: keep the base colour dot, put 🔵 NEXT TO it (2026-09-11)
b37dbc2c6e3599723db03482558f8e5d7ac3f415 · 2026-09-11 10:15:56 -0700 · Steve Abrams
Steve: 'keep color dot and place blue dot next to it when stopped … when running
revert back to original color dot with that dot next to the orig color dot flashing.'
Additive marker, never a replacement: 🟣 -> 🟣🔵 stopped -> 🟣 running.
Three defects caught while wiring it, each of which would have shipped a silent no-op:
1. set() discarded the variant for any non-green colour ('variant if color == "green"'),
so --stopped on purple/yellow/orange — the blocked colours this exists for — would
have been accepted, reported success, and vanished. stopped is now colour-agnostic;
monitoring stays green-only because it is the teal TINT of green.
2. All three status_title() call sites built the title WITHOUT the variant, so even a
stored variant would not render — and the canonical check at load() compares title
to expected, so the record would then be judged invalid and wiped.
3. set_variant() first drafted against self.write()/self.painter() as methods; write()
does not exist and the real path also updates the legacy .dot mirror, which is what
allcolordots and dot-screen-router actually read. Updating only the JSON would have
left every consumer showing the old title while the engine reported success.
Verified with negative tests: purple+stopped renders 🟣🔵 and reverts clean; a bogus
variant raises; monitoring on a non-green colour is dropped.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Files touched
Diff
commit b37dbc2c6e3599723db03482558f8e5d7ac3f415
Author: Steve Abrams <steve@designerwallcoverings.com>
Date: Fri Sep 11 10:15:56 2026 -0700
stopped variant: keep the base colour dot, put 🔵 NEXT TO it (2026-09-11)
Steve: 'keep color dot and place blue dot next to it when stopped … when running
revert back to original color dot with that dot next to the orig color dot flashing.'
Additive marker, never a replacement: 🟣 -> 🟣🔵 stopped -> 🟣 running.
Three defects caught while wiring it, each of which would have shipped a silent no-op:
1. set() discarded the variant for any non-green colour ('variant if color == "green"'),
so --stopped on purple/yellow/orange — the blocked colours this exists for — would
have been accepted, reported success, and vanished. stopped is now colour-agnostic;
monitoring stays green-only because it is the teal TINT of green.
2. All three status_title() call sites built the title WITHOUT the variant, so even a
stored variant would not render — and the canonical check at load() compares title
to expected, so the record would then be judged invalid and wiped.
3. set_variant() first drafted against self.write()/self.painter() as methods; write()
does not exist and the real path also updates the legacy .dot mirror, which is what
allcolordots and dot-screen-router actually read. Updating only the JSON would have
left every consumer showing the old title while the engine reported success.
Verified with negative tests: purple+stopped renders 🟣🔵 and reverts clean; a bogus
variant raises; monitoring on a non-green colour is dropped.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
terminal_status.py | 77 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------
1 file changed, 68 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
diff --git a/terminal_status.py b/terminal_status.py
index 07a7303..9f18286 100644
--- a/terminal_status.py
+++ b/terminal_status.py
@@ -79,10 +79,17 @@ def issued_clock():
return time.clock_gettime_ns(getattr(time, "CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW", time.CLOCK_MONOTONIC))
-def status_title(color, label, ticket=""):
+STOPPED_MARK = "\U0001F535" # 🔵 — "stopped, needs Steve", shown NEXT TO the base dot
+
+
+def status_title(color, label, ticket="", variant=""):
+ # variant "stopped" (Steve, 2026-09-11): keep the ORIGINAL colour dot and place the
+ # blue dot next to it — additive marker, never a replacement. Reverts to the base dot
+ # alone as soon as the session is running again.
if color == "none":
return ""
- return COLORS[color][0] + " " + " · ".join(p for p in (ticket, label) if p)
+ dot = COLORS[color][0] + (STOPPED_MARK if variant == "stopped" else "")
+ return dot + " " + " · ".join(p for p in (ticket, label) if p)
def label_ticket(label):
@@ -371,9 +378,9 @@ class Store:
ticket = r.get("ticket", "")
if (ticket and not re.fullmatch(r"TK-\d+", ticket)) or not isinstance(r.get("ticket_at", 0), (int, float)):
return None, "invalid"
- if r.get("variant", "") not in ("", "monitoring"):
+ if r.get("variant", "") not in ("", "monitoring", "stopped"):
return None, "invalid"
- expected = status_title(r["state"], r["label"], ticket)
+ expected = status_title(r["state"], r["label"], ticket, r.get("variant", ""))
if r["title"] != expected or (r["state"] == "none" and r["label"]):
return None, "invalid"
return r, "canonical"
@@ -408,7 +415,7 @@ class Store:
def set(self, owner, color, label="", *, issued_ns=None, ticket_update=None,
variant="", deferential=False):
issued_ns = issued_ns if issued_ns is not None else issued_clock()
- if color not in COLORS or not valid_label(label) or variant not in ("", "monitoring"):
+ if color not in COLORS or not valid_label(label) or variant not in ("", "monitoring", "stopped"):
raise StatusError("Invalid status or label")
label, embedded_ticket = label_ticket(label)
if embedded_ticket:
@@ -444,9 +451,14 @@ class Store:
record = {
"version": VERSION, "owner": dataclasses.asdict(owner),
"state": color, "label": label,
- "title": status_title(color, label, ticket["id"]),
+ "title": status_title(color, label, ticket["id"],
+ variant if (color == "green" or variant == "stopped") else ""),
"ticket": ticket["id"], "ticket_at": ticket["at"],
- "ticket_source": ticket["source"], "variant": variant if color == "green" else "",
+ "ticket_source": ticket["source"],
+ # "stopped" is colour-AGNOSTIC: it is an additive 🔵 marker beside ANY base
+ # dot, and the blocked colours (purple/yellow/orange) are its whole point.
+ # "monitoring" stays green-only because it is the teal TINT of green.
+ "variant": variant if (color == "green" or variant == "stopped") else "",
"revision": previous["revision"] + 1 if previous else 1,
"event_id": uuid.uuid4().hex, "issued_ns": issued_ns,
"updated_at": dt.datetime.now(dt.timezone.utc).isoformat(),
@@ -483,6 +495,41 @@ class Store:
# Never refresh timestamps, rewrite mirrors, or resurrect cleared state.
return record
+ def set_variant(self, owner, variant):
+ """Toggle ONLY the variant (e.g. the additive 🔵 stopped marker) on an existing
+ status — colour, label, ticket and timestamps are preserved. This is what the
+ flasher pulses, so a crashed loop can never corrupt the real dot: the worst case
+ is the marker left on or off beside an otherwise-correct base colour."""
+ if variant not in ("", "monitoring", "stopped"):
+ raise StatusError("Invalid variant")
+ with self.lock(owner):
+ record, reason = self.load(owner)
+ if record is None:
+ raise StatusError("Cannot set variant on unknown status: " + reason)
+ self.assert_owner(owner)
+ color = record["state"]
+ if variant == "monitoring" and color != "green":
+ variant = ""
+ record["variant"] = variant
+ record["title"] = status_title(color, record["label"], record.get("ticket", ""), variant)
+ record["revision"] = record.get("revision", 0) + 1
+ record["event_id"] = uuid.uuid4().hex
+ record["issued_ns"] = issued_clock()
+ record["updated_at"] = dt.datetime.now(dt.timezone.utc).isoformat()
+ record["mirror_errors"] = []
+ self.assert_owner(owner)
+ self.painter(owner, record)
+ # The legacy .dot mirror is what allcolordots and dot-screen-router actually
+ # read — updating only the JSON would leave every consumer showing the old
+ # title while the engine reported success.
+ for directory in self.legacy.values():
+ try:
+ atomic_write(directory / (owner.tty + ".dot"), record["title"])
+ except OSError as exc:
+ record["mirror_errors"].append(str(exc))
+ atomic_write(self.path(owner), json.dumps(record, indent=2) + "\n")
+ return record
+
def row(self, owner, title=""):
r, reason = self.read(owner, title)
ticket = self.ticket_info(owner, r)
@@ -499,7 +546,7 @@ class Store:
result.update(color="none", label="⚪ " + (ticket["id"] or "TK REQUIRED") + " · " + labels.get(reason, "Status not set"))
return result
label, _ = label_ticket(r["label"])
- result.update(color=r["state"], label=status_title(r["state"], label, ticket["id"] or "TK REQUIRED") or "⚪ " + (ticket["id"] or "TK REQUIRED") + " · Status cleared",
+ result.update(color=r["state"], label=status_title(r["state"], label, ticket["id"] or "TK REQUIRED", r.get("variant", "")) or "⚪ " + (ticket["id"] or "TK REQUIRED") + " · Status cleared",
updated_at=r.get("updated_at"), revision=r.get("revision"))
warnings = []
live_color = color_of(title)
@@ -586,6 +633,8 @@ def scan(store, rows=None, sessions=None):
def main(argv=None):
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
sub = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", required=True)
+ sv = sub.add_parser("set-variant")
+ sv.add_argument("variant", nargs="?", default="", choices=["", "monitoring", "stopped"])
for name in ("set", "clear", "repaint", "current", "start", "ticket", "status", "headers"):
cmd = sub.add_parser(name)
if name == "set":
@@ -593,6 +642,9 @@ def main(argv=None):
cmd.add_argument("label", nargs="?", default="")
cmd.add_argument("--all", choices=["claude", "codex"])
cmd.add_argument("--monitoring", action="store_true")
+ cmd.add_argument("--stopped", action="store_true",
+ help="keep the base colour dot and place \U0001F535 next to it "
+ "(any stop that requires Steve's input)")
cmd.add_argument("--deferential", action="store_true",
help="automatic paint: yield to a sticky semantic dot "
"(orange/purple/yellow) instead of overwriting it")
@@ -644,6 +696,12 @@ def main(argv=None):
raise StatusError("; ".join(failures))
return 0
caller = current_owner(rows)
+ if args.command == "set-variant":
+ owner = Owner.detect()
+ record = STORE.set_variant(owner, args.variant)
+ print(f'/terminal-status → /dev/{owner.tty} {record["title"] or "CLEARED"}')
+ return 0
+
if args.command == "current":
print(json.dumps(dataclasses.asdict(caller)))
return 0
@@ -702,7 +760,8 @@ def main(argv=None):
record = store.repaint(owner)
else:
record = store.set(owner, color, label,
- variant="monitoring" if getattr(args, "monitoring", False) else "",
+ variant=("stopped" if getattr(args, "stopped", False)
+ else "monitoring" if getattr(args, "monitoring", False) else ""),
deferential=getattr(args, "deferential", False))
if not getattr(args, "quiet", False):
print(f'/terminal-status → /dev/{owner.tty} {record["title"] or "CLEARED"}')
← a56bd8c colors: add lightblue = ANY STOP THAT REQUIRES STEVE'S INPUT
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