What I tested in the persistent terminal broker

This record separates checks that were actually observed from manual or unimplemented cases. It is long because terminal behavior crosses process lifetime, byte-stream parsing, operating-system APIs, and visible interaction.

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Validated on the Windows machine described in ENVIRONMENT.md. Only checks actually observed are marked PASS.

Build and native unit tests

Command:

.\scripts\build.ps1 -Clean

Compiler flags included C11, -Wall, -Wextra, and -Wpedantic. The final clean build emitted no warnings.

Automated Windows broker integration

Commands:

.\tests\windows-integration.ps1
# invokes:
node .\tests\windows-broker-integration.mjs

The latest retained report was intentionally deleted after success because it contained a 20+ MiB transcript. Its console result was WINDOWS_BROKER_INTEGRATION_PASS.

The test discovered and drove fixes for redirected standard handles, synchronous named-pipe cross-thread starvation, PowerShell/PSReadLine delayed output, timeout status, command-end cwd, attach backpressure, and ConPTY root-exit detection.

Installed Pi extension test, no LLM call

Command:

node .\tests\windows-pi-extension-rpc.mjs

Observed result: WINDOWS_PI_EXTENSION_RPC_PASS.

Installation, command resolution, and raw Pi

The optional -SetAsDefaultPi profile modification was not enabled; its opt-in path was code-reviewed but is not marked runtime PASS.

Repository one-step setup

Commands:

pwsh.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\setup.ps1
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\setup.ps1 -SkipBuild

The local full one-step run repeated 5/5 CTest, the complete broker suite (including a 23,463,796-byte transcript), installation, and doctor checks successfully. The public bootstrap was then invoked from a fresh Windows PowerShell process. Its first end-to-end run exposed a MinGW dependency-file path overflow under a long GUID directory; c07bf90 shortened the bootstrap root to %TEMP%\pio-<8 hex>. The commit-pinned retry built from that short archive path, passed 5/5 CTest and the complete broker suite (23,464,281-byte transcript), installed, passed pio doctor, and removed its temporary source/build tree.

pio / Windows Terminal process test

pio --mode rpc --no-session --offline was launched from an existing Windows Terminal session after installation.

Observed under one WindowsTerminal.exe process:

• left pwsh.exe running generated left.ps1;
• left child node.exe ... pi-coding-agent ... --mode rpc --no-session --offline;
• right pwsh.exe running generated right.ps1;
• right child pi-terminal-attach.exe;
• hidden pi-terminald.exe;
• broker child MSIX pwsh.exe under a headless ConPTY host.

The native attach process remained alive after raw-console setup and handshake. The broker transcript and startup log became non-empty. Both pane host processes had the same Windows Terminal parent PID. The disposable test workspace/processes were then removed.

0.2.1 regression diagnosis

A screenshot of the reported failure showed a literal K on every right-pane row. The transcript contained valid ESC[K erase-line sequences. The marker parser intentionally emitted ESC[ and the rest of a CSI record in separate visible callbacks; the 0.2.0 attach client rendered its local ANSI status bar after every callback. This produced ESC[ + local status bytes + K, corrupting both the child control record and screen.

The fixed attach client tracks CSI, OSC, DCS, SOS, PM, and APC boundaries across broker frames and renders local UI only in VT ground state. A clean ConPTY integration run passed, and a separately launched installed native attach was captured showing a normal PS ...> prompt rather than the repeated K screen. The compact mode parser and forwarded-input path remain covered by the same native test.

The launcher test also exposed that -w 0 selected the first Windows Terminal window on this multi-window desktop. Version 0.2.1 uses -w last. The installed launch retained its attach process and ACL setup completed without the earlier module-loading warning.

0.2.2 terminal follow-up

A fresh installed 0.2.2 workspace exposed two issues that the test ConPTY did not model: the in-screen bottom row could disappear after Windows Terminal viewport/scrollback changes, and focus/device responses forwarded as ordinary INPUT could leave broker ownership at USER_COMMAND_OR_INTERACTIVE without a new shell prompt. Windows status now uses a complete ground-state OSC pane title, no DECSTBM margin or cursor movement, and all rows are reported to ConPTY. Recognized terminal responses use protocol type 23 and do not claim user ownership.

The final clean native suite, full broker integration, and installed Pi RPC integration passed after these changes. A fresh 0.2.2 pio tab was captured with its left Pi, right PowerShell prompt, and [M] mode/title. UI Automation selected the exact workspace tab and ordinary physical key injection updated the local monitor buffer in the title. Synthetic Windows input could not reproduce a hardware Enter/Shift-symbol event under ENABLE_VIRTUAL_TERMINAL_INPUT, so visible-pane :t + Enter remains manual; the byte path passes the native ConPTY integration.

Arch Linux / Kitty validation

Commands:

./scripts/build.sh
make -C native clean all test
node tests/linux-broker-integration.mjs
./tests/linux-install-integration.sh
./tests/linux-kitty-integration.sh
./tests/linux-integration.sh

The automated Kitty test drives tmux keys and inspects pane text; it does not claim human keyboard timing.

Live installed pio follow-up

A subsequent test ran from the installed Pi process inside session 87c7ebf8…, with the native attach connected and visible in the same active Kitty window.

Not run / still manual

• MSVC /W4 build: no configured MSVC/Windows SDK toolchain; equivalent Windows GCC warning build passed in the earlier environment.
• Intentional Windows attach overflow above 64 MiB: protection path is implemented but not stress-tested in the final suite.
• Complex alternate-screen applications during live visual resize and physical keyboard Ctrl+C remain manual.