fix(tui): reliable large-prompt paste + version-robust turn detection (#130) (#131)

TUI mode hung ("stuck typing") on the OpenClaw agent's real (large, multi-line) prompts.
Three root causes, all fixed:

1. transcript.mjs — terminal detection only recognized {system, turn_duration}, which
   claude 2.1.114 (the cloud host) does not emit → readTuiTranscript never saw completion
   and ran to the 120s wallclock even though claude had answered. Now also treats an
   {assistant} line with message.stop_reason ∈ {end_turn, stop_sequence, max_tokens} as
   terminal (version-robust; stop_reason "tool_use" stays non-terminal, so tool turns are
   not truncated — preserves the v3.17.1 narrowing).

2. session.mjs paste — send-keys -l "$(cat file)" delivers a large multi-line prompt's
   newlines as separate key events (≈repeated Enter), so the prompt never lands. Replaced
   with tmux load-buffer + paste-buffer -p (bracketed paste): atomic, no shell arg limit,
   claude ingests it as one "[Pasted text]".

3. session.mjs verify — the old "placeholder-gone" heuristic false-positived on claude's
   empty curly-quote placeholder, so Enter fired into an empty box (THE root cause of the
   hang). tuiPromptLanded now trusts only positive signals ([Pasted text] indicator or the
   prompt's own text); readiness-poll + paste-verify-poll + fast-fail (tui_paste_not_landed)
   turns a 120s wallclock hang into a deterministic ~5s error.

Also: env delivered to the pane via an `env`-prefix on the pane command (tmux does NOT
forward spawnSync's env, and new-session -e needs tmux ≥3.2 while the cloud host runs 2.7),
carrying DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER (version pin) + CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT labeling.

Validated live on both hosts: a 300-line / ~30KB prompt that previously hung now returns
in ~5-8s; small prompts ~4-5s. 192 tests pass (new: terminal-detection across schemas,
positive-signal verify incl. the curly-quote false-positive guard, paste predicates).

Scope discipline: an attempt to also strip claude's CLAUDE.md/auto-memory injection (context
reduction) was REVERTED — it didn't measurably reduce context through OCP, caused an
off-response, and is a separate concern. It will be its own measured branch.

ALIGNMENT.md: TUI is the ADR-0007 proxy-side execution bridge, not a forwarded Anthropic
operation, so a cli.js citation is N/A under Rule 2. No blacklisted tokens / port literals.

Independent fresh-context reviewer (opus): APPROVE WITH CHANGES (Iron Rule 10) — validated
the three fixes, caught that a per-session tmux socket would break the startup stale-session
reaper, and flagged the context-suppression scope-creep; both were reverted per the review.

Closes #130.

Co-authored-by: dtzp555 <dtzp555@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

lib/tui/session.mjs

@@ -39,11 +39,47 @@ export function reapStaleTuiSessions({ tmux = defaultTmux } = {}) {
 // ── Task 5: runTuiTurn ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 // Boot + paste-settle timing. Conservative defaults validated on PI231; env-tunable.
-const BOOT_MS         = parseInt(process.env.OCP_TUI_BOOT_MS  || "4000", 10);
-const PASTE_SETTLE_MS = parseInt(process.env.OCP_TUI_PASTE_MS || "1800", 10);
+const BOOT_MS         = parseInt(process.env.OCP_TUI_BOOT_MS  || "4000", 10);   // max wait for input-ready
+const READY_POLL_MS   = parseInt(process.env.OCP_TUI_READY_POLL_MS || "400", 10); // readiness / paste-verify poll interval
+const PASTE_VERIFY_MS = parseInt(process.env.OCP_TUI_PASTE_VERIFY_MS || "5000", 10); // max wait for pasted prompt to render
 
 const sleep = (ms) => new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms));
 
+// Capture the visible tmux pane as plain text (for readiness / paste verification).
+function tuiCapturePane(tmux, tmuxName) {
+  const r = tmux(["capture-pane", "-p", "-t", tmuxName]);
+  return (r && typeof r.stdout === "string") ? r.stdout : "";
+}
+
+// True once claude's input bar is rendered and ready for keystrokes.
+function tuiInputReady(pane) {
+  return /\? for shortcuts/.test(pane);
+}
+
+// True once the pasted prompt has POSITIVELY landed in the input box. We only trust
+// affirmative signals — NOT "the placeholder is gone", which is unreliable (claude's
+// placeholder uses a curly quote `"`, randomized example text, and renders the big paste
+// a beat after paste-buffer returns; a "placeholder-gone" heuristic false-positived on the
+// still-empty box and made us submit Enter into nothing → issue #130 hang). Landed iff:
+//   (a) the bracketed-paste indicator "[Pasted text" is present (large/multi-line paste), OR
+//   (b) the prompt's own leading text appears in the pane (short/literal paste).
+function tuiPromptLanded(pane, prompt) {
+  const flatPane = pane.replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+  if (flatPane.includes("[Pasted text")) return true;
+  const firstLine = String(prompt).split("\n").map(s => s.trim()).find(Boolean) || "";
+  const needle = firstLine.replace(/\s+/g, " ").slice(0, 24);
+  return needle.length >= 3 && flatPane.includes(needle);
+}
+
+async function pollUntil(fn, { timeoutMs, intervalMs }) {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
+  while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+    try { if (fn()) return true; } catch { /* ignore, keep polling */ }
+    await sleep(intervalMs);
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
 // Single-quote escaper for sh -c arguments.
 function shq(s) {
   return `'${String(s).replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`;
@@ -149,8 +185,24 @@ export function resolveTuiEntrypointEnv(env, mode = "cli") {
 // A-PATH ONLY: built-in tools are left enabled (acceptable single-user). Deployment B
 // (guest keys) MUST additionally pass --tools "" per spec §5.2(2) as the credential
 // wall before this argv is reachable for owner_tier=guest — guard that in PR-3 wiring.
-function buildTuiCmd(claudeBin, model, sessionId) {
+function buildTuiCmd(claudeBin, model, sessionId, ehome, entrypointMode) {
+  // Deliver claude's env via an `env` prefix on the PANE COMMAND — tmux does NOT forward the
+  // spawning process's environment to the pane, and `new-session -e` needs tmux ≥3.2 (the cloud
+  // host runs 2.7), so this is the only portable, reliable mechanism (verified live 2026-06-01:
+  // passing {env} to spawnSync left the pane with only HOME). DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER pins the version
+  // (no "What's new" splash that delayed input-readiness); CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT labels the
+  // billing pool (set below per entrypointMode).
+  const sets = [
+    `HOME=${shq(ehome)}`,
+    "DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER=1",
+    "CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_OFFICIAL_MARKETPLACE_AUTOINSTALL=1",
+  ];
+  const unset = ["CLAUDECODE", "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL", "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN"];
+  if (entrypointMode === "cli") sets.push("CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT=cli");
+  else if (entrypointMode === "auto") unset.push("CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT"); // let claude self-classify via TTY
+  const envPrefix = ["env", ...unset.map((u) => `-u ${u}`), ...sets].join(" ");
   return [
+    envPrefix,
     shq(claudeBin),
     "--model",          shq(model),
     "--session-id",     sessionId,
@@ -162,9 +214,14 @@ function buildTuiCmd(claudeBin, model, sessionId) {
 // Full per-request TUI lifecycle:
 //   1. Pre-trust the scratch cwd (no trust dialog will appear).
 //   2. Write prompt to a 0600 temp file (no shell injection from prompt content).
-//   3. Boot an interactive `claude` in a fresh tmux session in the scratch cwd.
-//   4. Submit the prompt via `send-keys -- "$(cat file)"` + a SEPARATE Enter key
-//      event (spec §5 / T3: literal "\n" in paste does NOT submit; Enter token does).
+//   3. Boot an interactive `claude` in a fresh tmux session in the scratch cwd; poll
+//      capture-pane until the `? for shortcuts` input bar appears (readiness-poll
+//      replaces the old blind boot sleep). BOOT_MS is the max wait, not a fixed delay.
+//   4. Paste the prompt via tmux load-buffer + paste-buffer -p (bracketed paste) —
+//      reliable for large multi-line prompts where send-keys -l is not (issue #130).
+//      Poll-verify the prompt landed in the input (placeholder gone / [Pasted text]);
+//      fast-fail with tui_paste_not_landed if it never lands (prevents the 120s
+//      wallclock "stuck typing" hang). Then submit with a SEPARATE Enter key event.
 //   5. Block on the native JSONL transcript (located by session-id) until terminal
 //      marker or wall-clock cap.
 //   6. Always teardown: kill session + rm temp dir (even on throw).
@@ -215,35 +272,52 @@ export async function runTuiTurn({
     //    is a no-op when the session never existed).
     const spawnResult = tmux(
       ["new-session", "-d", "-s", tmuxName, "-x", "220", "-y", "50", "-c", cwd,
-       buildTuiCmd(claudeBin, model, sessionId)],
+       buildTuiCmd(claudeBin, model, sessionId, ehome, entrypointMode)],
       { env },
     );
     if (!spawnResult || spawnResult.status !== 0) {
       throw new Error("tui_spawn_failed: tmux session not created");
     }
-    await sleep(BOOT_MS);
 
-    // 2. Submit prompt body via `"$(cat file)"` — byte-safe for any content —
-    //    then settle, then send a SEPARATE Enter key event to submit the line.
-    //
-    //    The `-l` (literal) flag is required on the paste send-keys call so that
-    //    a prompt that happens to equal a tmux key token (e.g. "C-c", "Escape")
-    //    is typed literally as text rather than being interpreted as a key binding.
-    //    The SEPARATE Enter event below deliberately omits -l so that tmux sends a
-    //    real keypress (carriage return) to submit the prompt line.
-    spawnSync(
-      "sh",
-      ["-c", `${shq(TMUX)} send-keys -t ${shq(tmuxName)} -l -- "$(cat ${shq(promptFile)})"`],
-      { env, encoding: "utf8" },
-    );
-    await sleep(PASTE_SETTLE_MS);
+    // 2. Wait until claude's input bar is actually ready (was: blind sleep(BOOT_MS)).
+    //    BOOT_MS is now the MAX readiness wait, not a fixed delay.
+    const ready = await pollUntil(() => tuiInputReady(tuiCapturePane(tmux, tmuxName)),
+      { timeoutMs: BOOT_MS, intervalMs: READY_POLL_MS });
+    if (!ready) {
+      // (readiness timed out; relying on paste-verify)
+      console.error("[tui] input_not_ready", tmuxName);
+    }
+
+    // 3. Paste the prompt via a tmux PASTE BUFFER with bracketed paste (-p), NOT
+    //    `send-keys -l`. send-keys of a large multi-line prompt is unreliable: the
+    //    embedded newlines arrive as separate key events (effectively repeated Enter),
+    //    so a big OpenClaw-style prompt never lands and the turn hangs to the wallclock
+    //    (issue #130 — reproduced at ~300 lines; fixed by bracketed paste). load-buffer
+    //    reads the file directly (no shell arg limit, no `"$(cat)"`), and paste-buffer -p
+    //    wraps it in bracketed-paste markers so claude ingests it atomically as ONE paste
+    //    ("[Pasted text #N +M lines]"). -d deletes the buffer afterward. Buffer name is the
+    //    per-session tmuxName, so concurrent turns never collide.
+    tmux(["load-buffer", "-b", tmuxName, promptFile]);
+    tmux(["paste-buffer", "-b", tmuxName, "-t", tmuxName, "-p", "-d"]);
+
+    // Verify the prompt POSITIVELY landed before submitting; poll (a large bracketed paste
+    // takes a beat to render the "[Pasted text]" indicator). This is load-bearing: firing
+    // Enter before the paste renders submits an empty box → the turn hangs to the wallclock
+    // (issue #130). Fast-fail if it never lands → deterministic error in seconds.
+    const landed = await pollUntil(() => tuiPromptLanded(tuiCapturePane(tmux, tmuxName), prompt),
+      { timeoutMs: PASTE_VERIFY_MS, intervalMs: READY_POLL_MS });
+    if (!landed) {
+      throw new Error("tui_paste_not_landed: prompt did not reach claude's input within " + PASTE_VERIFY_MS + "ms");
+    }
+
+    // Submit (separate Enter key event).
     tmux(["send-keys", "-t", tmuxName, "Enter"]);
 
-    // 3. Block on the native transcript (resolved by session-id) until terminal.
+    // 4. Block on the native transcript (resolved by session-id) until terminal.
     //    Returns { text, entrypoint } from readTuiTranscript.
     return await readTuiTranscript({ home: ehome, sessionId, wallclockMs });
   } finally {
-    // 4. Teardown — always, even on throw.
+    // 5. Teardown — always, even on throw.
     try { tmux(["kill-session", "-t", tmuxName]); } catch { /* already gone */ }
     try { rmSync(tmpDir, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch { /* best effort */ }
   }

lib/tui/transcript.mjs

@@ -51,19 +51,29 @@ export function parseTranscriptLines(text) {
   return out;
 }
 
-// A line marks the assistant turn complete when it is the turn_duration system
-// event. That is the ONLY reliable terminal marker in interactive TUI mode.
+// A line marks the assistant turn complete when EITHER:
+//   (a) {type:"system", subtype:"turn_duration"} — emitted by newer claude builds
+//       (e.g. 2.1.159), OR
+//   (b) {type:"assistant"} whose message.stop_reason is a FINAL reason
+//       ("end_turn" / "stop_sequence" / "max_tokens"). This is the API-level
+//       end-of-turn signal, present across claude builds whose transcripts do NOT
+//       emit turn_duration (e.g. 2.1.114 — verified live on the cloud host). Without
+//       it OCP can't detect completion on those builds and hangs to the wallclock,
+//       then returns only partial text (issue #130, cloud/server-side symptom).
 //
-// Why tool_use is NOT a terminal marker:
-//   In interactive claude, when the model decides to call a tool (stop_reason=
-//   "tool_use"), claude handles the tool call internally and then continues
-//   generating — the turn is NOT complete. The transcript advances to another
-//   assistant entry after the tool result. Only {type:"system",
-//   subtype:"turn_duration"} signals that claude has fully finished the turn.
-//   Treating tool_use as terminal would truncate tool-using turns mid-flight.
+// stop_reason "tool_use" is deliberately NOT terminal: the model is mid-turn (it will
+// run a tool and continue with a later assistant entry). Matching on a FINAL
+// stop_reason — not on the mere presence of a tool_use — keeps tool-using turns intact.
+// (The v3.17.1 narrowing dropped a buggy "tool_use is terminal" rule; this restores
+// cross-version completion detection without bringing that bug back.)
+const TERMINAL_STOP_REASONS = new Set(["end_turn", "stop_sequence", "max_tokens"]);
 export function isTerminalLine(obj) {
   if (!obj || typeof obj !== "object") return false;
-  return obj.type === "system" && obj.subtype === "turn_duration";
+  if (obj.type === "system" && obj.subtype === "turn_duration") return true;
+  if (obj.type === "assistant" && obj.message && typeof obj.message === "object") {
+    return TERMINAL_STOP_REASONS.has(obj.message.stop_reason);
+  }
+  return false;
 }
 
 // Text of the LAST assistant turn: concatenate its text content blocks

test-features.mjs

@@ -1387,6 +1387,15 @@ test("isTerminalLine false on stop_reason tool_use (flat) — claude continues a
 test("isTerminalLine false on ordinary assistant text line", () => {
   assert.equal(isTerminalLine({ type: "assistant", message: { content: [{ type: "text", text: "hi" }] } }), false);
 });
+// issue #130 cloud/server-side: claude builds (e.g. 2.1.114) that DON'T emit
+// turn_duration mark turn-end via assistant message.stop_reason — must be terminal.
+test("isTerminalLine true on assistant stop_reason end_turn (version-robust, e.g. 2.1.114)", () => {
+  assert.equal(isTerminalLine({ type: "assistant", message: { stop_reason: "end_turn", content: [{ type: "text", text: "ok" }] } }), true);
+});
+test("isTerminalLine true on assistant stop_reason stop_sequence / max_tokens", () => {
+  assert.equal(isTerminalLine({ type: "assistant", message: { stop_reason: "stop_sequence" } }), true);
+  assert.equal(isTerminalLine({ type: "assistant", message: { stop_reason: "max_tokens" } }), true);
+});
 test("extractLatestAssistantText concatenates text blocks of LAST assistant entry", () => {
   const evs = [
     { type: "assistant", message: { content: [{ type: "text", text: "first" }] } },
@@ -1615,6 +1624,66 @@ if (process.env.OCP_TUI_LIVE === "1") {
   });
 }
 
+// ── TUI readiness / paste-verify predicates (issue #130) ────────────────────
+// Replicates tuiInputReady, tuiPromptLanded verbatim from lib/tui/session.mjs.
+// Keep in sync with the definitions there.
+function _tuiInputReady(pane) {
+  return /\? for shortcuts/.test(pane);
+}
+function _tuiPromptLanded(pane, prompt) {
+  const flatPane = pane.replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+  if (flatPane.includes("[Pasted text")) return true;
+  const firstLine = String(prompt).split("\n").map(s => s.trim()).find(Boolean) || "";
+  const needle = firstLine.replace(/\s+/g, " ").slice(0, 24);
+  return needle.length >= 3 && flatPane.includes(needle);
+}
+
+// Real captured pane samples (empirically confirmed via live capture-pane on PI231,
+// claude v2.1.114 and v2.1.159). Source: issue #130 spec.
+const TUI_READY_PANE = `❯ Try "how does <filepath> work?"
+  ? for shortcuts · ← for agents`;
+
+const TUI_LANDED_PANE = `❯ Reply with exactly: PONG_TEST
+  ? for shortcuts · ← for agents`;
+
+// Welcome splash shown before input bar is rendered — no `? for shortcuts`.
+const TUI_BOOT_PANE = `╭─ Claude Code v2.1.114 ─ Welcome back Tao! ─╮\n│ Tips for getting started │`;
+
+console.log("\nTUI readiness + paste-verify predicates (issue #130):");
+
+test("tuiInputReady(READY_PANE) === true  (input bar rendered)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiInputReady(TUI_READY_PANE), true);
+});
+test("tuiInputReady(LANDED_PANE) === true  (input bar still present after paste)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiInputReady(TUI_LANDED_PANE), true);
+});
+test("tuiInputReady(BOOT_PANE) === false  (welcome splash, no input bar yet)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiInputReady(TUI_BOOT_PANE), false);
+});
+
+test("tuiPromptLanded(READY_PANE, 'Reply with exactly: PONG_TEST') === false  (still placeholder)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiPromptLanded(TUI_READY_PANE, "Reply with exactly: PONG_TEST"), false);
+});
+test("tuiPromptLanded(LANDED_PANE, 'Reply with exactly: PONG_TEST') === true  (prompt prefix visible)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiPromptLanded(TUI_LANDED_PANE, "Reply with exactly: PONG_TEST"), true);
+});
+test("tuiPromptLanded(READY_PANE, 'ping') === false  (needle <3 chars, placeholder present)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiPromptLanded(TUI_READY_PANE, "ping"), false);
+});
+test("tuiPromptLanded('❯ ping\\n  ? for shortcuts', 'ping') === true  (needle present, no placeholder)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiPromptLanded("❯ ping\n  ? for shortcuts", "ping"), true);
+});
+// issue #130 root cause: a big bracketed paste shows "[Pasted text #N +M lines]" — must be landed.
+test("tuiPromptLanded(bracketed-paste pane, big prompt) === true", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiPromptLanded("❯ [Pasted text #1 +301 lines]\n  ? for shortcuts", "[System] Context 0."), true);
+});
+// issue #130 false-positive guard: the EMPTY placeholder uses a CURLY quote (“) and randomized
+// example text — the old placeholder-gone heuristic wrongly reported landed=true here, so Enter
+// fired into an empty box. Must be FALSE (no positive signal: not [Pasted text], prompt not shown).
+test("tuiPromptLanded(curly-quote placeholder, big prompt) === false  (no false-positive)", () => {
+  assert.equal(_tuiPromptLanded("❯ Try “how do I log an error?”\n  ? for shortcuts", "[System] Context 0."), false);
+});
+
 // ── /health anonymousKey gate (issue #109) ──────────────────────────────────
 // MIRRORS the predicate in server.mjs (search ADVERTISE_ANON_KEY) — copied
 // verbatim to avoid importing server.mjs (top-level server.listen() would