cassady/plans/V0_2_1_COLLAPSED_TOOL_DENSITY_PLAN.md

v0.2.1 Collapsed Tool Density Follow-up Plan

Context

This is a follow-up to plans/V0_2_1_MESSAGE_RENDERING_POLISH_PLAN.md.

The first pass improved tool rendering by removing completed processing/invocation blocks and replacing hidden tool output with compact summaries. In practice, repeated successful low-signal tools such as ls still clog the transcript because each collapsed result renders as a heading plus a summary body line.

Goal

Make collapsed tool display much denser while preserving useful auditability.

Scope

• Collapse non-live successful tool result summaries into the heading line.
• Omit successful ls result blocks entirely while tool output is hidden.
• Keep failed tool results visible.
• Keep live/running tool output visible.
• Keep full output behavior unchanged when full tools are enabled.

Design

When show_full_tools == false:

• ls ✓ (...) blocks are skipped entirely.
• Other completed successful tool blocks render as one line:

· read ✓ (abc123) · 202 lines · 10.3 KB

• Tool body content is omitted.
• Failed tool results continue to show content so errors are visible.
• Live tool blocks with streamed output continue to show body content.

When show_full_tools == true:

• Render all tool result blocks normally with full content.

Implementation Steps

1. Update src/ui/render.rs transcript rendering.
2. Add helpers:
   • is_collapsed_successful_ls_result()
   • collapsed_tool_heading_summary()
3. Change collapsed successful tool behavior:
   • Skip successful ls blocks entirely.
   • Add output summary to the heading for other tools.
   • Return empty body content for collapsed successful tools.
4. Leave errors and live output unchanged.
5. Add tests for:
   • successful ls hidden while collapsed
   • successful ls visible with full tools
   • successful read collapsed to one line
   • failed tool output still visible while collapsed

Acceptance Criteria

• Repeated ls calls no longer clutter the default transcript view.
• Other successful tool calls occupy one line when collapsed.
• Expanding tools still shows complete tool outputs.
• Tool failures remain inspectable without expanding tools.
• cargo fmt and cargo test pass.