fix: redesign /provider transition microcopy — progressive disclosure, terse confirmations - #268
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…, terse confirmations
Addresses the feedback from testing that the /provider use/auto confirmations
were 320-char paragraphs explaining that the pin 'takes effect on the NEXT
turn' and that users should check the token-usage line to confirm. That copy
compensated for uncertainty that no longer exists — three persistent surfaces
already do the confirming:
• Prompt indicator: [📌 name]> rendered one line down, persistent
• Per-turn footer badge: · 📌 pinned
• /provider status: full scope + usage caveat
The transition line was the least important of four surfaces and by far the
longest. This redesign reduces noise and applies progressive disclosure:
NEW BEHAVIOR (matches Option 4 from the design review):
First /provider use in a session (two lines, taught once):
📌 pinned: anthropic-fable
experimental · scope: this conversation only · /provider for details
Every subsequent pin (one line):
📌 pinned: openai-fast
Already pinned to that provider (one line):
📌 already pinned: openai-fast
Unpin when something was pinned (one line):
unpinned (was openai-fast)
Unpin when nothing was pinned (one line):
not pinned
CHANGES:
1. /provider use: 320 chars / 5 wrapped lines → 25 chars / 1 line (first pin
also includes 2-line teach block, one time per session).
2. /provider auto: 284 chars / 4 wrapped lines → 26 chars / 1 line.
3. Three design decisions locked in code:
a) DELIBERATE ASYMMETRY: use is confirmed by a signal APPEARING, auto by
one DISAPPEARING (weaker evidence). Unpinning destroys the prompt
indicator, the only other record of what was pinned. The (was X)
clause is the single genuinely non-redundant fact in either message.
Locked by a test with the reason documented.
b) FORWARD-LOOKING TENSE IS BANNED: every string is past-tense or
state-descriptive ('pinned', 'unpinned', 'already pinned', 'not pinned')
— each one true at the instant it prints, because it describes what
the system was TOLD, not what a model DID. Removed 'takes effect on
NEXT turn' entirely rather than rewording it. Enforced by runtime
sweeps and AST checks on the string constants.
c) NO-OP HONESTY: /provider auto with nothing pinned previously printed
'unpinned' (untrue), re-pinning an already-pinned provider printed a
fresh 'pinned' (untrue). Both were plausible-but-false confirmations —
exactly the failure class this feature exists to prevent. They now
report 'not pinned' and 'already pinned: X'. The already-pinned path
still calls pin() so an unmounted provider surfaces its loud error
instead of a false confirmation.
4. Messages render dim (color carries weight, reads as a receipt not content).
Provider names are markup-escaped so '[' can't open a style tag.
TESTS: 83 passed (was 71). Full suite: 1384 passed, 1 skipped, 13
deselected, 1 xfailed. All five states verified end-to-end in a real TUI
session; teach line correctly appears once per session; no old verbose text;
no de-emphasis attribute capture (pyte limitation) but luminance difference
measured at ~63% of normal (technically correct, visually dim).
Fixes follow-up to PR #267.
🤖 Generated with [Amplifier](https://github.com/microsoft/amplifier)
Co-Authored-By: Amplifier <240397093+microsoft-amplifier@users.noreply.github.com>
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Summary
Progressive disclosure redesign of the
/provider useand/provider autotransition messages — moving from 320-char paragraphs with forward-looking predictions to terse, immediately-true confirmations that leverage three persistent UI surfaces already doing the confirming.The reduction: 320 → 25 chars (use), 284 → 26 chars (auto). No 5-4 line wraps anymore — one line each, plus a one-time teach block on first pin.
Design decisions locked in code
Deliberate asymmetry:
useconfirmed by signal APPEARING → needs nothing more.autoconfirmed by signal DISAPPEARING (weaker) + destroys the only other record of what was pinned → includes(was X). Test documents the reason so nobody "fixes" it into symmetry.No forward-looking tense: Every string is past-tense or state-descriptive ('pinned', 'unpinned', 'already pinned', 'not pinned') — each true at print time, describing what the system was TOLD not what a model DID. Removed 'takes effect on NEXT turn' entirely. Enforced by runtime + AST checks.
No-op honesty:
autowith nothing pinned now says 'not pinned' (was falsely 'unpinned'). Re-pinning already-pinned now says 'already pinned' (was falsely fresh 'pinned'). Still call pin() so unmounted providers surface loud errors, not false confirmations.Test evidence
Relates to
Follows up PR #267 (the command itself). Same design review process; this is the microcopy cleanup.