#110 feat: Implement optimistic-send UI for chat messages + misc fixes

[Anonymous]

Originally created by: HaysonC

Implement optimistic-send UI for chat messages + misc fixes

• UX: optimistic-send
• Show outgoing messages instantly (optimistic UI) with a temporary MessageInfo (id tmp:<uuid>, pending=True) appended under refresh_lock.
• Display "Sending..." in the status bar while the send runs in a background daemon thread.
• On success: fetch authoritative server messages and replace the local list so the optimistic entry is replaced by server-provided data.
• On failure: remove the optimistic message and clear status.

• All mutations to chat_window.messages are protected by refresh_lock and the lock is never held during blocking network I/O.

• Data / rendering

• Add pending and failed flags to MessageInfo.

• Render pending/failed markers in ChatWindow (e.g. " (sending...)", " (FAILED)").

• Code style / safety

• Ensure optimistic send thread replaces messages safely and always releases locks.

• Use UUID-based temporary IDs to avoid collisions.

• Utilities / API changes

• Convert copied class-methods to standalone module functions in utils.py (moved logic out of class methods).
• Replace incorrect parameter names and update internal references accordingly.

• Update docstrings to document the renamed parameter (self → client) for the converted functions.

• CLI

• Added -h flag as an alias for --help.

Files touched (high level)

• direct_messages.py — add pending/failed to MessageInfo.
• chat_interface.py — optimistic append, background send, server-replace logic (uses refresh_lock).
• chat_window.py — show pending/failed markers.
• status_bar.py — spinner support/status update integration.
• utils.py — convert class-methods → standalone functions, fix parameter names & docstrings.
• cli.py — add -h flag alias for --help.

Notes / next steps

• Consider marking failed messages instead of removing to allow retries.
• If the send API can return the sent message object, consider replacing only the optimistic message rather than the whole list to reduce UI churn.
• Add tests and manual checks for success/failure flows, rapid sends, and race conditions.

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by: HaysonC

will test more tmr and make sure linting and coding convention follow. i will go to sleep now

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by: supreme-gg-gg

When running seems like the message disappears for a few seconds after the placeholder and before being updated when the server responds, might have to do with fetching stale messages from backend and refreshing those?

EDIT: shoudl be fixed by the latest commit since we now also manage a local list of pending messages and merge them with stale server messages and expire them when failed / done

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by: HaysonC

lgtm, thanks for the feature @HaysonC, you might need to run linter again tho

linter passed for me, see if the GitHub workflow ones had any errors

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by: supreme-gg-gg

lgtm, thanks for the feature @HaysonC, you might need to run linter again tho

linter passed for me, see if the GitHub workflow ones had any errors

Sorry I meant formatter, we don't have a precommit hook for ruff yet because it conflicts with prettier one, so you need to do it manually or format on save unfortunately 😭

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by: HaysonC

lgtm, thanks for the feature @HaysonC, you might need to run linter again tho

linter passed for me, see if the GitHub workflow ones had any errors

Sorry I meant formatter, we don't have a precommit hook for ruff yet because it conflicts with prettier one, so you need to do it manually or format on save unfortunately 😭

ok, mb, did ruff format .

[Anonymous]

Ticket changed by: supreme-gg-gg

• status: open --> closed