update shell output at an interval to reduce flicker (#614)

packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/shellCommandProcessor.ts

@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ import path from 'path';
 import os from 'os';
 import fs from 'fs';
 
+const OUTPUT_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS = 1000;
+
 /**
  * Hook to process shell commands (e.g., !ls, $pwd).
  * Executes the command in the target directory and adds output/errors to history.
@@ -122,16 +124,20 @@ export const useShellCommandProcessor = (
 
           let exited = false;
           let output = '';
+          let lastUpdateTime = Date.now();
           const handleOutput = (data: string) => {
             // continue to consume post-exit for background processes
             // removing listeners can overflow OS buffer and block subprocesses
             // destroying (e.g. child.stdout.destroy()) can terminate subprocesses via SIGPIPE
             if (!exited) {
               output += data;
+              if (Date.now() - lastUpdateTime > OUTPUT_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS) {
                 setPendingHistoryItem({
                   type: 'info',
                   text: output,
                 });
+                lastUpdateTime = Date.now();
+              }
             }
           };
           child.stdout.on('data', handleOutput);

packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useToolScheduler.ts

@@ -288,11 +288,9 @@ export function useToolScheduler(
           const callId = t.request.callId;
           setToolCalls(setStatus(t.request.callId, 'executing'));
 
-          let accumulatedOutput = '';
+          const updateOutput =
-          const onOutputChunk =
             t.tool.name === 'execute_bash_command'
-              ? (chunk: string) => {
+              ? (output: string) => {
-                  accumulatedOutput += chunk;
                   setPendingHistoryItem(
                     (prevItem: HistoryItemWithoutId | null) => {
                       if (prevItem?.type === 'tool_group') {
@@ -304,7 +302,7 @@ export function useToolScheduler(
                               toolDisplay.status === ToolCallStatus.Executing
                                 ? {
                                     ...toolDisplay,
-                                    resultDisplay: accumulatedOutput,
+                                    resultDisplay: output,
                                   }
                                 : toolDisplay,
                           ),
@@ -319,7 +317,7 @@ export function useToolScheduler(
                   setToolCalls((prevToolCalls) =>
                     prevToolCalls.map((tc) =>
                       tc.request.callId === callId && tc.status === 'executing'
-                        ? { ...tc, liveOutput: accumulatedOutput }
+                        ? { ...tc, liveOutput: output }
                         : tc,
                     ),
                   );
@@ -327,7 +325,7 @@ export function useToolScheduler(
               : undefined;
 
           t.tool
-            .execute(t.request.args, signal, onOutputChunk)
+            .execute(t.request.args, signal, updateOutput)
             .then((result: ToolResult) => {
               if (signal.aborted) {
                 // TODO(jacobr): avoid stringifying the LLM content.

packages/server/src/tools/shell.ts

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ export interface ShellToolParams {
 }
 import { spawn } from 'child_process';
 
+const OUTPUT_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS = 1000;
+
 export class ShellTool extends BaseTool<ShellToolParams, ToolResult> {
   static Name: string = 'execute_bash_command';
   private whitelist: Set<string> = new Set();
@@ -124,7 +126,7 @@ export class ShellTool extends BaseTool<ShellToolParams, ToolResult> {
   async execute(
     params: ShellToolParams,
     abortSignal: AbortSignal,
-    onOutputChunk?: (chunk: string) => void,
+    updateOutput?: (output: string) => void,
   ): Promise<ToolResult> {
     const validationError = this.validateToolParams(params);
     if (validationError) {
@@ -155,6 +157,19 @@ export class ShellTool extends BaseTool<ShellToolParams, ToolResult> {
     let exited = false;
     let stdout = '';
     let output = '';
+    let lastUpdateTime = Date.now();
+
+    const appendOutput = (str: string) => {
+      output += str;
+      if (
+        updateOutput &&
+        Date.now() - lastUpdateTime > OUTPUT_UPDATE_INTERVAL_MS
+      ) {
+        updateOutput(output);
+        lastUpdateTime = Date.now();
+      }
+    };
+
     shell.stdout.on('data', (data: Buffer) => {
       // continue to consume post-exit for background processes
       // removing listeners can overflow OS buffer and block subprocesses
@@ -162,10 +177,7 @@ export class ShellTool extends BaseTool<ShellToolParams, ToolResult> {
       if (!exited) {
         const str = data.toString();
         stdout += str;
-        output += str;
+        appendOutput(str);
-        if (onOutputChunk) {
-          onOutputChunk(str);
-        }
       }
     });
 
@@ -174,10 +186,7 @@ export class ShellTool extends BaseTool<ShellToolParams, ToolResult> {
       if (!exited) {
         const str = data.toString();
         stderr += str;
-        output += str;
+        appendOutput(str);
-        if (onOutputChunk) {
-          onOutputChunk(str);
-        }
       }
     });
 

packages/server/src/tools/tools.ts

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export interface Tool<
   execute(
     params: TParams,
     signal: AbortSignal,
-    onOutputChunk?: (chunk: string) => void,
+    updateOutput?: (output: string) => void,
   ): Promise<TResult>;
 }
 
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ export abstract class BaseTool<
   abstract execute(
     params: TParams,
     signal: AbortSignal,
-    onOutputChunk?: (chunk: string) => void,
+    updateOutput?: (output: string) => void,
   ): Promise<TResult>;
 }