From 442036b22fd887b72e655dc873cc0541feceff87 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Gabriel Brown <gib@gibbyb.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2026 19:54:08 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Gateway: hide delegated threads unless they wait on the user

---
 gateway/src/awareness.ts       | 5 ++++-
 gateway/src/t3/types.ts        | 4 +++-
 gateway/test/awareness.test.ts | 8 ++++++++
 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/gateway/src/awareness.ts b/gateway/src/awareness.ts
index c1ae698..47e1efa 100644
--- a/gateway/src/awareness.ts
+++ b/gateway/src/awareness.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export type Phase =
 type AwarenessFields = Pick<
   ThreadShell,
   | "activityRunStatus"
+  | "delegatedFrom"
   | "lineage"
   | "latestRunStopRequested"
   | "pendingBackgroundTasks"
@@ -24,12 +25,14 @@ type AwarenessFields = Pick<
 
 /**
  * The phase to show for a thread, or null when the watch should not show it: subagent children,
- * threads that never ran or were stopped, and finished work the user already settled.
+ * threads that never ran or were stopped, and finished work the user already settled. Delegated
+ * threads show only while they wait on the user, so their approvals still reach the watch.
  */
 export function threadPhase(thread: AwarenessFields): Phase | null {
   if (thread.lineage.relationshipToParent === "subagent") return null;
   const phase = resolvePhase(thread);
   if (phase === null) return null;
+  if (thread.delegatedFrom && phase !== "waiting_for_approval" && phase !== "waiting_for_input") return null;
   if (phase === "completed" && thread.latestRunStopRequested === true) return null;
   if (
     thread.settledOverride === "settled" &&
diff --git a/gateway/src/t3/types.ts b/gateway/src/t3/types.ts
index d59f995..4259958 100644
--- a/gateway/src/t3/types.ts
+++ b/gateway/src/t3/types.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ export interface ThreadShell {
   lastError?: string | null;
   modelSelection: ModelSelection;
   runtimeMode?: string;
-  lineage: { relationshipToParent: Open<"subagent"> | null };
+  lineage: { relationshipToParent: Open<"fork" | "subagent"> | null };
+  /** Set on threads an agent started with delegate_task, which T3 does not mark as subagents. */
+  delegatedFrom?: { environmentId: string; threadId: string; title: string };
   settledOverride?: Open<"settled"> | null;
 }
 
diff --git a/gateway/test/awareness.test.ts b/gateway/test/awareness.test.ts
index a9eed50..ad6d3d3 100644
--- a/gateway/test/awareness.test.ts
+++ b/gateway/test/awareness.test.ts
@@ -95,4 +95,12 @@ describe("threadPhase", () => {
   it("hides threads that never ran", () => {
     expect(threadPhase(thread({ status: "idle" }))).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  // Not from upstream: delegate_task children carry no subagent lineage, only delegatedFrom.
+  it("shows delegated threads only while they wait on the user", () => {
+    const delegatedFrom = { environmentId: "env-desktop", threadId: "thread-1", title: "Parent" };
+    expect(threadPhase(thread({ delegatedFrom }))).toBeNull();
+    expect(threadPhase(thread({ delegatedFrom, status: "completed" }))).toBeNull();
+    expect(threadPhase(thread({ delegatedFrom, pendingRuntimeRequest: request("command") }))).toBe("waiting_for_approval");
+  });
 });