Say what "open in container" is doing, and land on the pane doing it

Opening a page is a container probe, a browser launch, a page load and
often a viewer start — several seconds during which the only feedback
was the click itself. Worse from a terminal, where the result appears in
a pane the user is not looking at.

So: the backend emits progress on the existing `container-progress`
channel at each step, the Browser tab renders that line whenever it is
set — the progress belongs to the project, not to whoever pressed the
button, which is what lets a terminal-initiated open report anywhere at
all — and the terminal's "In container" now selects the project's
Browser tab before starting, so the line has somewhere to appear.

Selecting a sub-tab from outside needed a route: `ProjectHome` keeps it
in local state, so `openProjectHomeTab` parks a request in the store and
the pane consumes it once. Consumed once, so it cannot fight the user's
own clicking afterwards.

Preview releases now prune themselves to the newest KEEP_PREVIEWS (2),
in a job that runs only if all three platforms published — a
half-finished run must not evict a good older build. The cleanup
workflow's manual sweep stays as the backstop.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitea/workflows/build-app-preview.yml

@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ name: Build App (Preview)
 # unreachable set of bundles; it is now releases-only.
 #
 # The cost of the swap, stated plainly: one prerelease per PR commit that
-# touches `app/**`. They are pruned by Cleanup Old Releases (see Lifecycle).
+# touches `app/**` — so the workflow prunes its own, keeping the newest
+# KEEP_PREVIEWS (see Lifecycle).
 #
 # ## Why not workflow artifacts
 #
@@ -34,14 +35,22 @@ name: Build App (Preview)
 #
 # The `preview-` tag prefix is deliberate. `cleanup-releases.yml` keeps the most
 # recent `v<major>.<minor>.<patch>` releases and separately deletes every release
-# whose tag does *not* start with `v[0-9]` — so previews are pruned by the
-# cleanup that is already run, and never crowd the real release list.
+# whose tag does *not* start with `v[0-9]` — so previews never crowd the real
+# release list, and a manual cleanup sweeps any this workflow missed.
+#
+# But that cleanup is a manual, dry-run-by-default action, and one prerelease per
+# pushed commit accumulates faster than anyone runs it. So the last job here
+# prunes previous previews itself, keeping the newest few. Bundles are ~130 MB a
+# release; the point of a preview is the build you are testing now.
 #
 # `sync-release.yml` is workflow_dispatch-only, so nothing here reaches GitHub.
 
 env:
   GITEA_URL: ${{ gitea.server_url }}
   REPO: ${{ gitea.repository }}
+  # How many preview releases survive a run, newest first — including the one
+  # just published.
+  KEEP_PREVIEWS: "2"
 
 on:
   # Every push to an open PR: this *is* the branch's build check — it compiles
@@ -522,3 +531,48 @@ jobs:
               --data-binary "@$($file.FullName)" $uploadUri
             if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) { throw "Upload of $name failed (curl exit $LASTEXITCODE)" }
           }
+
+  # Keep the preview list short. Runs after the builds and only if all three
+  # succeeded: a half-published run must not be what evicts a good older build.
+  prune-previews:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [create-release, build-linux, build-macos, build-windows]
+    steps:
+      - name: Delete all but the newest preview releases
+        env:
+          TOKEN: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_TOKEN }}
+          KEEP_TAG: ${{ needs.create-release.outputs.tag }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          curl -fsS -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
+            "${GITEA_URL}/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/releases?limit=50" > releases.json
+
+          # Newest first by creation time, `preview-` only, and never the one
+          # this run just published — a clock skew must not delete it.
+          DOOMED=$(python3 - "${KEEP_PREVIEWS}" "${KEEP_TAG}" <<'PY'
+          import json, sys
+          keep, keep_tag = int(sys.argv[1]), sys.argv[2]
+          previews = [r for r in json.load(open("releases.json"))
+                      if r["tag_name"].startswith("preview-")]
+          previews.sort(key=lambda r: r["created_at"], reverse=True)
+          for r in previews[keep:]:
+              if r["tag_name"] != keep_tag:
+                  print(r["id"], r["tag_name"])
+          PY
+          )
+
+          if [ -z "${DOOMED}" ]; then
+            echo "Nothing to prune (keeping ${KEEP_PREVIEWS})"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          echo "${DOOMED}" | while read -r ID TAG; do
+            [ -z "${ID}" ] && continue
+            echo "Deleting ${TAG} (id ${ID})"
+            # Best effort: a preview someone deleted by hand mid-run is not a
+            # reason to fail a build that otherwise succeeded.
+            curl -sS -X DELETE -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
+              "${GITEA_URL}/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/releases/${ID}" || true
+            curl -sS -X DELETE -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
+              "${GITEA_URL}/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/tags/${TAG}" || true
+          done

app/src-tauri/src/browser_view/commands.rs

@@ -189,8 +189,15 @@ pub async fn open_page_in_container_browser(
         return Err("Only http:// and https:// URLs can be opened in the browser.".to_string());
     }
     let container_id = running_container(&state, &project_id, "opening a page").await?;
+    crate::commands::project_commands::emit_progress(
+        &app_handle,
+        &project_id,
+        "Checking the container for Playwright…",
+    );
     let detection = crate::browser_view::detect::detect(&container_id).await?;
     let opened = page::open(
+        &app_handle,
+        &project_id,
         &container_id,
         &detection,
         trimmed,
@@ -204,6 +211,11 @@ pub async fn open_page_in_container_browser(
     // Asking for a page *is* asking to watch it, so the viewer comes up too.
     let status = manager().status(&project_id).await;
     if status.state != BrowserViewState::Running {
+        crate::commands::project_commands::emit_progress(
+            &app_handle,
+            &project_id,
+            "Starting the viewer…",
+        );
         manager()
             .start(
                 project_id.clone(),
@@ -228,6 +240,7 @@ pub async fn open_page_in_container_browser(
         }
     }
 
+    crate::commands::project_commands::emit_progress(&app_handle, &project_id, "");
     Ok(opened)
 }
 

app/src-tauri/src/browser_view/page.rs

@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@
 //! larger. This is what makes the pop-out usable as a responsive-design ruler.
 
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use tauri::AppHandle;
 
+use crate::commands::project_commands::emit_progress;
 use crate::docker::exec::exec_oneshot_as;
 
 use super::detect::PlaywrightDetection;
@@ -87,6 +89,8 @@ pub struct PageState {
 /// Replaces any page this opened before: one helper per container, because the
 /// pane shows one browser and a second would just compete for the pane.
 pub async fn open(
+    app: &AppHandle,
+    project_id: &str,
     container_id: &str,
     detection: &PlaywrightDetection,
     url: &str,
@@ -112,6 +116,7 @@ pub async fn open(
     // browser's cookies and storage — which for the auth case means signing in
     // again to reach the second page, having just signed in on the first.
     if state(container_id).await.ready {
+        emit_progress(app, project_id, "Navigating the container's browser…");
         set_viewport(container_id, viewport).await?;
         navigate(container_id, url).await?;
         if let Some(state) = wait_for_url(container_id, url).await {
@@ -121,6 +126,10 @@ pub async fn open(
     }
 
     close(container_id).await;
+    // Cold start: a browser launch plus a page load, which is the several
+    // seconds the user would otherwise spend wondering whether the click
+    // registered.
+    emit_progress(app, project_id, "Launching a browser in the container…");
 
     let config = serde_json::json!({
         "core": core_dir,
@@ -150,6 +159,7 @@ pub async fn open(
     .await
     .map_err(|e| format!("Could not start the browser helper: {}", e))?;
 
+    emit_progress(app, project_id, "Waiting for the page to load…");
     wait_until_ready(container_id).await
 }
 

app/src/components/projects/home/BrowserTab.tsx

@@ -377,6 +377,15 @@ export default function BrowserTab({ project, active }: Props) {
           </span>
         )}
         <div className="flex-1" />
+        {progress && (
+          <span
+            className="flex items-center gap-1.5 text-xs text-[var(--text-secondary)] min-w-0"
+            aria-live="polite"
+          >
+            <StatusIndicator tone="busy" label="" />
+            <span className="truncate">{progress}</span>
+          </span>
+        )}
         {live && poppedOut === true && (
           <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5 text-xs text-[var(--text-secondary)]">
             Keep on top

app/src/components/projects/home/ProjectHome.tsx

@@ -43,6 +43,16 @@ export default function ProjectHome({ projectId, active }: Props) {
   const { projects, remove } = useProjects();
   const project = projects.find((p) => p.id === projectId);
   const [tab, setTab] = useState<ProjectHomeTabId>("overview");
+
+  // Somewhere else asked for this project on a particular sub-tab — currently
+  // "I opened a page in the container's browser, show me it". Consumed once, so
+  // it cannot fight the user's own clicking afterwards.
+  const pendingHomeTab = useAppState((s) => s.pendingHomeTab);
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (pendingHomeTab?.projectId !== projectId) return;
+    setTab(pendingHomeTab.tab as ProjectHomeTabId);
+    useAppState.getState().clearPendingHomeTab();
+  }, [pendingHomeTab, projectId]);
   const [confirmRemove, setConfirmRemove] = useState(false);
   const [confirmReset, setConfirmReset] = useState(false);
   const [showMigration, setShowMigration] = useState(false);

app/src/components/terminal/TerminalView.tsx

@@ -554,6 +554,9 @@ export default function TerminalView({ sessionId, active }: Props) {
       return;
     }
     if (!projectId) return;
+    // Land on the pane that will show it, before the work starts: opening takes
+    // several seconds, and the progress line lives there.
+    useAppState.getState().openProjectHomeTab(projectId, "browser");
     // A sign-in page is the one case where the *window* size matters least and
     // the layout matters most, so it gets the ordinary desktop viewport.
     // `true`: from a terminal there is no Browser pane on screen, so the page

app/src/store/appState.ts

@@ -71,6 +71,18 @@ interface AppState {
   tabOrder: string[];
   activeTabKey: string | null;
   openProjectHome: (projectId: string) => void;
+  /**
+   * Open a project's home tab *on a particular sub-tab*.
+   *
+   * The sub-tab is local state inside `ProjectHome`, so this parks a request
+   * here for it to pick up: an action taken somewhere else entirely — opening a
+   * page in the container's browser from a terminal — has to be able to land
+   * the user on the pane that shows the result.
+   */
+  openProjectHomeTab: (projectId: string, tab: string) => void;
+  /** Consumed once by `ProjectHome`, then cleared. */
+  pendingHomeTab: { projectId: string; tab: string } | null;
+  clearPendingHomeTab: () => void;
   closeHomeTab: (projectId: string) => void;
   setActiveTabKey: (key: string) => void;
   cycleTab: (delta: number) => void;
@@ -235,6 +247,20 @@ export const useAppState = create<AppState>((set) => ({
         ...activation(key),
       };
     }),
+  openProjectHomeTab: (projectId, tab) =>
+    set((state) => {
+      const key = homeTabKey(projectId);
+      return {
+        selectedProjectId: projectId,
+        tabOrder: state.tabOrder.includes(key)
+          ? state.tabOrder
+          : [...state.tabOrder, key],
+        pendingHomeTab: { projectId, tab },
+        ...activation(key),
+      };
+    }),
+  pendingHomeTab: null,
+  clearPendingHomeTab: () => set({ pendingHomeTab: null }),
   closeHomeTab: (projectId) =>
     set((state) => {
       const key = homeTabKey(projectId);