From 5fb039c807a752fd75cfa3a266a73ada10736d9e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Charles Packer <packercharles@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2026 20:24:43 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] feat(cli): add network phase arrows to streaming status
 (#765)

Co-authored-by: Letta <noreply@letta.com>
---
 src/cli/App.tsx                  | 19 ++++++++++++++++++-
 src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/cli/App.tsx b/src/cli/App.tsx
index ff97b10..e05f8d4 100644
--- a/src/cli/App.tsx
+++ b/src/cli/App.tsx
@@ -793,6 +793,15 @@ export default function App({
   // Whether a stream is in flight (disables input)
   // Uses synced state to keep ref in sync for reliable async checks
   const [streaming, setStreaming, streamingRef] = useSyncedState(false);
+  const [networkPhase, setNetworkPhase] = useState<
+    "upload" | "download" | "error" | null
+  >(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!streaming) {
+      setNetworkPhase(null);
+    }
+  }, [streaming]);
 
   // Guard ref for preventing concurrent processConversation calls
   // Separate from streaming state which may be set early for UI responsiveness
@@ -2419,6 +2428,7 @@ export default function App({
         }
 
         setStreaming(true);
+        setNetworkPhase("upload");
         abortControllerRef.current = new AbortController();
 
         // Recover interrupted message: if cache contains ONLY user messages, prepend them
@@ -2743,6 +2753,11 @@ export default function App({
             }
           };
 
+          const handleFirstMessage = () => {
+            setNetworkPhase("download");
+            void syncAgentState();
+          };
+
           const {
             stopReason,
             approval,
@@ -2755,7 +2770,7 @@ export default function App({
             buffersRef.current,
             refreshDerivedThrottled,
             signal, // Use captured signal, not ref (which may be nulled by handleInterrupt)
-            syncAgentState,
+            handleFirstMessage,
           );
 
           // Update currentRunId for error reporting in catch block
@@ -3684,6 +3699,7 @@ export default function App({
           // If we have a client-side stream error (e.g., JSON parse error), show it directly
           // Fallback error: no run_id available, show whatever error message we have
           if (fallbackError) {
+            setNetworkPhase("error");
             const errorMsg = lastRunId
               ? `Stream error: ${fallbackError}\n(run_id: ${lastRunId})`
               : `Stream error: ${fallbackError}`;
@@ -9847,6 +9863,7 @@ Plan file path: ${planFilePath}`;
                 onPasteError={handlePasteError}
                 restoredInput={restoredInput}
                 onRestoredInputConsumed={() => setRestoredInput(null)}
+                networkPhase={networkPhase}
               />
             </Box>
 
diff --git a/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx b/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx
index 3858961..e7a2e33 100644
--- a/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx
+++ b/src/cli/components/InputRich.tsx
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ export function Input({
   onPasteError,
   restoredInput,
   onRestoredInputConsumed,
+  networkPhase = null,
 }: {
   visible?: boolean;
   streaming: boolean;
@@ -238,6 +239,7 @@ export function Input({
   onPasteError?: (message: string) => void;
   restoredInput?: string | null;
   onRestoredInputConsumed?: () => void;
+  networkPhase?: "upload" | "download" | "error" | null;
 }) {
   const [value, setValue] = useState("");
   const [escapePressed, setEscapePressed] = useState(false);
@@ -838,16 +840,31 @@ export function Input({
     streaming && elapsedMs > ELAPSED_DISPLAY_THRESHOLD_MS;
   const elapsedMinutes = Math.floor(elapsedMs / 60000);
 
+  const networkArrow = useMemo(() => {
+    if (!networkPhase) return "";
+    if (networkPhase === "upload") return "↑";
+    if (networkPhase === "download") return "↓";
+    return "↑\u0338";
+  }, [networkPhase]);
+
   // Build the status hint text (esc to interrupt · 2m · 1.2k ↑)
   // Uses chalk.dim to match reasoning text styling
   // Memoized to prevent unnecessary re-renders during shimmer updates
   const statusHintText = useMemo(() => {
     const hintColor = chalk.hex(colors.subagent.hint);
     const hintBold = hintColor.bold;
-    const suffix =
-      (shouldShowElapsed ? ` · ${elapsedMinutes}m` : "") +
-      (shouldShowTokenCount ? ` · ${formatCompact(estimatedTokens)} ↑` : "") +
-      ")";
+    const parts: string[] = [];
+    if (shouldShowElapsed) {
+      parts.push(`${elapsedMinutes}m`);
+    }
+    if (shouldShowTokenCount) {
+      parts.push(
+        `${formatCompact(estimatedTokens)}${networkArrow ? ` ${networkArrow}` : ""}`,
+      );
+    } else if (networkArrow) {
+      parts.push(networkArrow);
+    }
+    const suffix = `${parts.length > 0 ? ` · ${parts.join(" · ")}` : ""})`;
     if (interruptRequested) {
       return hintColor(` (interrupting${suffix}`);
     }
@@ -860,6 +877,7 @@ export function Input({
     shouldShowTokenCount,
     estimatedTokens,
     interruptRequested,
+    networkArrow,
   ]);
 
   // Create a horizontal line using box-drawing characters