From 6c28eebb3f5e8c2896dfc062b52967223c0e9397 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kent Overstreet <kent.overstreet@linux.dev>
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2026 01:58:34 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] TUI: redirect stderr to log file and display in UI

Raw terminal mode swallows stderr output, making debugging difficult.
Now redirects stderr through a pipe to:
1. Log file at ~/.consciousness/logs/tui-stderr.log (persistent)
2. Channel polled by UI thread (shown as notifications)

The reader thread ensures both destinations see every line. Original
stderr is restored on exit so post-session errors reach the terminal.

Co-Authored-By: Proof of Concept <poc@bcachefs.org>
---
 src/user/mod.rs | 105 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 104 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/user/mod.rs b/src/user/mod.rs
index b9a5037..09e485f 100644
--- a/src/user/mod.rs
+++ b/src/user/mod.rs
@@ -452,6 +452,18 @@ async fn run(
             });
         }
 
+        // Drain stderr lines and display as notifications
+        if let Some(rx_mutex) = STDERR_RX.get() {
+            if let Ok(rx) = rx_mutex.try_lock() {
+                while let Ok(line) = rx.try_recv() {
+                    if let Ok(mut ag) = agent.state.try_lock() {
+                        ag.notify(format!("stderr: {}", line));
+                        dirty = true;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         // Rebuild tools if requested (e.g., think tool toggled)
         if app.rebuild_tools_pending {
             app.rebuild_tools_pending = false;
@@ -581,11 +593,95 @@ pub enum SubCmd {
     },
 }
 
+/// Global stderr receiver — set once at startup, polled by UI thread.
+static STDERR_RX: std::sync::OnceLock<std::sync::Mutex<std::sync::mpsc::Receiver<String>>> =
+    std::sync::OnceLock::new();
+
+/// Redirect stderr to a pipe. Spawns a thread that writes to log file and sends
+/// lines to a channel for display in the tools pane. Returns original stderr fd.
+fn redirect_stderr_to_pipe() -> Option<std::os::fd::RawFd> {
+    use std::os::unix::io::FromRawFd;
+    use std::fs::OpenOptions;
+    use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader, Write};
+
+    let log_dir = dirs::home_dir()?.join(".consciousness/logs");
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&log_dir).ok()?;
+    let log_path = log_dir.join("tui-stderr.log");
+
+    let mut log_file = OpenOptions::new()
+        .create(true)
+        .append(true)
+        .open(&log_path)
+        .ok()?;
+
+    // Create pipe
+    let mut pipe_fds = [0i32; 2];
+    if unsafe { libc::pipe(pipe_fds.as_mut_ptr()) } == -1 {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let (pipe_read, pipe_write) = (pipe_fds[0], pipe_fds[1]);
+
+    // Save original stderr
+    let original_stderr = unsafe { libc::dup(libc::STDERR_FILENO) };
+    if original_stderr == -1 {
+        unsafe { libc::close(pipe_read); libc::close(pipe_write); }
+        return None;
+    }
+
+    // Redirect stderr to pipe write end
+    if unsafe { libc::dup2(pipe_write, libc::STDERR_FILENO) } == -1 {
+        unsafe { libc::close(original_stderr); libc::close(pipe_read); libc::close(pipe_write); }
+        return None;
+    }
+    unsafe { libc::close(pipe_write); } // Close our copy, stderr now owns it
+
+    // Channel for UI display
+    let (tx, rx) = std::sync::mpsc::channel();
+
+    // Write startup marker
+    let timestamp = chrono::Local::now().format("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S");
+    let marker = format!("\n--- TUI started at {} ---\n", timestamp);
+    let _ = log_file.write_all(marker.as_bytes());
+
+    // Spawn reader thread
+    std::thread::spawn(move || {
+        let pipe_read = unsafe { std::fs::File::from_raw_fd(pipe_read) };
+        let reader = BufReader::new(pipe_read);
+        for line in reader.lines() {
+            let line = match line {
+                Ok(l) => l,
+                Err(_) => break,
+            };
+            // Write to log file
+            let _ = writeln!(log_file, "{}", line);
+            let _ = log_file.flush();
+            // Send to UI (ignore if receiver dropped)
+            let _ = tx.send(line);
+        }
+    });
+
+    // Store receiver in static for UI thread access
+    let _ = STDERR_RX.set(std::sync::Mutex::new(rx));
+
+    Some(original_stderr)
+}
+
+/// Restore stderr to original fd (call on cleanup).
+fn restore_stderr(original_fd: std::os::fd::RawFd) {
+    unsafe {
+        libc::dup2(original_fd, libc::STDERR_FILENO);
+        libc::close(original_fd);
+    }
+}
+
 #[tokio::main]
 pub async fn main() {
     // Auto-reap child processes (channel daemons outlive the supervisor)
     unsafe { libc::signal(libc::SIGCHLD, libc::SIG_IGN); }
 
+    // Redirect stderr to pipe — logs to file and sends to channel for UI display
+    let stderr_capture = redirect_stderr_to_pipe();
+
     // Initialize the Qwen tokenizer for direct token generation
     let tokenizer_path = dirs::home_dir().unwrap_or_default()
         .join(".consciousness/tokenizer-qwen35.json");
@@ -606,7 +702,14 @@ pub async fn main() {
         return;
     }
 
-    if let Err(e) = start(cli).await {
+    let result = start(cli).await;
+
+    // Restore stderr before any terminal cleanup or error printing
+    if let Some(fd) = stderr_capture {
+        restore_stderr(fd);
+    }
+
+    if let Err(e) = result {
         let _ = ratatui::crossterm::terminal::disable_raw_mode();
         let _ = ratatui::crossterm::execute!(
             std::io::stdout(),