* perf(startup): hydrate providers/agents from cache (stale-while-revalidate)
Persist last-known provider/agent snapshots instead of stripping them, so the
model/agent pickers paint instantly on cold start. Freshness is preserved by the
background refresh in initializeApp() and activateDirectory() (which overwrite on
success) and by the existing provider/agent config-change subscriptions, so the
prior stale-provider regression stays fixed without blanking the UI during fetch.
* perf(startup): cache directory session list for instant sidebar
Persist a capped slice of each directory's session list and seed the child store
from it on creation, so the sidebar paints chats immediately on cold start.
Bootstrap phase-3 loadSessions overwrites with the fresh list; its empty-list
race guard preserves the seeded sessions during OpenCode warmup.
* perf(startup): hold API requests through OpenCode warmup instead of 503
The readiness gate returned 503 the instant OpenCode wasn't ready, pushing the
client into an exponential-backoff retry loop (500ms -> 1s -> ...) that wasted
seconds of cold-start time and could fail bootstrap outright. Now hold the
request and poll readiness up to a bounded window so the first call succeeds as
soon as OpenCode is up (typically sub-second); still 503 fast past the window so
a genuinely-down server doesn't hang. Adds coverage for both paths.
* perf(startup): surface cached providers/agents in pickers (optimistic readiness)
The model/agent pickers gated purely on isInitialized, so they showed
"Loading…" for the entire init round-trip even when provider/agent data was
already hydrated from cache — making the persisted-cache work invisible. Treat
the pickers as ready as soon as cached providers are present (stale-while-
revalidate), so they paint last-known models/agents instantly and refresh in the
background. First-ever launch (no cache) still shows Loading until init.
* perf(startup): don't abort directory bootstrap on transient phase-1 failure
A failed initial path.get OR session.status aborted the whole directory
bootstrap, stranding it in loading and skipping phase 2/3 (session load).
session.status is live data the event pipeline keeps current, and path.get is
tolerable once a project is resolved from global state. Now only a total
failure (or path.get failing with no resolved project) aborts, so the sidebar
and chat keep advancing and loading sessions through warmup hiccups.
* perf(startup): don't bootstrap directories from archived sidebar rows
Each sidebar session row called useDirectoryStore(dir), which defaulted to
bootstrap:true and triggered a full directory bootstrap. Archived sessions point
at dozens of (often deleted) worktrees, so on startup this fired a session-list
fetch + 6x2s empty-retry storm per dead directory (the logs the user saw). The
store ref there is only read on-demand via getState() in export handlers, never
subscribed, so archived rows don't need it bootstrapped. Add a { bootstrap }
option to useDirectoryStore and skip bootstrap for archived rows; active rows
still bootstrap so live cross-directory session/status keeps aggregating.
* perf(startup): stop empty-session bootstrap retry storm on web/desktop
The post-bootstrap retry re-ran the full directory bootstrap 6x2s whenever the
session list came back empty, on the theory that empty meant OpenCode wasn't
ready. But loadSessions already retries transient failures twice over
(listGlobalSessionPages throws on 5xx and retries internally), so on web/desktop
an empty result is authoritative — the directory genuinely has no sessions (e.g.
deleted worktrees referenced only by archived sessions). That produced the
dozens of '[bootstrap] sessions empty ... 6 attempts; giving up' log storms.
Gate the retry to VS Code, where the bridge can return an empty 200 during
warmup that the inner retries can't catch.
* perf(startup): scope provider/agent config to project (worktrees inherit)
Providers/agents/defaults are project-level, but were keyed per directory, so a
worktree fetched and cached its own snapshot — duplicating the parent project's
load (the trace showed initializeApp loading the worktree and activateDirectory
loading the project concurrently, ~8s of redundant background work).
- resolveConfigDirectory() maps a worktree to its owning project; loadProviders
/loadAgents/activateDirectory now key by it, so a worktree reuses one shared
project snapshot. activateDirectory resolves up-front so activeDirectoryKey and
the snapshot key always match (picker stays consistent); the OpenCode working
directory is unaffected.
- Add a 30s runtime freshness guard so the stale-while-revalidate background
refresh skips re-fetching config that was just loaded (initializeApp then
activateDirectory for the same project), and to avoid churn on rapid project
switches. Config-change invalidation clears the snapshot, which bypasses the
guard, so freshness never masks a needed refresh.
* fix(sidebar): default archived sessions to hidden to avoid startup flash
useSessionDisplayStore defaulted showArchivedSessions to true, so on startup
archived sessions rendered by default and then vanished once the persisted
preference rehydrated to hidden — a visible flash. Default to hidden so the
pre-hydration state is the quiet one; users who opted into showing archived keep
their persisted true (default change doesn't override persisted state).
* perf(startup): persist worktree->project mapping to kill cold double-load
The worktree->project map (availableWorktreesByProject) is populated by async git
discovery, so it isn't ready when initializeApp runs — a worktree's first config
load couldn't resolve to its project and duplicated the project's provider/agent
load, saturating OpenCode during cold start (the source of the slow first
createSession/send the user observed). Cache resolved worktree->project mappings
to localStorage so resolveConfigDirectory resolves synchronously at init on
subsequent launches; the project is loaded once and activateDirectory hits the
freshness guard. worktree->project is immutable so a cached entry is safe; live
resolution still populates/corrects the cache.
* perf(startup): persist worktree map for instant sidebar + first-launch keying
Worktree discovery is async (git), so availableWorktreesByProject was empty at
startup: the sidebar worktree list appeared late, and useConfigStore couldn't
resolve a worktree to its project on the first launch (causing the cold
worktree+project double-load). Persist the discovered worktree map to
localStorage and seed it synchronously on store init (stale-while-revalidate:
discovery refreshes in the background via the existing setState, which now
write-through persists). The sidebar paints worktrees instantly and
resolveConfigDirectory resolves the project from the very first launch.
* perf(startup): coalesce concurrent duplicate OpenCode reads in runtimeFetch
On cold start the sync bootstrap and the config store independently fire the same
idempotent reads (providers, config, path, agents, project) concurrently with no
shared dedup, saturating the single OpenCode process and delaying work queued
behind it (e.g. createSession). Coalesce genuinely-concurrent identical GETs to
those read endpoints at the transport layer so OpenCode does the work once; each
caller receives an independent response clone. Tightly scoped: GET only,
allowlisted read paths, never event streams, never a signal-bearing request (so
one caller's abort can't cancel the shared fetch). Entries clear on settle, so it
only shares overlapping in-flight requests — never a stale response.
* perf(startup): cache git branches so the draft branch selector paints instantly
The branch selector above the composer was the slowest-loading element: it's
gated behind a cold 'git branch' fetch (useGitStore, not persisted). Cache the
per-directory branch list to localStorage and seed the store on init (with
isGitRepo:true so the selector's gate passes), and write the cache on every
successful fetchBranches. The ChatInput draft-branch effect now refreshes on
staleness (>30s) rather than mere absence, so seeded branches show immediately
and still refresh in the background without a spinner — no stale-forever
regression. Only the branch list is cached; status/log/diff are untouched.
openchamber # Start on port 3000
openchamber --port 8080# Custom port
openchamber --lan --port 3000# Listen on LAN (0.0.0.0)
openchamber --ui-password secret # Password-protect UI
openchamber startup enable# Start at login as a native serviceOPENCHAMBER_UI_PASSWORD=secret openchamber startup enable# Save service password env
openchamber startup status # Show startup service status
openchamber startup disable # Remove startup service
openchamber tunnel help# Tunnel lifecycle commands
openchamber tunnel providers # Show provider capabilities
openchamber tunnel profile add --provider cloudflare --mode managed-remote --name prod-main --hostname app.example.com --token <token>
openchamber tunnel start --profile prod-main
openchamber tunnel start --provider cloudflare --mode quick --qr
openchamber tunnel start --provider cloudflare --mode managed-local --config ~/.cloudflared/config.yml
openchamber tunnel status --all # Show tunnel state across instances
openchamber tunnel stop --port 3000# Stop tunnel only (server stays running)
openchamber connect-url --port 3000# Add this server to OpenChamber Desktop
openchamber connect-url --server http://host:3000 --qr
openchamber connect-url --port 3000 --qr
openchamber logs # Follow latest instance logsOPENCODE_PORT=4096OPENCODE_SKIP_START=true openchamber # Connect to external OpenCode serverOPENCODE_HOST=https://myhost:4096 OPENCODE_SKIP_START=true openchamber # Connect via custom host/HTTPS
openchamber stop # Stop server
openchamber update # Update to latest version
startup enable snapshots your current environment into the native service so startup behaves like you launched openchamber from the same shell. This preserves provider tokens, PATH, SSH agent settings, and other CLI auth/config env vars. Use --no-env-snapshot for a minimal service env.
Tunnel behavior notes
One active tunnel per running OpenChamber instance (port).
Starting a different tunnel mode/provider on the same instance replaces the active tunnel.
Replacing or stopping a tunnel revokes existing connect links and invalidates remote tunnel sessions.
Connect links are one-time tokens; generating a new link revokes the previous unused link.
Connect other OpenChamber apps
Use connect-url when a web/API server should be added to OpenChamber Desktop or another OpenChamber app. If no server is running on the selected port, OpenChamber starts one first.
--api-only starts API routes without serving browser UI assets. --lan binds the server so other machines can reach it. --server is the address saved into the Desktop connection link. --ui-password protects browser access if UI routes are enabled elsewhere; the generated client token is what Desktop uses for API access.
This creates a remote client token and prints an openchamber://connect?... link. The link contains the server URL, token, label, and payload version. In OpenChamber Desktop, paste it in Settings -> Remote Instances -> Direct Instances -> Import Link to add that server as an Instance.
If the server was started with --lan or --host 0.0.0.0, connect-url automatically advertises a detected LAN IP instead of 127.0.0.1. Use --server <url> when you want to advertise a specific DNS name, Tailscale address, reverse proxy URL, or HTTPS endpoint.
If you are exposing the server beyond localhost, start it with a password:
Generating a client token does not automatically password-protect the hosted browser UI. --ui-password protects browser access; the client token lets another OpenChamber app connect to this server.
Security note: binding to 0.0.0.0 exposes the server on all network interfaces — use only on trusted networks and protect with firewall rules or --ui-password.
Managed-local path note: OPENCHAMBER_TUNNEL_CONFIG must use a container path under /home/openchamber/.... If the config file references credentials-file, ensure that JSON path is also mounted and reachable inside the container.
Data directory: mount data/ for persistent storage. Ensure permissions:
openchamber # Runs in background by default
openchamber stop # Stop background server
systemd service (VPN / LAN access)
Use --foreground to keep the CLI process alive so systemd (or any other process manager) can track and restart it. Combine with OPENCODE_HOST to connect to an OpenCode instance running as a separate service.
Why set PATH and SSH_AUTH_SOCK?
systemd user services start with a minimal environment — no shell profile is sourced.
Without an explicit PATH, OpenCode won't find tools installed via Homebrew, npm, or ~/.local/bin.
Without SSH_AUTH_SOCK, git operations over SSH (push, pull, clone) will fail.
%t expands to $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR (e.g. /run/user/1000), where most SSH agents write their socket.
--host 0.0.0.0 is required to listen on all interfaces (the default is 127.0.0.1). Use --host <ip> or OPENCHAMBER_HOST=<ip> to bind to a specific interface instead.
What makes the web version special
Remote access - Cloudflare tunnel with QR onboarding. Scan from your phone, start coding.
Bohdan Triapitsyn
e372c8d8cb
