fix: suppress notification spam on app re-open (#623)

* fix: suppress notification spam on app re-open

- Add background_task notification category (default ON) so users can
  toggle off background-task pings via Settings → Notifications
- Route notify-user builtin through notifyIfEnabled gate so the
  category toggle takes effect
- Add 60s startup grace period: background-task notifications fired
  within 60s of launch are suppressed, killing the reopen flood where
  all queued agents complete at once
- Suppress new_email notifications for emails older than 5 min so
  Gmail's startup backlog replay doesn't surface day-old mail

Fixes both issues reported by Ramnique.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix: skip automatic chat_completion ping for background task agents

Background task runs were triggering "Response ready / Your agent
finished responding" on every completion. Skip the automatic
chat_completion notification when finalState.runUseCase ===
'background_task_agent' — background tasks notify explicitly via
notify-user when they have something worth surfacing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix: correct notification deeplinks and skip internal agent pings

- runtime.ts: also skip chat_completion ping for knowledge_sync
  useCase (agent_notes_agent was opening notes view on click)
- sync_gmail.ts: new_email notification now links to specific
  email thread (rowboat://open?type=email&threadId=...)
- App.tsx: add email case to parseDeepLink, parse threadId param,
  wire threadId through applyViewState, update viewStatesEqual

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* fix: distinguish background-agent notifications from auto knowledge-sync

Per team clarification, two background types are handled differently:
- knowledge_sync (auto knowledge-graph generation): never notifies;
  skips the generic chat_completion ping entirely.
- background_task_agent (user-configured agents): notifies via its
  own notify-user path, gated behind the toggleable "Background
  agents" category, deep-linking to the background-tasks page.

- runtime.ts: skip the generic chat_completion completion ping for
  both knowledge_sync and background_task_agent (the latter notifies
  via notify-user, so the generic ping would duplicate it).
- builtin-tools.ts: notify-user branches on getCurrentUseCase() —
  background agents route through notifyIfEnabled('background_task')
  with a bg-tasks deeplink default; chat agents notify directly.
- App.tsx: add the bg-tasks deeplink target (ViewState, parseDeepLink,
  applyViewState, currentViewState).
- settings-dialog.tsx: rename the category label to "Background agents".
- runner.ts: wrap the background-task run in withUseCase so tools see
  the correct use-case context.

* fix: route coding-session notifications through notifyIfEnabled

Code-mode status-tracker was calling notificationService.notify() directly,
bypassing the user's notification-category toggles. Routed both calls
through notifyIfEnabled() with correct categories:
- needs-you state → agent_permission
- idle after 30s  → chat_completion

Removed now-redundant container/INotificationService plumbing.

* fix: fall back to persisted run useCase when ALS context is missing in notify-user

AsyncLocalStorage does not propagate across the background-task agent's
async generator — getCurrentUseCase() returns undefined inside notify-user,
causing the background_task_agent branch to be skipped and the Background
agents toggle to be ignored.

Fix: load persisted useCase from run record via fetchRun(ctx.runId) when
ALS is falsy. Lazy dynamic import() avoids the known module-init cycle.
Background-agent notifications now correctly respect the toggle and only
fire when the app is in the background, with deep link to the bg-tasks page.

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

apps/x/apps/main/src/main.ts

@@ -56,6 +56,11 @@ import {
 } from "./deeplink.js";
 import { disconnectGoogleIfScopesStale } from "./oauth-handler.js";
 
+// Captured as early as possible so it reflects actual process start. Used to
+// gate grace-eligible notifications (e.g. the burst of background-task
+// completions a reopen replays) — see ElectronNotificationService.
+const APP_LAUNCHED_AT = Date.now();
+
 const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
 const __dirname = dirname(__filename);
 
@@ -330,7 +335,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
   });
 
   registerBrowserControlService(new ElectronBrowserControlService());
-  registerNotificationService(new ElectronNotificationService());
+  registerNotificationService(new ElectronNotificationService(APP_LAUNCHED_AT));
 
   setupIpcHandlers();
   setupBrowserEventForwarding();

apps/x/apps/main/src/notification/electron-notification-service.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { BrowserWindow, Notification, shell } from "electron";
 import type { INotificationService, NotifyInput } from "@x/core/dist/application/notification/service.js";
+import { shouldSuppressDuringStartupGrace } from "@x/core/dist/application/notification/service.js";
 import { dispatchUrl } from "../deeplink.js";
 
 const HTTP_URL = /^https?:\/\//i;
@@ -11,11 +12,27 @@ export class ElectronNotificationService implements INotificationService {
     // gets dropped and macOS clicks just focus the app silently.
     private active = new Set<Notification>();
 
+    // Timestamp the app launched, used to gate grace-eligible notifications (see
+    // NotifyInput.suppressDuringStartupGrace). Captured by the caller in main.ts
+    // so it reflects process start rather than whenever the first notify fires.
+    private readonly launchedAt: number;
+
+    constructor(launchedAt: number = Date.now()) {
+        this.launchedAt = launchedAt;
+    }
+
     isSupported(): boolean {
         return Notification.isSupported();
     }
 
-    notify({ title = "Rowboat", message, link, actionLabel, secondaryActions, onlyWhenBackground }: NotifyInput): void {
+    notify({ title = "Rowboat", message, link, actionLabel, secondaryActions, onlyWhenBackground, suppressDuringStartupGrace }: NotifyInput): void {
+        // Startup grace: a reopen replays every background task that completed
+        // while the app was closed, so grace-eligible notifications fired in the
+        // first moments after launch are dropped to avoid a notification flood.
+        if (shouldSuppressDuringStartupGrace({ suppressDuringStartupGrace }, this.launchedAt)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         // Ambient notifications are suppressed while the app is in the
         // foreground — the user is already looking at it. A window counts as
         // foreground only if it's actually focused (minimized / other-space

apps/x/apps/renderer/src/App.tsx

@@ -627,12 +627,13 @@ type ViewState =
   | { type: 'suggested-topics' }
   | { type: 'meetings' }
   | { type: 'live-notes' }
-  | { type: 'email' }
+  | { type: 'email'; threadId?: string }
   | { type: 'workspace'; path?: string }
   | { type: 'knowledge-view'; folderPath?: string; mode?: KnowledgeViewMode }
   | { type: 'chat-history' }
   | { type: 'home' }
   | { type: 'code' }
+  | { type: 'bg-tasks' }
 
 function viewStatesEqual(a: ViewState, b: ViewState): boolean {
   if (a.type !== b.type) return false
@@ -641,6 +642,7 @@ function viewStatesEqual(a: ViewState, b: ViewState): boolean {
   if (a.type === 'task' && b.type === 'task') return a.name === b.name
   if (a.type === 'workspace' && b.type === 'workspace') return (a.path ?? '') === (b.path ?? '')
   if (a.type === 'knowledge-view' && b.type === 'knowledge-view') return (a.folderPath ?? '') === (b.folderPath ?? '') && (a.mode ?? '') === (b.mode ?? '')
+  if (a.type === 'email' && b.type === 'email') return (a.threadId ?? '') === (b.threadId ?? '')
   return true // both graph
 }
 
@@ -648,7 +650,7 @@ function viewStatesEqual(a: ViewState, b: ViewState): boolean {
  * Parse a rowboat:// deep link into a ViewState. Returns null if the URL is
  * malformed or names an unknown target.
  *
- * Shape: rowboat://open?type=<file|chat|graph|task|suggested-topics|meetings|live-notes>&...
+ * Shape: rowboat://open?type=<file|chat|graph|task|suggested-topics|meetings|live-notes|email>&...
  *   file:             ?type=file&path=knowledge/foo.md
  *   chat:             ?type=chat&runId=abc123        (runId optional)
  *   graph:            ?type=graph
@@ -656,6 +658,7 @@ function viewStatesEqual(a: ViewState, b: ViewState): boolean {
  *   suggested-topics: ?type=suggested-topics
  *   meetings:         ?type=meetings
  *   live-notes:       ?type=live-notes
+ *   email:            ?type=email
  */
 function parseDeepLink(input: string): ViewState | null {
   const SCHEME = 'rowboat://'
@@ -684,6 +687,10 @@ function parseDeepLink(input: string): ViewState | null {
       return { type: 'meetings' }
     case 'live-notes':
       return { type: 'live-notes' }
+    case 'email': {
+      const threadId = params.get('threadId')
+      return { type: 'email', threadId: threadId || undefined }
+    }
     case 'workspace': {
       const path = params.get('path')
       return { type: 'workspace', path: path ?? undefined }
@@ -703,6 +710,8 @@ function parseDeepLink(input: string): ViewState | null {
       return { type: 'home' }
     case 'code':
       return { type: 'code' }
+    case 'bg-tasks':
+      return { type: 'bg-tasks' }
     default:
       return null
   }
@@ -3758,6 +3767,7 @@ function App() {
     if (isChatHistoryOpen) return { type: 'chat-history' }
     if (isHomeOpen) return { type: 'home' }
     if (isCodeOpen) return { type: 'code' }
+    if (isBgTasksOpen) return { type: 'bg-tasks' }
     if (selectedPath) return { type: 'file', path: selectedPath }
     if (isGraphOpen) return { type: 'graph' }
     return { type: 'chat', runId }
@@ -4089,6 +4099,12 @@ function App() {
         setIsKnowledgeViewOpen(false)
         setIsChatHistoryOpen(false)
       setIsHomeOpen(false)
+        // Deep links (e.g. a new-email notification) carry the thread to open;
+        // bump the version so EmailView re-selects it even if email is already open.
+        if (view.threadId) {
+          setEmailInitialThreadId(view.threadId)
+          setEmailThreadIdVersion((v) => v + 1)
+        }
         ensureEmailFileTab()
         return
       case 'workspace':
@@ -4176,6 +4192,18 @@ function App() {
         setIsMeetingsOpen(false); setIsLiveNotesOpen(false); setIsBgTasksOpen(false); setIsEmailOpen(false); setIsWorkspaceOpen(false); setIsKnowledgeViewOpen(false); setIsChatHistoryOpen(false); setIsHomeOpen(false)
         ensureCodeFileTab()
         return
+      case 'bg-tasks':
+        setSelectedPath(null)
+        setIsGraphOpen(false)
+        setIsBrowserOpen(false)
+        setExpandedFrom(null)
+        setIsRightPaneMaximized(false)
+        setSelectedBackgroundTask(null)
+        setIsSuggestedTopicsOpen(false)
+        setIsMeetingsOpen(false); setIsLiveNotesOpen(false); setIsEmailOpen(false); setIsWorkspaceOpen(false); setIsKnowledgeViewOpen(false); setIsChatHistoryOpen(false); setIsHomeOpen(false)
+        setIsBgTasksOpen(true)
+        ensureBgTasksFileTab()
+        return
       case 'chat':
         setSelectedPath(null)
         setIsGraphOpen(false)
@@ -4204,7 +4232,7 @@ function App() {
         }
         return
     }
-  }, [ensureEmailFileTab, ensureMeetingsFileTab, ensureLiveNotesFileTab, ensureFileTabForPath, ensureGraphFileTab, ensureSuggestedTopicsFileTab, ensureWorkspaceFileTab, ensureKnowledgeViewFileTab, ensureChatHistoryFileTab, ensureHomeFileTab, ensureCodeFileTab, handleNewChat, isRightPaneMaximized, loadRun])
+  }, [ensureEmailFileTab, ensureMeetingsFileTab, ensureLiveNotesFileTab, ensureFileTabForPath, ensureGraphFileTab, ensureSuggestedTopicsFileTab, ensureWorkspaceFileTab, ensureKnowledgeViewFileTab, ensureChatHistoryFileTab, ensureHomeFileTab, ensureCodeFileTab, ensureBgTasksFileTab, handleNewChat, isRightPaneMaximized, loadRun])
 
   const navigateToView = useCallback(async (nextView: ViewState) => {
     const current = currentViewState

apps/x/apps/renderer/src/components/settings-dialog.tsx

@@ -2075,7 +2075,7 @@ function CodeModeSettings({ dialogOpen }: { dialogOpen: boolean }) {
 
 // --- Notification Settings ---
 
-type NotificationCategoryKey = "chat_completion" | "new_email" | "agent_permission"
+type NotificationCategoryKey = "chat_completion" | "new_email" | "agent_permission" | "background_task"
 
 const NOTIFICATION_CATEGORIES: { key: NotificationCategoryKey; label: string; description: string }[] = [
   {
@@ -2093,6 +2093,11 @@ const NOTIFICATION_CATEGORIES: { key: NotificationCategoryKey; label: string; de
     label: "Permission requests",
     description: "When an agent needs your approval to run a tool. Always shown, even when the app is focused.",
   },
+  {
+    key: "background_task",
+    label: "Background agents",
+    description: "When a background agent you've set up has something to surface. Click to open it on the background tasks page.",
+  },
 ]
 
 function NotificationSettings({ dialogOpen }: { dialogOpen: boolean }) {