[Bug]: Terminal stays empty and does not open at folder path on first attempt

[matiaspalmac]

Describe the bug

When opening the terminal (Ctrl+J) with a folder already open, the terminal renders blank — no prompt, no output — and the shell is never spawned at the folder path. Opening the same folder again (or any path change) makes it work.

Root cause is a race between the activePtyPath.current short-circuit in apps/desktop/src/components/Terminal.tsx and React's Strict Mode double-invocation of effects in dev:

1. Mount: effect runs. activePtyPath.current = targetPath is set at the top of the effect, before any async work.
2. Strict Mode synthetic unmount: cleanup runs, isCanceled = true.
3. Inside the in-flight setupPty, the if (isCanceled) check fires right after await listen() — the function returns without calling spawn_pty.
4. Strict Mode remount: effect runs again. activePtyPath.current is still the targetPath from step 1, so activePtyPath.current === targetPath is true and the effect early-returns before setupPty is even called.

Result: the PTY is never spawned on first open. Opening a different folder (or the same one again, if the state update creates a new ref) flips activePtyPath.current !== targetPath and unblocks the effect.

Debug trace confirming this (temporary logging inserted):

[TermDebug] setupPty start | targetPath= C:\Proyectos\... rootPath= C:\Proyectos\... terminalPath= null
[TermDebug] calling kill_pty
[TermDebug] registering pty-output listener
[TermDebug] listener ready
[TermDebug] cancelled before spawn, unlistening

No further setupPty start log follows — the remount effect is silently skipped by the activePtyPath check.

Steps to Reproduce

1. pnpm desktop.
2. File → Open Folder → pick any folder.
3. Ctrl+J to open the bottom terminal panel.
4. The panel is empty — no prompt, no cursor output.
5. Reopen the same folder (or a different one) → terminal now works at the new path.

Trixty Version

v1.0.8 (main @ 50923f8)

OS

Windows

Fix yourself?

Yes