feat(cli): add terminal bell notification on response completion

[afarber]

Summary

Adds an optional terminal bell notification (\x07) that plays when:

• A response completes
• The system awaits tool approval

The general.terminalBell setting is enabled by default and can be disabled in settings. Only triggers in TTY environments.

Details

Writes \x07 (BEL character) to stderr when:

1. A response finishes (in the submitQuery finally block)
2. Waiting for tool approval (streamingState becomes WaitingForConfirmation)

Uses Ink's useStdout() hook rather than process.stdout to bypass patchStdio() which redirects stdout writes to event emitters.

Users who find it annoying can disable with general.terminalBell: false in settings.

Related Issues

Closes #14643
Partially fixes #14696

How to Validate

1. First check your terminal supports bell: echo -e "\a" (should beep)
2. Run gemini and submit any query - bell should sound when response completes
3. Trigger a tool that needs approval (e.g. file edit) - bell should sound when waiting
4. Set general.terminalBell: false in settings, repeat steps 2-3, no bell should sound
5. Pipe output somewhere (gemini --help | cat) - no bell (TTY check)

Pre-Merge Checklist

• Updated relevant documentation and README (if needed)
• Added/updated tests (if needed)
• Noted breaking changes (if any)
• Validated on required platforms/methods:
  • MacOS
    • npm run
    • npx
    • Docker
    • Podman
    • Seatbelt
  • Windows
    • npm run
    • npx
    • Docker
  • Linux
    • npm run
    • npx
    • Docker

[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello @afarber, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request enhances the user experience of the CLI by adding an optional audible terminal bell notification. This feature provides immediate feedback to users when a long-running operation, such as receiving a response or requiring tool approval, has completed, ensuring they are promptly alerted without needing to constantly monitor the terminal. The implementation includes a new configurable setting and safeguards to only activate in interactive sessions.

Highlights

• New Feature: Terminal Bell Notification: Introduced a new general.terminalBell setting, enabled by default, that triggers an audible terminal bell. This notification sounds when a response from the CLI completes or when the system is awaiting user approval for a tool action.
• Conditional Activation: The terminal bell notification is designed to only activate in interactive terminal environments (TTYs), preventing unintended sounds in non-interactive contexts like piped output.
• User Configurability: Users can easily disable the terminal bell feature by setting general.terminalBell: false in their configuration settings, providing control over their notification preferences.
• Dependency Updates: Several peer dependency flags were added or removed in package-lock.json for various packages, indicating a dependency management update.
• Comprehensive Testing: New test cases have been added to ensure the terminal bell functionality works as expected, covering scenarios where the setting is enabled, disabled, and when the terminal is not a TTY.

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request introduces a useful terminal bell notification feature, which is a nice addition for user experience. The implementation looks solid, adding a new setting and integrating the bell logic at the two key points: response completion and tool approval waiting. However, the test suite for this new feature is incomplete. While there are good tests for the tool approval scenario, tests for the response completion scenario are missing. I've added a comment to address this.

[afarber]

@gemini-code-assist review

[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request adds a terminal bell notification for response completion and tool approval, controlled by a new setting. The implementation is well-structured and includes comprehensive tests. I've identified one potential robustness issue where writing to stdout could cause an unhandled error during application shutdown. I've suggested a fix to handle this gracefully.

[afarber]

Smoke tested with Ubuntu 26.01 and macOS 26.1 (I can hear the bell after issuing the following prompt "Run 'git diff upstream/main...HEAD' and summarize the ongoing PR for me"):

[Alexmarco-gif]

@afarber how is it going i was also trying to do this, but you are already working on it. Just wanted to know how it is going

[afarber]

Hi, my implementation is complete, tested on my Ubuntu and Macbook Air computers and now just waiting for the merge by @jackwotherspoon or his colleagues

[jackwotherspoon]

Our hooks implementation is in preview (behind a feature flag), I always envisioned us implementing a robust notifications system (bell noise, visual notification, customizing when they happen, etc) that users can fully customize through the hooks system.

So I am a little torn if this PR makes sense with that being said. Maybe you would like to start on the notification system? We probably need to look at an open issue and work on a design approach together.

[afarber]

Thanks for the feedback @jackwotherspoon!

For audio notifications via hooks, would users configure something like this in ~/.gemini/settings.json?

  {
    "tools": {
      "enableHooks": true,
      "enableMessageBusIntegration": true
    },
    "hooks": {
      "Notification": [{
        "matcher": "ToolPermission",
        "hooks": [{
          "type": "command",
          "command": "node my-audio-notification-script.js"
        }]
      }]
    }
  }

The hooks approach is very flexible, but I see a few trade-offs compared to this PR's simple terminal bell:

1. "\x07" requires no additional packages
2. Works on macOS, Linux, Windows without users writing platform-specific scripts
3. The terminal bell lets users configure their preferred notification style in their terminal emulator - audio beep, visual flash, tab badge, or any combination. The app just sends the signal; the terminal respects user preferences (see macOS settings screenshot below)

Would it make sense to have both?

• A simple built-in general.terminalBell option (this PR) for users who want zero-config audio/visual feedback
• The hooks system for users who want customizable desktop notifications (via https://github.com/mikaelbr/node-notifier?) or other advanced behaviors

[Alexmarco-gif]

@jackwotherspoon i likewhat you guy are doing, am i want to be part of it, so dont know if there is anything i can add, if you would permit