[idea] Keybinding to focus the next agent needing attention, without reordering the panel

[pfitz]

idea / problem

With several agents running, the useful question is "which one is waiting on me?" — and herdr can already answer it two different ways, but neither is a keypress that takes me there.

ui.agent_panel_sort = "priority" sorts the panel by tab_attention_priority (blocked > done-unseen > working > idle), so next_agent walks the urgent ones first. But that ordering is also what focus_agent indexes into, so turning it on makes my indexed jumps move around as agents change state. Stable numbers or attention-ordered cycling — I can have either, not both.

open_notification_target covers the most recent notification, but not "step through everything still waiting".

So today, finding the blocked agent among five means either reordering the panel out from under my focus_agent bindings, or cycling next_agent through the working and idle ones until I land on it.

requested change

A keybinding that focuses the next agent needing attention, independent of agent_panel_sort:

[keys]
next_blocked_agent = "prefix+ctrl+n"

This was already implemented in #1486 — filtering agent_panel_entries to blocked, finding the current position, wrapping with modulo, following the existing next_agent / previous_agent pattern. That PR was closed on process (new contributors need maintainer approval first, and feature discussion belongs here rather than in a PR), not on the merits, and I couldn't find a Discussion where the idea itself got picked up. Opening one so the direction can be settled before anyone writes code again.

Three things worth deciding:

1. Scope. Blocked only, or blocked plus done-unseen? tab_attention_priority already ranks those 4 and 3, and both are states where the agent has stopped and wants me. A single binding covering "priority >= 3" may be more useful than a strictly blocked-only one — or two bindings, if they're meaningfully different jobs.
2. Cross-workspace. next_agent/previous_agent cycling never reaches agents in other workspaces (0.7.1) #964 fixed next_agent not reaching agents in other workspaces; whatever this does should match that behavior from the start.
3. Naming. next_blocked_agent is accurate if it stays blocked-only, but misleading if scope 1 goes the other way — something like next_agent_needing_attention would survive both answers.

why you want this

I run five Claude agents across six tabs in one workspace, and the state I care about is almost always "one of them is asking a question". Right now noticing that is a sidebar glance followed by counting rows, and acting on it is either a mouse click or cycling past the agents that are perfectly fine on their own.

The pinned-panel-order constraint is the part I'd emphasize: I deliberately keep agent_panel_sort = "spaces" so my focus_agent = "prefix+shift+1..9" bindings stay stable, which is exactly what rules out the priority workaround. A dedicated binding sidesteps the conflict, since it doesn't need the panel reordered to find the right agent.

[choplin]

I have the same use case. I keep agent_panel_sort = "spaces" so Agent positions remain stable, but I want a separate keybinding that cycles only through Agents in the blocked state across all workspaces.

I prototyped this as a plugin using herdr agent list and herdr agent focus. The workflow works well: if the focused Agent is blocked, it advances to the next blocked Agent and wraps; otherwise, it focuses the Agent that has been blocked the longest.

For my use case, I would prefer blocked only rather than combining it with done. A blocked Agent requires a response or approval, while a done Agent is useful to review but does not necessarily require immediate action. next_blocked_agent therefore feels like the clearest name and behavior.

Native support would also avoid launching a plugin process and the race between listing Agents and focusing the selected pane.

[presto8]

Would you mind sharing your plugin? I'd like to use it!

[choplin]

Sure. Please note that it requires Go to be installed. Let me know if it doesn't work for you.
https://github.com/choplin/herdr-next-agent

[presto8]

Thank you! It's a lot better than the bash script I wrote :-)