feat: Webui improvement

[ncrispino]

feat: Webui improvement

Description

Improves automation mode and web UI integration to provide better progress monitoring capabilities when running MassGen in automated/headless workflows. Also adds auto-launch functionality and session management improvements.

Closes MAS-137

Key Features

1. Auto-Launch with URL Parameters

The web UI now supports URL parameters to auto-start coordination:

http://localhost:8000/?prompt=What%20is%202%2B2&config=/path/to/config.yaml

When using --web with a question and config, the browser auto-opens with the coordination already starting:

massgen --config config.yaml --web "What is 2+2?"
# Browser auto-opens and coordination starts immediately

New --no-browser flag to disable auto-opening:

massgen --config config.yaml --web --no-browser "What is 2+2?"

2. Combined --automation + --web Mode

When both flags are specified, the web UI shows an automation-friendly timeline view instead of the full interactive interface. This allows external tools (LLM agents, CI pipelines) to monitor coordination progress visually.

• Simplified timeline-focused view with status header
• Shows phase, elapsed time, question, and status.json path
• Polls for active sessions and auto-connects
• Suppressed verbose uvicorn logging to keep stdout clean

3. Status File Path Display

Automation mode now prints LOG_DIR and STATUS paths at startup for easy monitoring:

LOG_DIR: .massgen/massgen_logs/log_20251210_123456
STATUS: .massgen/massgen_logs/log_20251210_123456/turn_1/status.json

4. Enhanced Terminal Timeline Output

The SilentDisplay (used in automation mode) now prints a structured timeline showing votes, reasons, and results:

TIMELINE:
  [VOTE] agent_a -> agent_b
         Reason: More comprehensive approach...
  [RESULTS]
    agent_b: 2 votes (winner)
    agent_a: 1 vote

5. Session Management Improvements

• Completed sessions persist: Sessions remain in the list after WebSocket disconnects
• Session ID input: Manually connect to a session by entering its ID
• Auto-connect to active sessions: In automation mode, automatically connects to running coordination sessions
• Better session switching: State properly restores when switching sessions

Type of change

• New feature (feat:) - Non-breaking change which adds functionality

Checklist

• I have run pre-commit on my changed files and all checks pass
• My code follows the style guidelines of this project
• I have performed a self-review of my own code
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
• I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
• My changes generate no new warnings
• I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
• New and existing unit tests pass locally with my changes

Pre-commit status

uv run pre-commit run --files massgen/cli.py massgen/frontend/displays/silent_display.py massgen/frontend/displays/web_display.py massgen/frontend/web/server.py

How to Test

Test CLI Commands

1. Auto-launch (browser opens automatically):

   massgen --config ~/.config/massgen/config.yaml --web "What is 2+2?"

   • Browser should auto-open with question pre-filled
   • Coordination should start automatically

2. Auto-launch with --no-browser:

   massgen --config config.yaml --web --no-browser "What is 2+2?"

   • Server starts but browser doesn't open
   • URL printed in terminal includes auto-launch params

3. Automation + Web mode:

   massgen --config config.yaml --automation --web "What is 2+2?"

   • Terminal shows LOG_DIR and STATUS paths
   • Browser shows simplified timeline view (not interactive view)
   • Timeline updates as coordination progresses

4. Automation-only mode:

   massgen --config config.yaml --automation "What is 2+2?"

   • Verify TIMELINE section appears in output with votes and results
   • Verify status.json path is printed

5. Interactive web mode (regression test):

   massgen --config config.yaml --web

   • Verify normal interactive web UI still works as before

6. Session management:

   • Start coordination in one terminal
   • Open browser manually to http://localhost:8000
   • Session dropdown should show the active session
   • Can enter session ID manually to connect

Expected Results

Mode	Terminal Output	Web UI
--web "question"	Auto-launch URL	Auto-starts coordination
--automation --web	LOG_DIR, STATUS, minimal logs	Timeline view
--automation	LOG_DIR, STATUS, TIMELINE	N/A
--web	Normal uvicorn logs	Full interactive UI

Files Changed

CLI Changes

File	Description
massgen/cli.py	Add --no-browser flag, URL param generation, auto-open browser, pass automation_mode to server

Backend Changes

File	Description
massgen/frontend/displays/silent_display.py	Add _print_timeline() for structured vote output
massgen/frontend/displays/web_display.py	Support automation mode state
massgen/frontend/web/server.py	Handle automation_mode, completed sessions persistence, suppress verbose logs

Web UI Changes

File	Description
webui/src/App.tsx	URL param parsing, auto-start coordination, route to AutomationView
webui/src/components/AutomationView.tsx	New - Timeline-focused automation view with session polling
webui/src/components/HeaderControls.tsx	Session ID input field, layout improvements
webui/src/stores/agentStore.ts	Track automationMode and logDir state
webui/src/types/index.ts	Add new type definitions

Additional Context

This PR addresses the feature requests from the original issue:

1. ✅ When --web and --automation are specified, web UI shows progress (timeline view)
2. ✅ The --automation mode prints the location of status.json
3. ✅ Terminal shows timeline with votes/results in automation mode

Additional improvements:

• ✅ Auto-launch URL params for quick coordination start
• ✅ Browser auto-opens when using --web with question+config
• ✅ Sessions persist after completion for better tracking
• ✅ Manual session ID input for connecting to specific sessions