Detect chevron-style interactive prompts and fix indefinite foreground hang on unrecognised prompts

src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminalContrib/chatAgentTools/browser/tools/monitoring/outputMonitor.ts

@@ -403,9 +403,13 @@ export class OutputMonitor extends Disposable implements IOutputMonitor {
 	}
 
 	private async _handleTimeoutState(_command: string, _invocationContext: IToolInvocationContext | undefined, _extended: boolean, _token: CancellationToken): Promise<boolean> {
-		// Stop after extended polling (2 minutes) without notifying user
 		if (_extended) {
-			this._logService.info('OutputMonitor: Extended polling timeout reached after 2 minutes');
+			// Extended polling (2 minutes) expired while the process was still
+			// running. Rather than silently cancelling, signal that input may be
+			// needed so the agent sees the current output and can decide how to
+			// proceed (e.g. answer an unrecognised interactive prompt).
+			this._logService.info('OutputMonitor: Extended polling timeout reached after 2 minutes, signaling potential input needed');
+			this._onDidDetectInputNeeded.fire();
 			this._state = OutputMonitorState.Cancelled;
 			return false;
 		}
@@ -604,6 +608,18 @@ export function detectsHighConfidenceInputPattern(cursorLine: string): boolean {
 		/password:? +$/i,
 		// "Press a key" or "Press any key"
 		/press a(?:ny)? key/i,
+		// Interactive prompt libraries (prompts, enquirer, inquirer) prefix the prompt with
+		// '? ' at the start of the line and end with a distinctive chevron character
+		// followed by optional trailing whitespace where the cursor is awaiting input.
+		// Anchoring the '?' to the start of the line (after optional whitespace/ANSI
+		// escapes) avoids false positives from normal output that contains both a '?'
+		// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+		// and a chevron (e.g. "What happened? ›").
+		// Examples:
+		//   "? Do you want to install jsdom? <chevron>"  (prompts)
+		//   "? Pick a color <chevron> "                  (enquirer)
+		// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+		/^(?:\s|\x1b\[[0-9;]*m)*\?.*[›❯▸▶]\s*$/,
 	].some(e => e.test(cursorLine));
 }
 

src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminalContrib/chatAgentTools/browser/tools/runInTerminalTool.ts

@@ -2218,15 +2218,15 @@ export class RunInTerminalTool extends Disposable implements IToolImpl {
 				lastInputNeededOutput = currentOutput;
 				lastInputNeededNotificationTime = now;
 				const inputAction = this._buildInputNeededSteeringText(chatSessionResource, termId, /*mentionTimeout*/ false);
-				const message = `[Terminal ${termId} notification: command is waiting for input.]\n${inputAction}\nTerminal output:\n${currentOutput}`;
+				const message = `[Terminal ${termId} notification: command may be waiting for input — assess the output below.]\n${inputAction}\nTerminal output:\n${currentOutput}`;
 
 				this._logService.debug(`RunInTerminalTool: Input needed in background terminal ${termId}, notifying chat session`);
 
 				this._chatService.sendRequest(chatSessionResource, message, {
 					...sendOptions,
 					queue: ChatRequestQueueKind.Steering,
 					isSystemInitiated: true,
-					systemInitiatedLabel: localize('terminalNeedsInput', "`{0}` needs input", commandName),
+					systemInitiatedLabel: localize('terminalAssessingOutput', "`{0}` may need input", commandName),
 					terminalExecutionId: termId,
 				}).catch(e => {
 					this._logService.warn(`RunInTerminalTool: Failed to send input-needed notification for terminal ${termId}`, e);

src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminalContrib/chatAgentTools/test/browser/outputMonitor.test.ts

@@ -233,6 +233,25 @@ suite('OutputMonitor', () => {
 		});
 	});
 
+	test('extended timeout with isActive fires onDidDetectInputNeeded', async () => {
+		return runWithFakedTimers({}, async () => {
+			// Simulate a process that stays active with output that doesn't
+			// match any input-required pattern — the extended timeout should
+			// fire onDidDetectInputNeeded so the agent can assess the output.
+			execution.isActive = async () => true;
+			execution.getOutput = () => 'Some unrecognised prompt waiting for input';
+
+			monitor = store.add(instantiationService.createInstance(OutputMonitor, execution, undefined, createTestContext('1'), cts.token, 'test command'));
+
+			let inputNeededFired = false;
+			store.add(monitor.onDidDetectInputNeeded(() => { inputNeededFired = true; }));
+
+			await Event.toPromise(monitor.onDidFinishCommand);
+			assert.strictEqual(inputNeededFired, true, 'onDidDetectInputNeeded should fire on extended timeout with active process');
+			assert.strictEqual(monitor.pollingResult?.state, OutputMonitorState.Cancelled);
+		});
+	});
+
 	test('non-interactive help on the last line stops monitoring before custom polling', async () => {
 		return runWithFakedTimers({}, async () => {
 			execution.getOutput = () => 'Build complete successfully\npress h + enter to show help';
@@ -354,6 +373,44 @@ suite('OutputMonitor', () => {
 			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('license: (ISC) '), true);
 		});
 
+		test('detects chevron prompts from prompts/enquirer/inquirer libraries', () => {
+			// vitest / npm-style "prompts" library uses U+203A SINGLE RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Do you want to install jsdom? ›'), true);
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Do you want to install jsdom? › '), true);
+			// inquirer / enquirer uses U+276F HEAVY RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Pick a color ❯ '), true);
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Pick a color ❯'), true);
+			// Other chevron variants prefixed with '?'
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Project name ▸ '), true);
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Choose ▶ '), true);
+
+			// No match if the user has already typed a response after the chevron
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Do you want to install jsdom? › yes'), false);
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('? Pick a color ❯ red'), false);
+
+			// No match for chevrons in normal output without a leading '?'
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('  feature/foo ❯ main'), false);
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('Project name ▸ '), false);
+
+			// No match when '?' appears mid-line (not as a prompt prefix)
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('What happened? ›'), false);
+
+			// Match when prompt is prefixed with ANSI escape codes (colored output)
+			// allow-any-unicode-next-line
+			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('\x1b[32m? Choose a framework \x1b[0m›'), true);
+		});
+
 		test('detects trailing questions', () => {
 			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('Continue? '), true);
 			assert.strictEqual(detectsInputRequiredPattern('Proceed?   '), true);