Add loading indicator support to SimpleSuggestWidget #251856

Copilot · 2025-06-18T21:14:07Z

The editor's suggest widget shows a spinning loading animation when it takes a while to get suggestions, but the simple suggest widget used in contexts like the terminal did not have this functionality. This was particularly noticeable on Windows where suggestion loading can be slow.

Changes Made

SimpleSuggestWidget

Added showTriggered(auto, delay, cursorPosition) method that matches the main SuggestWidget API
Added _loadingTimeout and _isAuto properties for proper loading state management
Updated showSuggestions to dispose loading timeout when suggestions arrive
Updated hide method to properly clean up loading timeout
Enhanced loading state with accessibility status announcements

TerminalSuggestAddon

Updated _handleCompletionProviders to call showTriggered before async completion requests
Uses appropriate delays: 50ms for explicit invocation, 250ms for auto-completions
Calculates proper cursor position for the loading indicator

Behavior

Before: Simple suggest widget showed no loading indicator, leaving users uncertain if suggestions were being processed.

After: Simple suggest widget displays "Loading..." message during async completion requests, providing clear feedback.

This improvement is especially valuable on Windows where suggestion loading can take noticeably longer.

Fixes #251855.

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…dget Co-authored-by: meganrogge <29464607+meganrogge@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: meganrogge <29464607+meganrogge@users.noreply.github.com>

meganrogge · 2025-06-18T21:31:27Z

Works 👏🏼

loading.mov

Tyriar · 2025-06-19T01:20:05Z

src/vs/workbench/services/suggest/browser/simpleSuggestWidget.ts

@@ -403,11 +405,22 @@ export class SimpleSuggestWidget<TModel extends SimpleCompletionModel<TItem>, TI
 		this._persistedSize.reset();
 	}

+	showTriggered(auto: boolean, delay: number, cursorPosition: { top: number; left: number; height: number }) {


Should we stay consistent and track explicitly invoked here too? Inverting to auto is a little ambiguous

Good point! I've updated the method to track explicitlyInvoked instead of auto for clarity. The parameter is now consistently named and the logic is more straightforward.

Tyriar · 2025-06-19T01:20:33Z

src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminalContrib/suggest/browser/terminalSuggestAddon.ts

+		const dimensions = this._getTerminalDimensions();
+		if (dimensions.width && dimensions.height) {
+			const xtermBox = this._screen!.getBoundingClientRect();
+			const cursorPosition = {


We calculate cursor position somewhere else, can we share some code?

Great suggestion! I've extracted the cursor position calculation into a shared _getCursorPosition helper method that's now used in all three places where this logic was duplicated.

Tyriar · 2025-06-19T01:24:53Z

src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminalContrib/suggest/browser/terminalSuggestAddon.ts

+				top: xtermBox.top + terminal.buffer.active.cursorY * dimensions.height,
+				height: dimensions.height
+			};
+			suggestWidget.showTriggered(!explicitlyInvoked, explicitlyInvoked ? 50 : 250, cursorPosition);


This passes in 250 for not explicitly but I don't think we want to show it at all on that case as it would get annoying.

Absolutely right! I've updated the code to only show the loading indicator for explicit invocations. Auto-completions no longer trigger the loading state to avoid being annoying to users.

…ming, and only show loading for explicit invocations Co-authored-by: Tyriar <2193314+Tyriar@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2025-06-19T01:38:43Z

Just as a heads up, I was blocked by some firewall rules while working on your feedback. Expand below for details.

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meganrogge · 2025-06-19T02:18:10Z

@copilot the timeout should be after 250 just like it is for the editor's suggest widget, not 50

Co-authored-by: meganrogge <29464607+meganrogge@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2025-06-19T02:23:29Z

@copilot the timeout should be after 250 just like it is for the editor's suggest widget, not 50

Updated the timeout to 250ms to match the editor's suggest widget behavior. Commit: 65ca3f3

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Tyriar

@meganrogge when explicitly invoked, I think we should up the timeout we give providers to something like 30 seconds, otherwise this ends up happening still the exthost and/or suggest takes too long to warm up:

Tyriar · 2025-06-19T12:08:48Z

src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminalContrib/suggest/browser/terminalSuggestAddon.ts

+			const suggestWidget = this._ensureSuggestWidget(terminal);
+			const cursorPosition = this._getCursorPosition(terminal);
+			if (cursorPosition) {
+				suggestWidget.showTriggered(true, 250, cursorPosition);


@copilot I think we can just put the delay value inside simpleSuggestWidget.ts for now. That will simplify this call.

I've moved the delay value (250ms) into simpleSuggestWidget.ts and removed the delay parameter from the API call. The showTriggered method now uses a hardcoded 250ms delay internally, simplifying the call from terminalSuggestAddon.ts. Commit: 5833eea

… timeout for explicit invocations Co-authored-by: Tyriar <2193314+Tyriar@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2025-06-19T12:23:29Z

@meganrogge when explicitly invoked, I think we should up the timeout we give providers to something like 30 seconds, otherwise this ends up happening still the exthost and/or suggest takes too long t...

I've increased the completion provider timeout from 5 seconds to 30 seconds when explicitly invoked. This should prevent timeout issues when the extension host takes longer to warm up. The timeout remains at 5 seconds for auto-completions to avoid impacting performance. Commit: 5833eea

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electronjs.org
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Initial plan for issue

d578178

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and meganrogge Jun 18, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of meganrogge June 18, 2025 21:14 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits June 18, 2025 21:24

Add showTriggered method and loading state support to SimpleSuggestWi…

0a7beee

…dget Co-authored-by: meganrogge <29464607+meganrogge@users.noreply.github.com>

Update terminal suggest addon to use showTriggered for loading indicator

d8cf7a7

Co-authored-by: meganrogge <29464607+meganrogge@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Show a loading indicator for simple suggest widget~~ Add loading indicator support to SimpleSuggestWidget Jun 18, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from meganrogge June 18, 2025 21:28

Copilot finished work on behalf of meganrogge June 18, 2025 21:28

meganrogge added this to the June 2025 milestone Jun 18, 2025

meganrogge requested a review from Tyriar June 18, 2025 22:25

meganrogge marked this pull request as ready for review June 18, 2025 22:25

meganrogge enabled auto-merge (squash) June 18, 2025 22:26

meganrogge approved these changes Jun 18, 2025

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Tyriar requested changes Jun 19, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of Tyriar June 19, 2025 01:26 View session

Address PR feedback: extract cursor position helper, fix parameter na…

541a7c5

…ming, and only show loading for explicit invocations Co-authored-by: Tyriar <2193314+Tyriar@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from Tyriar June 19, 2025 01:38

Copilot finished work on behalf of Tyriar June 19, 2025 01:38

Copilot started work on behalf of meganrogge June 19, 2025 02:18 View session

Update loading timeout to 250ms to match editor suggest widget

65ca3f3

Co-authored-by: meganrogge <29464607+meganrogge@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from meganrogge June 19, 2025 02:23

Copilot finished work on behalf of meganrogge June 19, 2025 02:23

Tyriar requested changes Jun 19, 2025

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Copilot started work on behalf of Tyriar June 19, 2025 12:08 View session

Address PR feedback: move delay into simpleSuggestWidget and increase…

5833eea

… timeout for explicit invocations Co-authored-by: Tyriar <2193314+Tyriar@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from Tyriar June 19, 2025 12:24

Copilot finished work on behalf of Tyriar June 19, 2025 12:24

meganrogge approved these changes Jun 19, 2025

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Tyriar approved these changes Jun 19, 2025

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TylerLeonhardt approved these changes Jun 19, 2025

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meganrogge merged commit 8ed218a into main Jun 19, 2025
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meganrogge deleted the copilot/fix-251855 branch June 19, 2025 22:11

Add loading indicator support to SimpleSuggestWidget #251856

Add loading indicator support to SimpleSuggestWidget #251856

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Changes Made

SimpleSuggestWidget

TerminalSuggestAddon

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Copilot AI commented Jun 19, 2025

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Copilot AI commented Jun 18, 2025 •

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