hive.terminal-tools-job-control

Background job control

Background jobs are how you do things that take time without blocking your conversation. Three tools cover the surface: terminal_job_start, terminal_job_logs, terminal_job_manage.

When to use a job

• Builds, deploys, long tests
• Processes you want to monitor (streaming a log file, a dev server)
• Anything that auto-backgrounded from terminal_exec (you have a job_id; pivot to this skill's idioms)

For one-shot work expected to finish quickly, terminal_exec is simpler. The auto-promotion mechanic in terminal_exec is your safety net — start with terminal_exec, take over with this skill if needed.

Lifecycle

terminal_job_start(command, ...)
  → { job_id, pid, started_at }

terminal_job_logs(job_id, since_offset=0, max_bytes=64000)
  → { data, offset, next_offset, status: "running"|"exited", exit_code, ... }

# Repeat with since_offset = previous next_offset until status == "exited"
# Or block once with wait_until_exit=True:
terminal_job_logs(job_id, since_offset=N, wait_until_exit=True, wait_timeout_sec=60)
  → blocks server-side until exit or timeout

After exit, the job is retained for inspection (terminal_job_manage(action="list")) until evicted by FIFO (50 most recent exits kept).

Offset bookkeeping — the only rule that matters

The job's output lives in a 4 MB ring buffer per stream. Each call to terminal_job_logs returns:

• data — bytes between since_offset and next_offset
• next_offset — pass this as since_offset on your next call
• truncated_bytes_dropped — non-zero when your since_offset was older than the ring's floor (you fell behind)

Always carry next_offset forward. Don't replay from 0 — that's an offset reset, you'll see the same data twice and miss the part that fell off.

When truncated_bytes_dropped > 0, the buffer evicted N bytes between your last call and now. Treat it as a signal that the job is producing output faster than you're consuming. Either poll more often or accept the gap and read from next_offset going forward.