agents-in-a-box: Skill for Claude Code

tmux-ui-tripwire

Overview

Tripwire tests drive the real ainb TUI binary in a detached tmux session, send keystrokes, capture the pane, and assert on rendered output. They are the ONLY tests that catch user-visible regressions the unit tests miss (e.g. plugin pipeline broken but cargo test green).

When to use this skill

• Writing a new tripwire_*.rs test
• An existing tripwire fails and the cause isn't obvious from cargo test output
• Tightening a tripwire whose assertions look weak (substring-OR on chrome strings)
• Diagnosing why a plugin "spawns but doesn't render"

Quick start — minimal viable tripwire

// crates/ainb-core/tests/tripwire_<feature>.rs
use std::path::PathBuf;
use std::process::Command;
use std::time::{Duration, Instant};

// 1. Skip gracefully if env can't support the test.
fn tmux_available() -> bool { /* see references/helpers.md */ }
fn ainb_bin() -> PathBuf { PathBuf::from(env!("CARGO_BIN_EXE_ainb")) }

#[test]
fn feature_renders_after_pressing_x() {
    if !tmux_available() { eprintln!("SKIP: tmux"); return; }
    // 2. Isolated HOME — seed onboarding.toml to skip wizard.
    let home = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
    seed_isolated_home(home.path());

    // 3. Launch ainb tui in detached tmux session.
    let session = format!("tripwire-{}", std::process::id());
    Command::new("tmux").args(["new-session","-d","-s",&session,"-x","180","-y","50"]).status().unwrap();
    let cmd = format!("HOME={} AINB_DISABLE_PLUGINS=1 exec {} tui",
        home.path().display(), ainb_bin().display());
    Command::new("tmux").args(["send-keys","-t",&session,&cmd,"Enter"]).status().unwrap();

    // 4. Wait for HomeScreen — poll, don't bare-sleep.
    let pre = poll_capture(&session, Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(45),
        |c| c.contains("Stats") && c.contains("[i]")).expect("HomeScreen never rendered");

    // 5. Pre-press negative assertion — confirm we're not already on target screen.
    assert!(!pre.contains("Usage Analytics"));

    // 6. Send key WITHOUT Enter (single-char nav).
    Command::new("tmux").args(["send-keys","-t",&session,"x"]).status().unwrap();

    // 7. Post-press: positive marker AND negative placeholder.
    let post = poll_capture(&session, Instant::now() + Duration::from_secs(30),
        |c| c.contains("Expected Chrome") && !c.contains("Loading placeholder"))
        .unwrap_or_else(|| capture_pane(&session));
    Command::new("tmux").args(["kill-session","-t",&session]).status().ok();

    assert!(post.contains("Expected Chrome"), "feature chrome never rendered:\n{post}");
    assert!(!post.contains("Loading placeholder"), "stuck on placeholder:\n{post}");
}