Agent Preset Control Panel

Purpose

Space Agent can currently act only through presets resolved from the current interaction context. That works for local context-sensitive assistance, but it blocks legitimate cross-context work. For example, the user may be on the drawing canvas and still want Space Agent to inspect graph nodes, manage scene objects, or run a file search.

The preset control panel exposes the preset system directly in the Agent panel so the user can choose which capabilities Space Agent has right now.

This is not a replacement for tool approvals. Preset selection is a user action and can be trusted. Tool execution is a model action and still needs approval policy enforcement for risky operations.

Existing Model

The agent layer is split into three responsibilities:

• Agents own turn orchestration. AgentRunner loads a session, resolves session.agent-id, builds the run context, and calls agent.run.
• Presets own capability selection. PresetRegistry resolves active presets from context and overrides.
• Tool surfaces own executable tool exposure. AgentToolSurface converts resolved preset tool IDs into tool definitions and applies approval policy before execution.

Current preset shape:

{:name "drawing-shape-tools"
 :group "drawing"
 :default-state :auto
 :risk :normal
 :contexts [{:surface :canvas :mode "drawing"}]
 :tool-ids ["drawing.inspect" "drawing.set-tool"]
 :system-prompt "Use drawing tools for shape and stroke operations."}

Current override states:

• :auto: context decides.
• :on: preset is active regardless of context.
• :off: preset is inactive regardless of context.

These semantics are already implemented in PresetRegistry.resolve and PresetManager.set-override.

Trust Boundary

The panel must preserve this distinction:

• User-selected preset override: trusted control-plane state.
• Model-selected tool call: untrusted action request.

Therefore:

• Toggling a preset does not require confirmation.
• Toggling a preset does not auto-run any tool.
• Risk labels are visible, but never block preset toggles.
• Existing approval behavior remains for tool calls chosen by the model.

Example:

1. User pins general-shell-tools to on.
2. Space Agent now sees shell capability.
3. Model decides to call space_app_run_bash.
4. Approval policy still handles that tool execution because the action was chosen by the model.

User Experience

Add a Presets area to the Agent panel.

The user should be able to:

• See all registered presets, including inactive context-mismatched presets.
• See which presets are active.
• See why each active preset is active: context or override.
• Pin any preset on.
• Force any preset off.
• Return any preset to auto.
• See risk level and tool count before changing state.
• Reset all overrides.

No confirmation dialogs or warnings are shown when changing states.

Layout

Recommended panel structure:

1. Agent selector.
2. Status row.
3. Agent tabs:
   • Sessions
   • Presets
4. Transcript.
5. Pending approval row.
6. Input row.

Tabs avoid shrinking the transcript while still making presets easy to find.

Initial implementation can use a simpler inline section above sessions if adding tabs is more work than justified. The controller/view model should be independent of the final layout so the UI can move later.

Preset Row

Each preset row contains:

• Name.
• Group.
• Three-state segmented control: Auto, On, Off.
• Active badge: active, inactive, or pinned.
• Risk badge.
• Tool count.
• Optional expanded tool ID list.

State labels:

• auto active: no override, context matched.
• auto inactive: no override, context did not match.
• pinned on: override :on, active because of user.
• forced off: override :off, inactive because of user.

Risk display:

• normal: neutral.
• filesystem-read: info.
• filesystem-write: warning.
• destructive: danger.
• shell: danger.

Risk is informational only in this panel.

Controller View Model

AgentPanelController should receive :presets.

(AgentPanelController {:runner opts.runner
                       :registry opts.registry
                       :approvals opts.approvals
                       :presets opts.presets})

Extend controller state:

{:preset-rows []
 :preset-groups []
 :expanded-preset-groups {}
 :expanded-presets {}}

Computed row shape:

{:name preset.name
 :group (or preset.group "other")
 :risk preset.risk
 :default-state preset.default-state
 :contexts preset.contexts
 :tool-ids preset.tool-ids
 :tool-count (# preset.tool-ids)
 :override-state (or override.state :auto)
 :active? active?
 :active-reason active.reason}

Controller methods:

:load-presets
:set-preset-override
:reset-preset-overrides
:toggle-preset-expanded
:toggle-preset-group-expanded
:is-preset-expanded?
:is-preset-group-expanded?

load-presets:

1. Read all presets from presets.registry:list.
2. Read active presets from presets:get-active-presets.
3. Read overrides from presets:get-overrides.
4. Build rows grouped by group.
5. Sort groups by name.
6. Sort rows by name inside each group.
7. Store rows in controller state.
8. Emit controller change signal.

set-preset-override:

(fn set-preset-override [self name state]
  (presets:set-override name state)
  (self:load-presets))

reset-preset-overrides:

(each [name _override (pairs (presets:get-overrides))]
  (presets:set-override name :auto))

The reset operation should not unregister presets or modify context.

Change Propagation

AgentPanelController should subscribe to presets:add-on-change during init.

On preset change:

• Recompute preset rows.
• Refresh active state and override labels.
• Let existing MCP sync/tool surface listeners update active tool definitions.

On drop:

• Remove preset change listener.
• Clear controller state.

The preset manager already emits changes only when the effective signature changes. The panel can still call load-presets after direct user changes so UI state remains immediate even when a state change does not alter effective active tools.

Persistence

Initial implementation should use in-memory overrides only, matching current PresetManager behavior.

Do not add persistence in the same change unless required by product work. Persistence needs a separate decision:

• App-global overrides.
• Per-agent overrides.
• Per-session overrides.
• Per-world overrides.

Recommended later default: app-global overrides saved atomically with JsonUtils.write-json!. The user is controlling Space Agent's capability surface, so app-global behavior is easiest to understand.

Prompt and Tool Effects

When a preset becomes active:

• Its tool IDs resolve through PresetManager:get-tool-defs.
• Its prompt fragment appears in AgentToolSurface:prompt-fragments.
• Space Agent includes active preset names in Available Capabilities.
• Space Agent includes preset guidance in Capability Guidance.

No additional Space Agent changes are required for basic preset control.

Approval Effects

Preset toggles must not call approvals.

Approvals remain only at model-action time:

• AgentToolSurface:call checks active tool.
• run-with-approval requests risk approval for tool arguments.
• space_agent_request_tool_approval remains available for the model to request approval before risky calls.

This keeps the policy coherent: user can grant capability exposure, but model cannot silently execute risky actions.

Failure Behavior

The UI should fail loudly for invalid state.

• Unknown preset name: surface the PresetManager:set-override error.
• Invalid override state: surface the error.
• Missing opts.presets: assert in AgentPanel and AgentPanelController.
• Missing preset registry access: assert when building rows.

Do not silently hide broken presets. A broken capability surface is a product bug, not a user preference.

Implementation Plan

1. Controller Support

Update assets/lua/llm/agent/ui/controller.fnl.

Add required opts.presets.

Add state fields:

:preset-rows []
:preset-groups []
:expanded-preset-groups {}
:expanded-presets {}

Add listener lifecycle:

(var preset-change-listener nil)

In init, connect:

(set preset-change-listener
     (presets:add-on-change
       (fn []
         (self:load-presets))))

In drop, disconnect with presets:remove-on-change.

Add methods listed above and include them in the returned controller table.

2. Preset List Widget

Add assets/lua/llm/agent/ui/preset-list.fnl.

Pattern after session-list.fnl:

• Use ListView.
• Header: Presets plus reset button.
• Rows grouped by group.
• Row click can expand/collapse details.
• Auto, On, Off buttons call controller:set-preset-override.
• Expanded row shows contexts and tool IDs.

Controls:

• Use icon buttons where appropriate.
• Use text buttons for Auto, On, Off because they are state labels, not generic icon actions.
• Keep rows compact.

3. Panel Integration

Update assets/lua/llm/agent/ui/panel.fnl.

Requirements:

• Assert opts.presets.
• Pass :presets into AgentPanelController.
• Build AgentPresetList.
• Include preset widget in layout.

First pass layout:

(local preset-list (AgentPresetList controller))
(local preset-list-widget (preset-list ctx))

(local sections [(FlexChild (fn [_ctx] agent-row-padded))
                 (FlexChild (fn [_ctx] status-row-padded))
                 (FlexChild (fn [_ctx] preset-list-widget) 0)
                 (FlexChild (fn [_ctx] session-list-widget) 0)
                 (FlexChild (fn [_ctx] transcript-widget) 1)
                 ...])

If height becomes cramped, add tabs in a follow-up instead of overfitting the first patch.

Refresh path:

(preset-list-widget:refresh)

Drop path:

(preset-list-widget:drop)

4. App Wiring

Find current AgentPanel construction site and pass the existing PresetManager instance as :presets.

Do not create another preset manager for the panel. The panel must control the same manager used by:

• Agent runner context.
• Agent tool surface.
• MCP sync.

5. Tests

Add or extend Fennel tests.

Controller tests:

• Controller requires :presets.
• load-presets includes inactive presets.
• Context-active preset row reports active? true and active-reason :context.
• set-preset-override name :on activates context-mismatched preset.
• set-preset-override name :off deactivates context-matched preset.
• set-preset-override name :auto returns to context behavior.
• reset-preset-overrides returns all overrides to :auto.
• Preset manager change listener refreshes rows.
• drop removes preset listener.

Preset list widget tests:

• Build with dummy context.
• Refresh after controller state changes.
• Toggle buttons call controller override method.
• Expanded details show tool IDs.

Integration tests:

• Pin graph preset on while context is drawing.
• Verify graph tool IDs resolve through PresetManager:get-tool-ids.
• Verify AgentToolSurface:mcp-tool-defs includes graph tools.
• Verify risky tool still goes through approval when called.

Recommended direct test command:

SKIP_KEYRING_TESTS=1 XDG_DATA_HOME=/tmp/space/tests/xdg-data SPACE_DISABLE_AUDIO=1 SPACE_ASSETS_PATH=$(pwd)/assets make test

Non-Goals

This design does not:

• Add a router agent.
• Add sub-agent orchestration.
• Persist preset overrides.
• Remove tool approvals.
• Add per-session capability profiles.
• Add model-driven preset selection.

Those are separate features.

Open Questions

• Should overrides eventually be app-global, per-agent, per-session, or per-world?
• Should the UI show raw tool IDs by default or only when expanded?
• Should risky presets sort to the bottom of each group?
• Should there be a one-click All graph, All scene, All drawing group state control?

The initial implementation can defer these and keep the contract small: every preset gets Auto, On, and Off.