fix: stop artifact walk entering OS app-data dirs; context bar off by default

The artifacts scan used rglob and filtered after descending, so a home directory
workspace walked into ~/Library and triggered the macOS App Data consent prompt on
every turn. Walk with pruning instead, and skip Library / AppData in search too.

The composer chip now shows the session total by default, with the context window
bar behind a Settings toggle.

surfaces/gui/e2e/fixtures.ts

@@ -838,6 +838,10 @@ export async function mockApi(page: import("@playwright/test").Page) {
 
     if (p.endsWith("/v1/health")) return json(HEALTH);
     if (p.endsWith("/v1/settings")) return json(SETTINGS);
+    if (p.endsWith("/v1/settings/context-bar") && m === "POST") {
+      Object.assign(SETTINGS, req.postDataJSON());
+      return json({ ok: true, context_bar: SETTINGS.context_bar });
+    }
     if (p.endsWith("/v1/settings/pdf") && m === "POST") {
       Object.assign(SETTINGS, req.postDataJSON());
       return json({

surfaces/gui/e2e/usage-chip.spec.ts

@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ test("usage chip appears after a turn and opens the breakdown popover", async ({
     timeout: 10_000,
   });
 
-  // Chip shows the session total (1k + 200 + 8k + 800 = 10k).
+  // Default: no bar (owner ask 2026-07-30) — the chip states the session total
+  // (1k + 200 + 8k + 800 = 10k). The bar is opt-in via Settings.
   const chip = page.getByTestId("usage-chip");
   await expect(chip).toContainText("10k");
 
@@ -58,9 +59,41 @@ test("usage resets on a new session", async ({ page }) => {
   const box = page.getByPlaceholder(/Ask the coworker/);
   await box.fill("hello");
   await box.press("Enter");
-  await expect(page.getByTestId("usage-chip")).toContainText("10k", { timeout: 10_000 });
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("usage-chip")).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
 
   // "＋ New session" wipes the transcript — and the usage accumulation with it.
   await page.getByRole("button", { name: /New session/ }).first().click();
   await expect(page.getByTestId("usage-chip")).toHaveCount(0);
 });
+
+test("Settings toggle turns the context bar on; default is the session total", async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.goto("/");
+  await page.getByText("Draft the launch note").first().click();
+  const box = page.getByPlaceholder(/Ask the coworker/);
+  await box.fill("hello");
+  await box.press("Enter");
+  const chip = page.getByTestId("usage-chip");
+  await expect(chip).toContainText("10k", { timeout: 10_000 }); // default: total, no bar
+
+  // Turn the bar ON in Settings -> General.
+  await page.getByTestId("account-row").click();
+  await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Settings", exact: true }).click();
+  await expect(page.getByTestId("context-bar-toggle")).not.toBeChecked();
+  const [req] = await Promise.all([
+    page.waitForRequest(
+      (r) => r.url().endsWith("/v1/settings/context-bar") && r.method() === "POST",
+    ),
+    page.getByTestId("context-bar-toggle").check(),
+  ]);
+  expect(req.postDataJSON()).toEqual({ context_bar: true });
+
+  // Reload so the app re-reads settings: the chip is now the fill bar, not a number.
+  await page.goto("/");
+  await page.getByText("Draft the launch note").first().click();
+  await page.getByPlaceholder(/Ask the coworker/).fill("hello");
+  await page.getByPlaceholder(/Ask the coworker/).press("Enter");
+  const bar = page.getByTestId("usage-chip");
+  await expect(bar).toBeVisible({ timeout: 10_000 });
+  await expect(bar).not.toContainText("10k");
+  await expect(bar).toHaveAttribute("title", /Context window 5% full/);
+});

surfaces/gui/src/App.tsx

@@ -165,6 +165,9 @@ export function App() {
   // {full model id → context window in tokens} from the curated matrix (verified only);
   // drives the composer usage chip's context-fill meter.
   const [modelContextWindows, setModelContextWindows] = useState<Record<string, number>>({});
+  // Settings: show the composer's context-window fill bar. OFF by default (owner ask),
+  // so an older backend without the field also shows the session total.
+  const [contextBar, setContextBar] = useState(false);
   // Per-session token usage (OPE-42): rebuilt from the transcript on session load,
   // accumulated live from assistant_message events, reset with the transcript.
   const [usage, setUsage] = useState<SessionUsage>(emptyUsage());
@@ -506,6 +509,7 @@ export function App() {
         setModels(s.models || []);
         setModelLabels(s.model_labels || {});
         setModelContextWindows(s.model_context_windows || {});
+        setContextBar(s.context_bar === true);
         setModelReady(s.model_ready);
         if (s.surfaces) setSurfaces(s.surfaces);
       })
@@ -1587,6 +1591,7 @@ export function App() {
               resetKey={sessionId}
               usage={usage}
               contextWindow={modelContextWindows[model]}
+              contextBar={contextBar}
               placeholder={
                 agent === "code"
                   ? "Ask the coder to build, fix, or explain…  (drop or paste files)"

surfaces/gui/src/api.ts

@@ -692,6 +692,9 @@ export interface ModelSettings {
   nav_layout?: "flat" | "grouped";
   // Sidebar: sessions shown per group before "Show more" (default 5, 1–50).
   sessions_peek?: number;
+  // Composer: show the context-window fill bar (default FALSE; absent → the chip shows
+  // the session total). The usage popover keeps both numbers regardless.
+  context_bar?: boolean;
   // Curated-matrix display names ({full id → "GLM-5.2 · via Together"}); custom models absent.
   model_labels?: Record<string, string>;
   // {full id → context window in tokens}, verified matrix entries only — drives the
@@ -758,6 +761,18 @@ export async function inspectPdf(
   return res.json();
 }
 
+/** Persist whether the composer shows the context-window fill bar. */
+export async function setContextBar(
+  shown: boolean,
+): Promise<{ ok: boolean; context_bar?: boolean; error?: string }> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${httpBase()}/v1/settings/context-bar`, {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+    body: JSON.stringify({ context_bar: shown }),
+  });
+  return res.json();
+}
+
 /** Persist how many sessions a sidebar group shows before "Show more". */
 export async function setSessionsPeek(
   n: number,

surfaces/gui/src/components/Composer.tsx

@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ interface Props {
   // Context-window size (tokens) of the ACTIVE model, from the curated matrix;
   // undefined hides the fill meter (unverified/custom models) but keeps the counts.
   contextWindow?: number;
+  // Settings toggle (default off): true shows the fill bar instead of the session total.
+  contextBar?: boolean;
 }
 
 export function Composer(props: Props) {
@@ -469,13 +471,14 @@ export function Composer(props: Props) {
 
           <span className="ml-auto" />
 
-          {/* token usage (OPE-42) — a quiet meter+count chip; hidden until the server
-              reports usage. Fill = context-window occupancy (bounded), count = session
-              consumption (unbounded, so never a fill). */}
+          {/* token usage (OPE-42) — a quiet chip; hidden until the server reports usage.
+              Shows the context-window fill bar alone (the session total lives in the
+              popover), or the session total when there's no window / the bar is off. */}
           {!dictation?.recording && props.usage && totalTokens(props.usage) > 0 && (
             <UsageChip
               usage={props.usage}
               contextWindow={props.contextWindow}
+              contextBar={props.contextBar}
               model={props.model}
               modelLabels={props.modelLabels}
             />
@@ -572,11 +575,13 @@ export function Composer(props: Props) {
 function UsageChip({
   usage,
   contextWindow,
+  contextBar,
   model,
   modelLabels,
 }: {
   usage: SessionUsage;
   contextWindow?: number;
+  contextBar?: boolean;
   model: string;
   modelLabels?: Record<string, string>;
 }) {
@@ -585,6 +590,8 @@ function UsageChip({
   const pct = contextWindow
     ? Math.min(100, Math.round((usage.context / contextWindow) * 100))
     : null;
+  // Settings can hide the bar; without a known window there is nothing to fill either.
+  const showBar = pct !== null && contextBar === true;
   const labelFor = (id: string) =>
     id === "unknown" ? "Unknown model" : modelLabels?.[id] || shortModel(id);
   // One field per line, session-summed (owner ask 2026-07-28). Values are cumulative
@@ -605,21 +612,25 @@ function UsageChip({
         aria-expanded={open}
         aria-label="Token usage"
         title={
-          pct !== null
-            ? `Token usage — ${pct}% of the context window used`
-            : "Token usage this session"
+          showBar
+            ? `Context window ${pct}% full · ${formatTokens(total)} tokens this session`
+            : `Token usage this session: ${formatTokens(total)}`
         }
         data-testid="usage-chip"
       >
-        {pct !== null && (
-          <span className="w-7 h-1 rounded-full bg-line overflow-hidden" aria-hidden="true">
+        {/* The bar is the context-window fill; pairing it with the session TOTAL read as
+            "total is N% of the window", which it never was. Bar alone when we have a
+            window, the session total only when we don't (so the chip is never empty). */}
+        {showBar ? (
+          <span className="w-12 h-1.5 rounded-full bg-line overflow-hidden" aria-hidden="true">
             <span
               className="block h-full bg-accent transition-all"
-              style={{ width: `${Math.max(pct, 4)}%` }}
+              style={{ width: `${Math.max(pct as number, 4)}%` }}
             />
           </span>
+        ) : (
+          <span className="tabular-nums">{formatTokens(total)}</span>
         )}
-        <span className="tabular-nums">{formatTokens(total)}</span>
       </button>
       {open && (
         <>

surfaces/gui/src/components/SettingsView.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import {
   getSettings,
   getTrustedWorkspaces,
   setCompactionSettings,
+  setContextBar,
   setOnboarded,
   setPdfSettings,
   setScratchBase,
@@ -428,6 +429,8 @@ function AppearanceSection() {
 
       <SidebarCard />
 
+      <ContextBarCard />
+
       <FilesCard />
 
       <TrustedWorkspacesCard />
@@ -790,6 +793,48 @@ function CompactionCard() {
   );
 }
 
+// -- Composer: context-window bar (owner ask 2026-07-30) ------------------------
+// The chip's bar is context-window occupancy; the session total (unbounded) lives in
+// the popover. Some people would rather not watch a meter at all, hence the toggle.
+function ContextBarCard() {
+  const [shown, setShown] = useState<boolean | null>(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    getSettings()
+      .then((s) => setShown(s.context_bar === true))
+      .catch(() => setShown(false));
+  }, []);
+
+  const save = async (next: boolean) => {
+    setShown(next);
+    await setContextBar(next);
+  };
+
+  if (shown === null) return null;
+  return (
+    <div className={CARD + " p-4 mb-4"} data-testid="context-bar-card">
+      <div className={FIELD_LABEL}>Composer</div>
+      <label className="flex items-start gap-3 py-2">
+        <input
+          type="checkbox"
+          className="mt-0.5"
+          data-testid="context-bar-toggle"
+          checked={shown}
+          onChange={(e) => save(e.target.checked)}
+        />
+        <span>
+          <span className="block text-[13px] text-ink">Show the context window bar</span>
+          <span className="block text-[12px] text-muted">
+            A small meter showing how full the model&rsquo;s context window is. Turn it off
+            to show this session&rsquo;s token total instead; either way the full breakdown
+            is one click away.
+          </span>
+        </span>
+      </label>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 function SidebarCard() {
   const [peek, setPeek] = useState<number | null>(null);