zlh-grind/Frontend/TerminalView_Component.md

TerminalView Component

Status: ✅ Operational

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Overview

The terminal console is implemented using:

• xterm.js — frontend terminal renderer
• WebSocket transport — connects portal to agent
• PTY session — managed by the agent via creack/pty

TerminalView owns the WebSocket lifecycle. ServerConsole owns policy and session gating.

The file panel does not interrupt the console lifecycle.

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Reconnect Behavior

The terminal automatically reconnects when the WebSocket closes unexpectedly.

Behavior:

• Reconnect delay: 1–5 seconds
• Backoff capped at 5 seconds
• Console session recreated automatically

The user no longer needs to refresh the page to regain console access after navigating away from the console tab or after a transient disconnect.

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Agent Side

• One PTY read loop per {vmid, container_type}
• PTY-backed WebSocket served at /console/ws
• Commands sent via GET /console/command?cmd=<cmd> to server stdin

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Constraints

• Portal never calls the agent directly — all traffic through API
• Console does not enforce real policy — agent enforces