feat(app): agents run in chat wherever the box can, with no setting to turn it off

[sean-brydon]

Agents run in chat ("structured") wherever the box has the driver. There's no setting for it: it isn't in Labs and it isn't in Settings. This replaces #150, which made it a switch.

What changed

• The structuredClaude pref is gone. structuredLaunch (now lib/structured-core.ts) picks the driver whenever the box has driver.claude, driver.codex or driver.acp. Otherwise the agent runs in its terminal, as on older boxes. An old saved structuredClaude is stripped when prefs load, so no migration is needed.
• Permissions (Bypass | Ask) moves from Labs to the top of Settings › Agents and models, always shown:

  What new agents do when they want to run a command or change a file. Bypass lets the box allow it; their questions and plans still come to you. Ask brings each one to you.

• Box defaults: the app always gives boxes {structured: true, mode}, with the mode from Permissions.
• berthd with nothing saved now starts agents structured, asking for each permission (NoSavedDefaults = {Structured: true, Mode: "default"}). This covers agents started by the CLI, by other agents through the berth tools, or by runs on a box the app hasn't synced yet. It asks rather than bypasses because nobody chose to let them through. Terminal presets carry no skip-permissions flags either, so runs that used to start in a terminal behave the same. Once the app sees the box, it pushes the Permissions choice. A request that names "driver": "terminal" still gets its terminal.
• usePaneView: a structured session opens as its conversation even with Labs off. A Claude moved to its own terminal keeps its switch back to the chat. Per-session "Open in terminal" is unchanged.
• Docs: a new "Agents in chat" page (guides/structured-agents) replaces the Labs section, plus a changelog bullet. app-api.mdx notes the nothing-saved default.

Proof (mock)

Settings › Agents and models: Permissions, and no switch:

Labs without the structured rows:

Tests

• e2e/agents-in-chat.spec.ts (5 tests):
  • Labs has no structured or Permissions row.
  • Agents has Permissions and no switch.
  • Settings search finds Permissions under Agents.
  • An old structuredClaude: false is dropped.
  • A structured chat opens as its conversation with Labs off, and a new Claude started with Labs off opens as a chat. With the old Labs check put back, this test fails.
• structured-core.test.ts (new) and box-defaults-core.test.ts, which also checks that an old labs: false / structuredClaude: false changes nothing. pnpm test: 541 pass.
• Go: agentdefaults_test.go covers nothing saved for Claude, Codex, ACP, an agent with no driver, a box without conversations and a broken file. mcptools_test.go checks that a berth-tools task is structured with nothing saved, in its terminal when saved off, and structured when on.
• go vet, typecheck:plugins, check:titles, check:csp, check:themes, build, tsc -p e2e, cargo check and the docs build pass. Locally TestAttachPassesShiftEnter fails against tmux 3.7c; it passes in CI.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
berth	Building	Preview	Oct 18, 2026 5:52pm UTC
berth-docs	Ready	Preview	Oct 18, 2026 5:52pm UTC

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