fix(tui): surface model errors

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
  - UI: use application-defined WebSocket close code (browser compatibility). (#918) — thanks @rahthakor.
 - TUI: render picker overlays via the overlay stack so /models and /settings display. (#921) — thanks @grizzdank.
 - TUI: add a bright spinner + elapsed time in the status line for send/stream/run states.
+- TUI: show LLM error messages (rate limits, auth, etc.) instead of `(no output)`.
 - Gateway/Dev: ensure `pnpm gateway:dev` always uses the dev profile config + state (`~/.clawdbot-dev`).
 - macOS: fix cron preview/testing payload to use `channel` key. (#867) — thanks @wes-davis.
 - Telegram: honor `channels.telegram.timeoutSeconds` for grammY API requests. (#863) — thanks @Snaver.

src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers.formatrawassistanterrorforui.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { formatRawAssistantErrorForUi } from "./pi-embedded-helpers.js";
+
+describe("formatRawAssistantErrorForUi", () => {
+  it("renders HTTP code + type + message from Anthropic payloads", () => {
+    const text = formatRawAssistantErrorForUi(
+      '429 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"rate_limit_error","message":"Rate limited."},"request_id":"req_123"}',
+    );
+
+    expect(text).toContain("HTTP 429");
+    expect(text).toContain("rate_limit_error");
+    expect(text).toContain("Rate limited.");
+    expect(text).toContain("req_123");
+  });
+
+  it("renders a generic unknown error message when raw is empty", () => {
+    expect(formatRawAssistantErrorForUi("")).toContain("unknown error");
+  });
+});
+

src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers.ts

@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ export {
 } from "./pi-embedded-helpers/bootstrap.js";
 export {
   classifyFailoverReason,
+  formatRawAssistantErrorForUi,
   formatAssistantErrorText,
   getApiErrorPayloadFingerprint,
   isAuthAssistantError,
   isAuthErrorMessage,
   isBillingAssistantError,
+  parseApiErrorInfo,
   isBillingErrorMessage,
   isCloudCodeAssistFormatError,
   isCompactionFailureError,

src/agents/pi-embedded-helpers/errors.ts

@@ -100,6 +100,72 @@ export function isRawApiErrorPayload(raw?: string): boolean {
   return getApiErrorPayloadFingerprint(raw) !== null;
 }
 
+export type ApiErrorInfo = {
+  httpCode?: string;
+  type?: string;
+  message?: string;
+  requestId?: string;
+};
+
+export function parseApiErrorInfo(raw?: string): ApiErrorInfo | null {
+  if (!raw) return null;
+  const trimmed = raw.trim();
+  if (!trimmed) return null;
+
+  let httpCode: string | undefined;
+  let candidate = trimmed;
+
+  const httpPrefixMatch = candidate.match(/^(\d{3})\s+(.+)$/s);
+  if (httpPrefixMatch) {
+    httpCode = httpPrefixMatch[1];
+    candidate = httpPrefixMatch[2].trim();
+  }
+
+  const payload = parseApiErrorPayload(candidate);
+  if (!payload) return null;
+
+  const requestId =
+    typeof payload.request_id === "string"
+      ? payload.request_id
+      : typeof payload.requestId === "string"
+        ? payload.requestId
+        : undefined;
+
+  const topType = typeof payload.type === "string" ? payload.type : undefined;
+  const topMessage = typeof payload.message === "string" ? payload.message : undefined;
+
+  let errType: string | undefined;
+  let errMessage: string | undefined;
+  if (payload.error && typeof payload.error === "object" && !Array.isArray(payload.error)) {
+    const err = payload.error as Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (typeof err.type === "string") errType = err.type;
+    if (typeof err.code === "string" && !errType) errType = err.code;
+    if (typeof err.message === "string") errMessage = err.message;
+  }
+
+  return {
+    httpCode,
+    type: errType ?? topType,
+    message: errMessage ?? topMessage,
+    requestId,
+  };
+}
+
+export function formatRawAssistantErrorForUi(raw?: string): string {
+  const trimmed = (raw ?? "").trim();
+  if (!trimmed) return "LLM request failed with an unknown error.";
+
+  const info = parseApiErrorInfo(trimmed);
+  if (info?.message) {
+    const prefix = info.httpCode ? `HTTP ${info.httpCode}` : "LLM error";
+    const type = info.type ? ` ${info.type}` : "";
+    const requestId = info.requestId ? ` (request_id: ${info.requestId})` : "";
+    return `${prefix}${type}: ${info.message}${requestId}`;
+  }
+
+  return trimmed.length > 600 ? `${trimmed.slice(0, 600)}…` : trimmed;
+}
+
 export function formatAssistantErrorText(
   msg: AssistantMessage,
   opts?: { cfg?: ClawdbotConfig; sessionKey?: string },

src/auto-reply/reply/agent-runner-utils.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import type { NormalizedUsage } from "../../agents/usage.js";
 import { getChannelDock } from "../../channels/dock.js";
 import type { ChannelThreadingToolContext } from "../../channels/plugins/types.js";
-import { normalizeChannelId } from "../../channels/plugins/index.js";
+import { normalizeChannelId } from "../../channels/registry.js";
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 import { isReasoningTagProvider } from "../../utils/provider-utils.js";
 import { estimateUsageCost, formatTokenCount, formatUsd } from "../../utils/usage-format.js";

src/tui/tui-event-handlers.ts

@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ export function createEventHandlers(context: EventHandlerContext) {
       setActivityStatus("streaming");
     }
     if (evt.state === "final") {
+      const stopReason =
+        evt.message && typeof evt.message === "object" && !Array.isArray(evt.message)
+          ? typeof (evt.message as Record<string, unknown>).stopReason === "string"
+            ? ((evt.message as Record<string, unknown>).stopReason as string)
+            : ""
+          : "";
       const text = extractTextFromMessage(evt.message, {
         includeThinking: state.showThinking,
       });
@@ -57,7 +63,7 @@ export function createEventHandlers(context: EventHandlerContext) {
       chatLog.finalizeAssistant(finalText, evt.runId);
       noteFinalizedRun(evt.runId);
       state.activeChatRunId = null;
-      setActivityStatus("idle");
+      setActivityStatus(stopReason === "error" ? "error" : "idle");
     }
     if (evt.state === "aborted") {
       chatLog.addSystem("run aborted");

src/tui/tui-formatters.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { extractTextFromMessage } from "./tui-formatters.js";
+
+describe("extractTextFromMessage", () => {
+  it("renders errorMessage when assistant content is empty", () => {
+    const text = extractTextFromMessage({
+      role: "assistant",
+      content: [],
+      stopReason: "error",
+      errorMessage:
+        '429 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"rate_limit_error","message":"This request would exceed your account\\u0027s rate limit. Please try again later."},"request_id":"req_123"}',
+    });
+
+    expect(text).toContain("HTTP 429");
+    expect(text).toContain("rate_limit_error");
+    expect(text).toContain("req_123");
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to a generic message when errorMessage is missing", () => {
+    const text = extractTextFromMessage({
+      role: "assistant",
+      content: [],
+      stopReason: "error",
+      errorMessage: "",
+    });
+
+    expect(text).toContain("unknown error");
+  });
+});
+

src/tui/tui-formatters.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { formatTokenCount } from "../utils/usage-format.js";
+import { formatRawAssistantErrorForUi } from "../agents/pi-embedded-helpers.js";
 
 export function resolveFinalAssistantText(params: {
   finalText?: string | null;
@@ -38,7 +39,14 @@ export function extractTextFromMessage(
 ): string {
   if (!message || typeof message !== "object") return "";
   const record = message as Record<string, unknown>;
-  return extractTextBlocks(record.content, opts);
+  const text = extractTextBlocks(record.content, opts);
+  if (text) return text;
+
+  const stopReason = typeof record.stopReason === "string" ? record.stopReason : "";
+  if (stopReason !== "error") return "";
+
+  const errorMessage = typeof record.errorMessage === "string" ? record.errorMessage : "";
+  return formatRawAssistantErrorForUi(errorMessage);
 }
 
 export function formatTokens(total?: number | null, context?: number | null) {