feat: apply lobster palette to prompts

AGENTS.md

@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@
 - **Multi-agent safety:** do **not** switch branches / check out a different branch unless explicitly requested.
 - **Multi-agent safety:** running multiple agents is OK as long as each agent has its own session.
 - **Multi-agent safety:** when you see unrecognized files, keep going; focus on your changes and commit only those.
+- Lobster seam: use the shared CLI palette in `src/terminal/palette.ts` (no hardcoded colors); apply palette to onboarding/config prompts and other TTY UI output as needed.
 - **Multi-agent safety:** focus reports on your edits; avoid guard-rail disclaimers unless truly blocked; when multiple agents touch the same file, continue if safe; end with a brief “other files present” note only if relevant.
 - Bug investigations: read source code of relevant npm dependencies and all related local code before concluding; aim for high-confidence root cause.
 - Code style: add brief comments for tricky logic; keep files under ~500 LOC when feasible (split/refactor as needed).

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@
 - Agent: bypass Anthropic OAuth tool-name blocks by capitalizing built-ins and keeping pruning tool matching case-insensitive. (#553) — thanks @andrewting19
 - Commands/Tools: disable /restart and gateway restart tool by default (enable with commands.restart=true).
 - Gateway/CLI: add `clawdbot gateway discover` (Bonjour scan on `local.` + `clawdbot.internal.`) with `--timeout` and `--json`. — thanks @steipete
+- CLI: centralize lobster palette + apply it to onboarding/config prompts. — thanks @steipete
 
 ## 2026.1.8
 

docs/cli/index.md

@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ Clawdbot uses a lobster palette for CLI output.
 - `error` (#E23D2D): errors, failures.
 - `muted` (#8B7F77): de-emphasis, metadata.
 
+Palette source of truth: `src/terminal/palette.ts` (aka “lobster seam”).
+
 ## Command tree
 
 ```

src/commands/configure.ts

@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 import path from "node:path";
 
 import {
-  confirm,
+  confirm as clackConfirm,
-  intro,
+  intro as clackIntro,
-  multiselect,
+  multiselect as clackMultiselect,
-  note,
+  note as clackNote,
-  outro,
+  outro as clackOutro,
-  select,
+  select as clackSelect,
   spinner,
-  text,
+  text as clackText,
 } from "@clack/prompts";
 import {
   loginOpenAICodex,
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ import { ensureControlUiAssetsBuilt } from "../infra/control-ui-assets.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
 import { defaultRuntime } from "../runtime.js";
 import { theme } from "../terminal/theme.js";
+import {
+  stylePromptHint,
+  stylePromptMessage,
+  stylePromptTitle,
+} from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { resolveUserPath, sleep } from "../utils.js";
 import { createClackPrompter } from "../wizard/clack-prompter.js";
 import {
@@ -104,6 +109,43 @@ type ConfigureWizardParams = {
   sections?: WizardSection[];
 };
 
+const intro = (message: string) =>
+  clackIntro(stylePromptTitle(message) ?? message);
+const outro = (message: string) =>
+  clackOutro(stylePromptTitle(message) ?? message);
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+const text = (params: Parameters<typeof clackText>[0]) =>
+  clackText({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+  });
+const confirm = (params: Parameters<typeof clackConfirm>[0]) =>
+  clackConfirm({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+  });
+const select = <T>(params: Parameters<typeof clackSelect<T>>[0]) =>
+  clackSelect({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+    options: params.options.map((opt) =>
+      opt.hint === undefined
+        ? opt
+        : { ...opt, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) },
+    ),
+  });
+const multiselect = <T>(params: Parameters<typeof clackMultiselect<T>>[0]) =>
+  clackMultiselect({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+    options: params.options.map((opt) =>
+      opt.hint === undefined
+        ? opt
+        : { ...opt, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) },
+    ),
+  });
+
 const startOscSpinner = (label: string) => {
   const spin = spinner();
   spin.start(theme.accent(label));

src/commands/doctor-auth.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import {
   buildAuthHealthSummary,
@@ -13,8 +13,12 @@ import {
   resolveApiKeyForProfile,
 } from "../agents/auth-profiles.js";
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import type { DoctorPrompter } from "./doctor-prompter.js";
 
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+
 export async function maybeRepairAnthropicOAuthProfileId(
   cfg: ClawdbotConfig,
   prompter: DoctorPrompter,

src/commands/doctor-gateway-services.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import path from "node:path";
 
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { resolveGatewayPort, resolveIsNixMode } from "../config/paths.js";
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ import {
   type GatewayDaemonRuntime,
 } from "./daemon-runtime.js";
 import type { DoctorOptions, DoctorPrompter } from "./doctor-prompter.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
+
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
 
 function detectGatewayRuntime(
   programArguments: string[] | undefined,

src/commands/doctor-legacy-config.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import {
@@ -12,8 +12,12 @@ import {
   writeConfigFile,
 } from "../config/config.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { resolveUserPath } from "../utils.js";
 
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+
 function resolveLegacyConfigPath(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): string {
   const override = env.CLAWDIS_CONFIG_PATH?.trim();
   if (override) return override;

src/commands/doctor-prompter.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { confirm, select } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
+import { stylePromptHint, stylePromptMessage } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { guardCancel } from "./onboard-helpers.js";
 
 export type DoctorOptions = {
@@ -42,7 +43,15 @@ export function createDoctorPrompter(params: {
     if (nonInteractive) return false;
     if (shouldRepair) return true;
     if (!canPrompt) return Boolean(p.initialValue ?? false);
-    return guardCancel(await confirm(p), params.runtime) === true;
+    return (
+      guardCancel(
+        await confirm({
+          ...p,
+          message: stylePromptMessage(p.message),
+        }),
+        params.runtime,
+      ) === true
+    );
   };
 
   return {
@@ -56,7 +65,15 @@ export function createDoctorPrompter(params: {
       if (shouldRepair && shouldForce) return true;
       if (shouldRepair && !shouldForce) return false;
       if (!canPrompt) return Boolean(p.initialValue ?? false);
-      return guardCancel(await confirm(p), params.runtime) === true;
+      return (
+        guardCancel(
+          await confirm({
+            ...p,
+            message: stylePromptMessage(p.message),
+          }),
+          params.runtime,
+        ) === true
+      );
     },
     confirmSkipInNonInteractive: async (p) => {
       if (nonInteractive) return false;
@@ -65,7 +82,18 @@ export function createDoctorPrompter(params: {
     },
     select: async <T>(p: Parameters<typeof select>[0], fallback: T) => {
       if (!canPrompt || shouldRepair) return fallback;
-      return guardCancel(await select(p), params.runtime) as T;
+      return guardCancel(
+        await select({
+          ...p,
+          message: stylePromptMessage(p.message),
+          options: p.options.map((opt) =>
+            opt.hint === undefined
+              ? opt
+              : { ...opt, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) },
+          ),
+        }),
+        params.runtime,
+      ) as T;
     },
     shouldRepair,
     shouldForce,

src/commands/doctor-sandbox.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import fs from "node:fs";
 import path from "node:path";
 
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import {
   DEFAULT_SANDBOX_BROWSER_IMAGE,
@@ -12,9 +12,13 @@ import {
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { runCommandWithTimeout, runExec } from "../process/exec.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { replaceModernName } from "./doctor-legacy-config.js";
 import type { DoctorPrompter } from "./doctor-prompter.js";
 
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+
 type SandboxScriptInfo = {
   scriptPath: string;
   cwd: string;

src/commands/doctor-security.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { readProviderAllowFromStore } from "../pairing/pairing-store.js";
 import { readTelegramAllowFromStore } from "../telegram/pairing-store.js";
 import { resolveTelegramToken } from "../telegram/token.js";
 import { normalizeE164 } from "../utils.js";
 
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+
 export async function noteSecurityWarnings(cfg: ClawdbotConfig) {
   const warnings: string[] = [];
 

src/commands/doctor-state-integrity.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import fs from "node:fs";
 import os from "node:os";
 import path from "node:path";
 
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import { resolveOAuthDir, resolveStateDir } from "../config/paths.js";
@@ -13,8 +13,12 @@ import {
   resolveSessionTranscriptsDirForAgent,
   resolveStorePath,
 } from "../config/sessions.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { DEFAULT_AGENT_ID, normalizeAgentId } from "../routing/session-key.js";
 
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+
 type DoctorPrompterLike = {
   confirmSkipInNonInteractive: (params: {
     message: string;

src/commands/doctor.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import path from "node:path";
-import { intro, note, outro } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { intro as clackIntro, note as clackNote, outro as clackOutro } from "@clack/prompts";
 import { buildWorkspaceSkillStatus } from "../agents/skills-status.js";
 import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
 import {
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import { formatPortDiagnostics, inspectPortUsage } from "../infra/ports.js";
 import { collectProvidersStatusIssues } from "../infra/providers-status-issues.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
 import { defaultRuntime } from "../runtime.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { resolveUserPath, sleep } from "../utils.js";
 import {
   DEFAULT_GATEWAY_DAEMON_RUNTIME,
@@ -71,6 +72,13 @@ import {
 } from "./onboard-helpers.js";
 import { ensureSystemdUserLingerInteractive } from "./systemd-linger.js";
 
+const intro = (message: string) =>
+  clackIntro(stylePromptTitle(message) ?? message);
+const outro = (message: string) =>
+  clackOutro(stylePromptTitle(message) ?? message);
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
+
 function resolveMode(cfg: ClawdbotConfig): "local" | "remote" {
   return cfg.gateway?.mode === "remote" ? "remote" : "local";
 }

src/commands/models/auth.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 
-import { confirm, select, text } from "@clack/prompts";
+import {
+  confirm as clackConfirm,
+  select as clackSelect,
+  text as clackText,
+} from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import {
   CLAUDE_CLI_PROFILE_ID,
@@ -11,9 +15,34 @@ import { normalizeProviderId } from "../../agents/model-selection.js";
 import { parseDurationMs } from "../../cli/parse-duration.js";
 import { CONFIG_PATH_CLAWDBOT } from "../../config/config.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../../runtime.js";
+import {
+  stylePromptHint,
+  stylePromptMessage,
+} from "../../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { applyAuthProfileConfig } from "../onboard-auth.js";
 import { updateConfig } from "./shared.js";
 
+const confirm = (params: Parameters<typeof clackConfirm>[0]) =>
+  clackConfirm({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+  });
+const text = (params: Parameters<typeof clackText>[0]) =>
+  clackText({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+  });
+const select = <T>(params: Parameters<typeof clackSelect<T>>[0]) =>
+  clackSelect({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+    options: params.options.map((opt) =>
+      opt.hint === undefined
+        ? opt
+        : { ...opt, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) },
+    ),
+  });
+
 type TokenProvider = "anthropic";
 
 function resolveTokenProvider(raw?: string): TokenProvider | "custom" | null {

src/commands/models/scan.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
-import { cancel, isCancel, multiselect } from "@clack/prompts";
+import {
+  cancel,
+  isCancel,
+  multiselect as clackMultiselect,
+} from "@clack/prompts";
 import { resolveApiKeyForProvider } from "../../agents/model-auth.js";
 import {
   type ModelScanResult,
@@ -7,11 +11,27 @@ import {
 import { withProgressTotals } from "../../cli/progress.js";
 import { CONFIG_PATH_CLAWDBOT, loadConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../../runtime.js";
+import {
+  stylePromptHint,
+  stylePromptMessage,
+  stylePromptTitle,
+} from "../../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { formatMs, formatTokenK, updateConfig } from "./shared.js";
 
 const MODEL_PAD = 42;
 const CTX_PAD = 8;
 
+const multiselect = <T>(params: Parameters<typeof clackMultiselect<T>>[0]) =>
+  clackMultiselect({
+    ...params,
+    message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
+    options: params.options.map((opt) =>
+      opt.hint === undefined
+        ? opt
+        : { ...opt, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) },
+    ),
+  });
+
 const pad = (value: string, size: number) => value.padEnd(size);
 
 const truncate = (value: string, max: number) => {
@@ -268,7 +288,7 @@ export async function modelsScanCommand(
     });
 
     if (isCancel(selection)) {
-      cancel("Model scan cancelled.");
+      cancel(stylePromptTitle("Model scan cancelled.") ?? "Model scan cancelled.");
       runtime.exit(0);
     }
 
@@ -285,7 +305,9 @@ export async function modelsScanCommand(
       });
 
       if (isCancel(imageSelection)) {
-        cancel("Model scan cancelled.");
+        cancel(
+          stylePromptTitle("Model scan cancelled.") ?? "Model scan cancelled.",
+        );
         runtime.exit(0);
       }
 

src/commands/onboard-helpers.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { normalizeControlUiBasePath } from "../gateway/control-ui.js";
 import { pickPrimaryTailnetIPv4 } from "../infra/tailnet.js";
 import { runCommandWithTimeout } from "../process/exec.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import { CONFIG_DIR, resolveUserPath } from "../utils.js";
 import { VERSION } from "../version.js";
 import type {
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ import type {
 
 export function guardCancel<T>(value: T, runtime: RuntimeEnv): T {
   if (isCancel(value)) {
-    cancel("Setup cancelled.");
+    cancel(stylePromptTitle("Setup cancelled.") ?? "Setup cancelled.");
     runtime.exit(0);
   }
   return value;

src/commands/systemd-linger.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
-import { note } from "@clack/prompts";
+import { note as clackNote } from "@clack/prompts";
 
 import {
   enableSystemdUserLinger,
   readSystemdUserLingerStatus,
 } from "../daemon/systemd.js";
 import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
+import { stylePromptTitle } from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
+
+const note = (message: string, title?: string) =>
+  clackNote(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
 
 export type LingerPrompter = {
   confirm?: (params: {

src/terminal/palette.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+// Lobster palette tokens for CLI/UI theming. "lobster seam" == use this palette.
+// Keep in sync with docs/cli/index.md (CLI palette section).
+export const LOBSTER_PALETTE = {
+  accent: "#FF5A2D",
+  accentBright: "#FF7A3D",
+  accentDim: "#D14A22",
+  info: "#FF8A5B",
+  success: "#2FBF71",
+  warn: "#FFB020",
+  error: "#E23D2D",
+  muted: "#8B7F77",
+} as const;

src/terminal/prompt-style.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { isRich, theme } from "./theme.js";
+
+export const stylePromptMessage = (message: string): string =>
+  isRich() ? theme.accent(message) : message;
+
+export const stylePromptTitle = (title?: string): string | undefined =>
+  title && isRich() ? theme.heading(title) : title;
+
+export const stylePromptHint = (hint?: string): string | undefined =>
+  hint && isRich() ? theme.muted(hint) : hint;

src/terminal/theme.ts

@@ -1,16 +1,6 @@
 import chalk from "chalk";
 
-// Semantic palette for CLI output. Keep in sync with docs/cli/index.md.
+import { LOBSTER_PALETTE } from "./palette.js";
-export const LOBSTER_PALETTE = {
-  accent: "#FF5A2D",
-  accentBright: "#FF7A3D",
-  accentDim: "#D14A22",
-  info: "#FF8A5B",
-  success: "#2FBF71",
-  warn: "#FFB020",
-  error: "#E23D2D",
-  muted: "#8B7F77",
-} as const;
 
 const hex = (value: string) => chalk.hex(value);
 

src/wizard/clack-prompter.ts

@@ -13,12 +13,17 @@ import {
 } from "@clack/prompts";
 import { createCliProgress } from "../cli/progress.js";
 import { theme } from "../terminal/theme.js";
+import {
+  stylePromptHint,
+  stylePromptMessage,
+  stylePromptTitle,
+} from "../terminal/prompt-style.js";
 import type { WizardProgress, WizardPrompter } from "./prompts.js";
 import { WizardCancelledError } from "./prompts.js";
 
 function guardCancel<T>(value: T | symbol): T {
   if (isCancel(value)) {
-    cancel("Setup cancelled.");
+    cancel(stylePromptTitle("Setup cancelled.") ?? "Setup cancelled.");
     throw new WizardCancelledError();
   }
   return value as T;
@@ -27,21 +32,23 @@ function guardCancel<T>(value: T | symbol): T {
 export function createClackPrompter(): WizardPrompter {
   return {
     intro: async (title) => {
-      intro(title);
+      intro(stylePromptTitle(title) ?? title);
     },
     outro: async (message) => {
-      outro(message);
+      outro(stylePromptTitle(message) ?? message);
     },
     note: async (message, title) => {
-      note(message, title);
+      note(message, stylePromptTitle(title));
     },
     select: async (params) =>
       guardCancel(
         await select({
-          message: params.message,
+          message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
           options: params.options.map((opt) => {
             const base = { value: opt.value, label: opt.label };
-            return opt.hint === undefined ? base : { ...base, hint: opt.hint };
+            return opt.hint === undefined
+              ? base
+              : { ...base, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) };
           }) as Option<(typeof params.options)[number]["value"]>[],
           initialValue: params.initialValue,
         }),
@@ -49,10 +56,12 @@ export function createClackPrompter(): WizardPrompter {
     multiselect: async (params) =>
       guardCancel(
         await multiselect({
-          message: params.message,
+          message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
           options: params.options.map((opt) => {
             const base = { value: opt.value, label: opt.label };
-            return opt.hint === undefined ? base : { ...base, hint: opt.hint };
+            return opt.hint === undefined
+              ? base
+              : { ...base, hint: stylePromptHint(opt.hint) };
           }) as Option<(typeof params.options)[number]["value"]>[],
           initialValues: params.initialValues,
         }),
@@ -60,7 +69,7 @@ export function createClackPrompter(): WizardPrompter {
     text: async (params) =>
       guardCancel(
         await text({
-          message: params.message,
+          message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
           initialValue: params.initialValue,
           placeholder: params.placeholder,
           validate: params.validate,
@@ -69,7 +78,7 @@ export function createClackPrompter(): WizardPrompter {
     confirm: async (params) =>
       guardCancel(
         await confirm({
-          message: params.message,
+          message: stylePromptMessage(params.message),
           initialValue: params.initialValue,
         }),
       ),