Appearance
Agent status
Every workspace row in the WORKSPACES sidebar shows what the coding agent running in that workspace is doing: a colored dot next to the name, with a soft halo while it works. When the sidebar is folded into its rail, the ring around the workspace's badge takes the same color, and hovering the badge names the state. You can tell which agent needs you without opening its terminal.
WORKSPACES
main
Login page
feat-login2 running
Checkout flow
PROJ-101In Review3
Search filters
PROJ-104In Progress1
Invoice export
PROJ-97Done
What the states mean
| Dot | State | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| (none) | (none) | No agent is running in this workspace. |
| Idle | The agent finished its turn, or just started, and waits for you. | |
| Thinking | You sent a prompt and the agent is working on it. | |
| Using tools | The agent is running a tool: an edit, a shell command or an MCP call. | |
| Compacting | The agent is compacting its context to free up room. | |
| Awaiting input | The agent is blocked on you: a permission prompt or a question. |
The colors come from the active theme (success, warning, info, accent and error); the swatches above are the default One Dark theme, where Using tools and Compacting share the same blue.
How it updates
On launch Pomelo installs a hook for Claude Code in ~/.claude/settings.json (see Settings > Agent > Activity Hooks). Claude calls it on session start, prompt submit, tool use, compaction, stop, session end and notifications. The hook works out the workspace from the folder the session runs in (workspace--<branch>) and writes the state to ~/.local/state/pom/agents/state-<branch>.json.
The app watches that folder, and re-reads it at least every 5 seconds. The dot follows the workspace's main agent (and the onboarder while a project sets up); side agents never change it. A state shows only while that agent is still running in its holder, so an agent that exits without saying so drops its dot. A working state that has not changed for 15 minutes reads as idle. Only a real permission or question prompt counts as Awaiting input; Claude's idle reminder does not.
Get notified on a change
You don't have to watch the dots. Settings > Notifications has:
- Notify on Claude Activity - the master switch for banners and sounds (on by default; macOS asks for notification permission).
- Alert While Viewing - also alert for the workspace on screen in the focused window (off by default).
- Test Notification - posts a sample banner.
- Alert Sounds - a macOS sound per event: Started Working, Finished (Glass by default), Needs Your Input (Ping by default) and Compacting. Picking a sound plays it; None turns it off.
Finished, needs input and compacting post a banner as well as their sound; started working only plays its sound, if one is set. Click a banner to jump to that workspace.