refactor: implement event-driven status bar architecture with ticket stats (#21)

* refactor(ticket): migrate status bar rendering to event-driven architecture

* refactor(ticket): simplify session creation and message handling

* docs(ticket): expand description guidance for self-contained tickets

* docs: update changelog

Author: kostyay

AGENTS.md

@@ -51,19 +51,56 @@ Each `.ts` file in `pi-extensions/` must own exactly **one** concern:
 
 If an extension grows beyond ~400 lines, split it. If it does two unrelated things, split it.
 
-### Strict Isolation — No Cross-Extension Dependencies
+### Strict Isolation — No Cross-Extension Imports
 
-Extensions must **not** import from or depend on other extensions in this repo. Each extension is self-contained.
+Extensions must **not** import from or depend on other extensions in this repo. Each extension is self-contained at the module level.
 
 **Wrong:**
 ```typescript
 // plan-ask.ts
-import { askQuestion } from "./kbrainstorm"; // ❌ Cross-extension dependency
+import { askQuestion } from "./kbrainstorm"; // ❌ Cross-extension import
 ```
 
 **Right:**
 Each extension registers its own tools/commands. If two extensions need the same capability, extract it into a shared utility in a `lib/` directory, or better yet, make each extension independently register what it needs.
 
+### Cross-Extension Communication via `pi.events`
+
+Extensions communicate at runtime through the shared event bus (`pi.events`), never through imports. Data-producing extensions emit typed events; consuming extensions listen.
+
+```typescript
+// producer (ticket extension)
+pi.events.emit("ticket:stats", { total: 14, epics: 1, open: 12, ... });
+
+// consumer (status-bar extension)
+pi.events.on("ticket:stats", (data) => { ticketStats = data; });
+```
+
+### Status Bar Rendering Architecture
+
+`status-bar.ts` is the **sole owner of footer rendering**. Other extensions must **not** call `ctx.ui.setStatus()` to display information in the footer. Instead:
+
+1. **Data extensions** (e.g., `ticket/`) compute stats and emit them via `pi.events` using a namespaced event (e.g., `"ticket:stats"`).
+2. **`status-bar.ts`** listens for these events, stores the data, and renders it in the footer alongside model info, context meter, git stats, and tool tallies.
+
+The status bar **may be aware of specific data shapes** (e.g., ticket stats interface) to render them with appropriate formatting, icons, and color coding. This is intentional — the status bar is a UI orchestrator, not a generic passthrough.
+
+**Wrong:**
+```typescript
+// ticket extension
+ctx.ui.setStatus("ticket", "🎫 14 tickets"); // ❌ Extension rendering its own footer status
+```
+
+**Right:**
+```typescript
+// ticket extension — emit raw data
+pi.events.emit("ticket:stats", { total: 14, epics: 1, open: 12, inProgress: 1, closed: 1 });
+
+// status-bar.ts — owns the rendering
+pi.events.on("ticket:stats", (data) => { ticketStats = data; });
+// ... renders ticketStats in footer with proper theme colors
+```
+
 ### Naming Conventions
 
 - **File names**: lowercase kebab-case matching the primary command or tool name (e.g., `status-bar.ts`, `notify.ts`).

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -38,7 +38,13 @@ All notable changes to agent-stuff are documented here.
 
 
 
-## feat/aggregate-ticket-statuses
+
+
+## refactor/ticket-event-driven-status
+
+This PR introduces an **event-driven architecture for ticket status rendering**, decoupling the ticket extension from direct footer manipulation (#21). The ticket extension now emits structured `ticket:stats` events via `pi.events` instead of calling `ctx.ui.setStatus()`, while the status-bar extension listens and renders rich ticket metrics (epics, tasks, bugs, features, status breakdowns) with theme-aware formatting. Supporting changes improve ticket description guidance to ensure self-contained documentation and simplify session creation logic by separating session initialization from message dispatch. The refactor reinforces architectural isolation—extensions communicate only through the shared event bus, never through cross-extension imports.
+
+## [1.0.9](https://github.com/kostyay/agent-stuff/pull/20) - 2026-03-03
 
 The status bar now aggregates multiple ticket statuses into a single count display (e.g., "3 tickets") rather than listing each ticket individually (#20). This improvement reduces visual clutter in the extension's footer display while maintaining visibility of ticket status information. The change filters ticket statuses separately from other extension statuses and applies proper pluralization, making the status bar more readable when dealing with multiple concurrent tickets.
 

pi-extensions/status-bar.ts

@@ -103,12 +103,28 @@ interface GitDiffStats {
 	unstagedFiles: number;
 }
 
+/** Ticket statistics emitted by the ticket extension via pi.events. */
+interface TicketStats {
+	total: number;
+	epics: number;
+	tasks: number;
+	bugs: number;
+	features: number;
+	open: number;
+	inProgress: number;
+	closed: number;
+}
+
 /** Status bar extension — registers a rich two-line custom footer. */
 export default function statusBarExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI) {
 	const counts: Record<string, number> = {};
 	let turnCount = 0;
 	let agentActive = false;
 
+	// Ticket stats (populated via pi.events from ticket extension)
+	let ticketStats: TicketStats | null = null;
+	pi.events.on("ticket:stats", (data: TicketStats) => { ticketStats = data; });
+
 	// Cached git diff stats (refreshed on tool_execution_end for write/edit/bash)
 	let diffStats: GitDiffStats | null = null;
 	let diffStatsTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
@@ -257,20 +273,24 @@ export default function statusBarExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI) {
 					const statuses = footerData.getExtensionStatuses();
 					const sandboxStatus = statuses.get("sandbox");
 					const otherStatuses = [...statuses.entries()]
-						.filter(([key]) => key !== "sandbox");
-
-					// Count ticket statuses separately; show as "N tickets"
-					const ticketCount = otherStatuses.filter(([, val]) => val === "ticket").length;
-					const nonTicketStatuses = otherStatuses
-						.filter(([, val]) => val !== "ticket")
+						.filter(([key]) => key !== "sandbox")
 						.map(([, val]) => val);
-					if (ticketCount > 0) {
-						nonTicketStatuses.push(`${ticketCount} ticket${ticketCount > 1 ? "s" : ""}`);
+
+					// Build ticket status segment from event data
+					if (ticketStats && ticketStats.total > 0) {
+						const parts: string[] = [];
+						if (ticketStats.epics > 0) parts.push(theme.fg("accent", `${ticketStats.epics}E`));
+						const nonEpic = ticketStats.tasks + ticketStats.bugs + ticketStats.features;
+						if (nonEpic > 0) parts.push(theme.fg("muted", `${nonEpic}T`));
+						if (ticketStats.inProgress > 0) parts.push(theme.fg("warning", `${ticketStats.inProgress}🔵`));
+						if (ticketStats.open > 0) parts.push(theme.fg("dim", `${ticketStats.open}⚪`));
+						if (ticketStats.closed > 0) parts.push(theme.fg("success", `${ticketStats.closed}✅`));
+						otherStatuses.push(`🎫 ${parts.join(" ")}`);
 					}
 
 					let l1Mid = "";
-					if (nonTicketStatuses.length > 0) {
-						l1Mid = " " + nonTicketStatuses.join(theme.fg("dim", " · "));
+					if (otherStatuses.length > 0) {
+						l1Mid = " " + otherStatuses.join(theme.fg("dim", " · "));
 					}
 
 					const pad1 = " ".repeat(

pi-extensions/ticket/index.ts

@@ -607,16 +607,23 @@ export default function ticketExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI) {
 	function refreshUI(ctx: ExtensionContext): void {
 		const dir = getTicketsDir(ctx.cwd);
 		const tickets = listTicketsSync(dir);
-		const inProgress = tickets.filter((t) => t.status === "in_progress");
-		const remaining = tickets.filter((t) => t.status !== "closed").length;
 
-		// Status
-		if (!tickets.length) {
-			ctx.ui.setStatus("🎫 no tickets", "ticket");
-		} else {
-			ctx.ui.setStatus(`🎫 ${tickets.length} tickets (${remaining} remaining)`, "ticket");
+		// Single-pass counting for ticket stats
+		const stats = { epics: 0, tasks: 0, bugs: 0, features: 0, open: 0, inProgress: 0, closed: 0 };
+		for (const t of tickets) {
+			if (t.type === "epic") stats.epics++;
+			else if (t.type === "task") stats.tasks++;
+			else if (t.type === "bug") stats.bugs++;
+			else if (t.type === "feature") stats.features++;
+			if (t.status === "open") stats.open++;
+			else if (t.status === "in_progress") stats.inProgress++;
+			else if (t.status === "closed") stats.closed++;
 		}
 
+		pi.events.emit("ticket:stats", { total: tickets.length, ...stats });
+
+		const inProgress = tickets.filter((t) => t.status === "in_progress");
+
 		// Widget: current in-progress ticket
 		if (inProgress.length) {
 			ctx.ui.setWidget("ticket-current", (_tui, theme) => {
@@ -1167,7 +1174,10 @@ export default function ticketExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI) {
 				"**Step 3: Create** — Once I approve the plan, create the tickets:\n" +
 				"1. `ticket create` the epic (type=epic) with description and acceptance criteria\n" +
 				"2. `ticket create` each task (type=task, parent=<epic-id>) with:\n" +
-				"   - description: what to implement\n" +
+				"   - description: **self-contained** — include enough project context, design decisions, " +
+				"and relevant details from the planning discussion so an agent can work on this ticket " +
+				"in an isolated session without access to the original conversation. " +
+				"Reference specific files, APIs, data structures, and conventions by name.\n" +
 				"   - acceptance: definition of done\n" +
 				"   - tests: specific test criteria that must pass before closing\n" +
 				"   - priority and deps as planned\n" +
@@ -1234,20 +1244,15 @@ export default function ticketExtension(pi: ExtensionAPI) {
 				`Steps:\n1. \`ticket start ${firstTicket.id}\`\n2. Implement the work\n3. \`ticket close ${firstTicket.id}\`${record.tests ? " (with tests_confirmed=true after verifying tests)" : ""}\n\n` +
 				`After closing, there are ${ready.length - 1} more tickets to process.`;
 
-			// For fork-each, create a new session with the prompt
+			// Fork a new session, then send the prompt to trigger execution
 			const result = await ctx.newSession({
 				parentSession: ctx.sessionManager.getSessionFile(),
-				setup: async (sm) => {
-					sm.appendMessage({
-						role: "user",
-						content: [{ type: "text", text: prompt }],
-						timestamp: Date.now(),
-					});
-				},
 			});
 
 			if (result.cancelled) {
 				ctx.ui.notify("Session creation cancelled", "info");
+			} else {
+				pi.sendUserMessage(prompt);
 			}
 		},
 	});