dev@bfd:~/dev-diary$ git show 2026-02
commit 2026-02-21-stabilized-child-portal-startup-and-runtime-diagnostics
Author: MJ
Date: Feb 21, 2026

2026-02-21 - Stabilized child portal startup and runtime diagnostics

Timeline

  • 14:16 (Observation) Child launch was confirmed with explicit multi-window args and no immediate plugin init crash.
  • 14:23 (Observation) Additional child launch showed stable child-mode routing with window-manager disabled by design.
  • 14:48 (Action) Repeated root and child spawn cycles were executed to validate startup/load behavior under iteration.
  • 14:50 (Observation) Root and multiple child windows all completed snapshot load with nodes and edges present.
  • 14:51 (Action) Runtime error capture was added for Flutter and unhandled async exceptions, then launch cycles were rerun.
  • 14:51 (Observation) Runtime log scan showed no plugin/assertion/parsing error markers during repeated launches.

Context

  • Follow-up debugging focused on a blank child portal surface after prior startup changes.
  • Session goal was to detect a single blocking fault and iterate until repeated launches were stable.

Actions

  • Added robust child-window launch parsing and explicit root/child mode logging for runtime boot paths.
  • Removed child hard dependency on window-manager initialization and guarded plugin-dependent interactions.
  • Added child-safe UI fallback behavior to avoid transparent no-state rendering while loading.
  • Wrapped drag/resize calls with async-safe guards and disabled those interactions in child mode.
  • Added runtime logging for snapshot load start/complete and attached global Flutter/unhandled error capture.
  • Executed repeated root+child spawn cycles and validated analyze/test/build success after each repair pass.

Observations

  • The primary blocker was plugin-channel mismatch in child windows, not core portal-state loading.
  • Child portals can load correctly without window-manager when startup and interaction calls are isolated.
  • Repeated cycle logs showed stable load completion with expected graph defaults (nodes and edges populated).
  • Inferred from runtime evidence: the failure mode moved from crash-level exceptions to stable boot behavior.

Open Threads

  • Validate visual fidelity and interaction polish in child portals now that crash blockers are cleared.
  • Add a compact automated stress command to run launch/kill/log loops in one deterministic test step.
  • Decide whether child windows should regain selective window-manager features via capability probing.

Boundary Reminder:
Seeds. No maintenance. No roadmap.