fix(app): show startup state during root redirect

[Astro-Han]

Summary

Show a visible PawWork startup state while the root route is waiting for backend project discovery, so first-open startup does not look like a blank main pane.

Why

A renderer diagnostics export for a first-open blank-screen report showed the captured session state only after the UI had recovered. A focused delayed-backend probe reproduced the visible symptom: the shell could render while the main pane stayed empty until /path and /project discovery finished and the app navigated into /:dir/session.

The root cause is that startup autoselect blocked the layout main slot with an empty fallback. Root redirect and lazy session fallback also used empty placeholders.

Related Issue

No GitHub issue. This is a maintainer-reported first-open renderer diagnostics investigation.

Human Review Status

Pending

Review Focus

Please focus on the startup routing conditions in Layout: direct /:dir/session routes should render immediately and should not wait for startup autoselect discovery, while / still shows a non-empty startup state while backend project discovery is pending.

Risk Notes

Low UI-state risk. The change does not alter backend discovery, project selection, persistence schemas, permissions, packaging, or platform-specific paths. It only replaces blank fallbacks with a visible startup state and narrows the layout blocking condition to true startup autoselect.

Conditional checklist notes:

• Platform/packaging impact: not applicable; no native, packaging, updater, signing, path, shell, or permission code changed.
• Docs/release/dependencies/permissions/generated/local-file surfaces: not applicable.

How To Verify

RED check: the new root-route pending E2E failed before the fix because app-startup-pending was missing.
Focused E2E: bun --cwd packages/app playwright test e2e/app/root-redirect.spec.ts -> 3 passed.
Typecheck: bun run typecheck in packages/app -> passed.
Lint: bun run lint -> passed.
Whitespace: git diff --check -> passed.
Visual check: delayed fake backend root route showed a centered PawWork startup splash instead of a blank main pane.

Screenshots or Recordings

Visible UI was checked locally with a delayed fake backend. The captured pending state shows the PawWork splash centered in the main pane instead of an empty white surface. Local screenshot path: /tmp/pawwork-startup-pending.png.

Checklist

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• I linked the related issue, or stated in Summary why there is no issue.
• I described the review focus and any meaningful risks.
• I replaced the example block in How To Verify with the real verification steps and the key result for each.
• I did not introduce unrelated refactors, dependencies, generated files, or file changes beyond the stated scope.
• (conditional) I manually checked visible UI or copy changes when needed, with screenshots or recordings. Leave unticked only if no visible UI or copy changed.
• (conditional) I considered macOS and Windows impact for platform, packaging, updater, signing, paths, shell, or permissions changes. Leave unticked only if no platform/packaging surface was touched.
• (conditional) I called out docs, release notes, dependencies, permissions, credentials, deletion behavior, generated content, or local file changes when relevant. Leave unticked only if none of those surfaces was touched.
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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: c43f5dde-350e-495e-aedb-1a20be1fe2d6

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between c019c11 and 833da34.

📒 Files selected for processing (8)

• packages/app/e2e/app/root-redirect.spec.ts
• packages/app/src/app.tsx
• packages/app/src/components/app-startup-pending.test.ts
• packages/app/src/components/app-startup-pending.tsx
• packages/app/src/i18n/en.ts
• packages/app/src/i18n/parity.test.ts
• packages/app/src/i18n/zh.ts
• packages/app/src/pages/layout.tsx

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch codex/fix-startup-blank

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[github-actions]

Suggested priority: P2 (includes user-path files (packages/app/src/app.tsx, packages/app/src/components/app-startup-pending.tsx, packages/app/src/pages/layout.tsx)).

P1/P0 are reserved for maintainer confirmation. Please relabel manually if this is a release blocker, security issue, data-loss risk, or updater/runtime failure.

[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request introduces a new AppStartupPending component to display a splash loading state during application startup and project autoselection, replacing generic empty loading divs. It also adds end-to-end tests to verify this startup behavior. The review feedback suggests localizing the hardcoded "Opening PawWork" string in the new component using the useLanguage hook to support internationalization.