From 645c7f76ea9d52c0a1321d897b0818811d79795d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Lawrence Chen <54008264+lawrencecchen@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2026 05:06:29 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Start workspace command process before workspace is opened

---
 Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift             | 30 +++++++++++++++++++
 Sources/TerminalController.swift              |  3 ++
 .../test_cli_new_workspace_command_queue.py   |  8 ++---
 3 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift b/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift
index b1f2faa5..78121fa0 100644
--- a/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift
+++ b/Sources/GhosttyTerminalView.swift
@@ -1135,6 +1135,7 @@ final class TerminalSurface: Identifiable, ObservableObject {
     private var pendingTextQueue: [Data] = []
     private var pendingTextBytes: Int = 0
     private let maxPendingTextBytes = 1_048_576
+    private var backgroundSurfaceStartQueued = false
     @Published var searchState: SearchState? = nil {
 	        didSet {
 	            if let searchState {
@@ -1616,6 +1617,35 @@ final class TerminalSurface: Identifiable, ObservableObject {
         writeTextData(data, to: surface)
     }
 
+    func requestBackgroundSurfaceStartIfNeeded() {
+        if !Thread.isMainThread {
+            DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
+                self?.requestBackgroundSurfaceStartIfNeeded()
+            }
+            return
+        }
+
+        guard surface == nil, attachedView != nil else { return }
+        guard !backgroundSurfaceStartQueued else { return }
+        backgroundSurfaceStartQueued = true
+
+        DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
+            guard let self else { return }
+            self.backgroundSurfaceStartQueued = false
+            guard self.surface == nil, let view = self.attachedView else { return }
+            #if DEBUG
+            let startedAt = ProcessInfo.processInfo.systemUptime
+            #endif
+            self.createSurface(for: view)
+            #if DEBUG
+            let elapsedMs = (ProcessInfo.processInfo.systemUptime - startedAt) * 1000.0
+            dlog(
+                "surface.background_start surface=\(self.id.uuidString.prefix(8)) inWindow=\(view.window != nil ? 1 : 0) ready=\(self.surface != nil ? 1 : 0) ms=\(String(format: "%.2f", elapsedMs))"
+            )
+            #endif
+        }
+    }
+
     private func writeTextData(_ data: Data, to surface: ghostty_surface_t) {
         data.withUnsafeBytes { rawBuffer in
             guard let baseAddress = rawBuffer.baseAddress?.assumingMemoryBound(to: CChar.self) else { return }
diff --git a/Sources/TerminalController.swift b/Sources/TerminalController.swift
index 7e073b93..5f1a3833 100644
--- a/Sources/TerminalController.swift
+++ b/Sources/TerminalController.swift
@@ -3165,6 +3165,7 @@ class TerminalController {
             } else {
                 // Avoid blocking the main actor waiting for view/surface attachment.
                 terminalPanel.sendText(text)
+                terminalPanel.surface.requestBackgroundSurfaceStartIfNeeded()
                 queued = true
             }
             #if DEBUG
@@ -9981,6 +9982,7 @@ class TerminalController {
                 sendSocketText(unescaped, surface: surface)
             } else {
                 terminalPanel.sendText(unescaped)
+                terminalPanel.surface.requestBackgroundSurfaceStartIfNeeded()
             }
             success = true
         }
@@ -10009,6 +10011,7 @@ class TerminalController {
                 sendSocketText(unescaped, surface: surface)
             } else {
                 terminalPanel.sendText(unescaped)
+                terminalPanel.surface.requestBackgroundSurfaceStartIfNeeded()
             }
             success = true
         }
diff --git a/tests_v2/test_cli_new_workspace_command_queue.py b/tests_v2/test_cli_new_workspace_command_queue.py
index 672b1dce..da7523c2 100644
--- a/tests_v2/test_cli_new_workspace_command_queue.py
+++ b/tests_v2/test_cli_new_workspace_command_queue.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""Regression: `new-workspace --command` must not block/fail before surface attach."""
+"""Regression: `new-workspace --command` should execute without selecting the workspace."""
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
@@ -89,9 +89,6 @@ def main() -> int:
             # Creation with --command should not steal focus.
             _must(c.current_workspace() == baseline_ws_id, "new-workspace --command should preserve selected workspace")
 
-            # Selecting the created workspace should attach/create the surface and flush queued input.
-            c.select_workspace(created_ws_id)
-
             observed = ""
             deadline = time.time() + 12.0
             while time.time() < deadline:
@@ -106,6 +103,7 @@ def main() -> int:
 
             _must(marker.exists(), f"Command marker file was not created: {marker}")
             _must(observed == token, f"Queued command did not execute as expected: expected={token!r} observed={observed!r}")
+            _must(c.current_workspace() == baseline_ws_id, "Command execution should not switch selected workspace")
         finally:
             if created_ws_id:
                 try:
@@ -118,7 +116,7 @@ def main() -> int:
     except OSError:
         pass
 
-    print("PASS: new-workspace --command queues input until surface attach and returns without blocking")
+    print("PASS: new-workspace --command executes without opening the created workspace")
     return 0