Collaboration Hub Developer

Build and modify the AILANG Collaboration Hub - a React-based UI for multi-agent coordination, task execution monitoring, and observability.

Quick Start

Starting services:

make services-start         # Start server + coordinator
make services-status        # Check both services
make services-stop          # Stop both
make services-restart       # Rebuild and restart

After UI changes:

make ui-deploy              # Build, clean, copy to server
make services-restart       # Restart with new build

Key URLs:

• UI: http://localhost:1957/
• REST API: http://localhost:1957/api/
• WebSocket: ws://localhost:1957/ws

When to Use This Skill

Use when user asks to:

• Add features to Control Plane dashboard
• Modify Observatory or task hierarchy views
• Update message center or approval queue
• Add components to trace waterfall or event queue
• Style or theme UI components
• Diagnose hierarchy or span issues

Architecture Overview

Backend (Go):

• internal/server/server.go - HTTP server, static files
• internal/server/handlers_controlplane.go - Control plane API
• internal/observatory/ - Telemetry and span storage
• internal/observatory/hierarchy.go - Hierarchy building

Frontend (React + TypeScript + Vite):

ui/src/
├── App.tsx                     # Main app, navigation
├── features/
│   ├── controlplane/           # Control Plane v4 (main view)
│   │   ├── ControlPlane.tsx    # Main container
│   │   ├── components/         # MessageQueue, TraceWaterfall, etc.
│   │   └── hooks/              # useEventQueue, useTraceData
│   ├── observatory/            # Task and span exploration
│   ├── tasks/                  # Task execution monitoring
│   ├── agents/                 # Agent management
│   ├── messaging/              # Message center
│   └── approvals/              # Approval workflow
└── components/                 # Shared components

Database: SQLite at ~/.ailang/state/observatory.db

Available Scripts

scripts/diagnose.sh <command>

Diagnose Collaboration Hub and Observatory issues.

Commands:

.Codex/skills/collaboration-hub/scripts/diagnose.sh health          # Server + DB check
.Codex/skills/collaboration-hub/scripts/diagnose.sh task <id>       # Task details
.Codex/skills/collaboration-hub/scripts/diagnose.sh spans <task_id> # Span hierarchy
.Codex/skills/collaboration-hub/scripts/diagnose.sh orphans         # Find orphan spans
.Codex/skills/collaboration-hub/scripts/diagnose.sh costs           # Cost breakdown
.Codex/skills/collaboration-hub/scripts/diagnose.sh recent          # Recent activity

Key API Endpoints

Control Plane:

• GET /api/controlplane/stats - Unified stats
• GET /api/controlplane/exec-hierarchy - Execution hierarchy

Observatory:

• GET /api/observatory/tasks/{id}/hierarchy - Full task hierarchy (RECOMMENDED)
• GET /api/observatory/spans?task_id=X - Spans by task
• GET /api/observatory/traces/{id} - Trace with all spans

Approvals (v0.6.5+):

• GET /api/coordinator/pending - List pending approvals
• POST /api/coordinator/approve/{id} - Approve (merge + optional handoff)
• POST /api/coordinator/reject/{id} - Reject with feedback

For complete API reference: See resources/rest_api_reference.md

Approval Workflow (v0.6.5+)

The approval system uses unified approvals where merge and handoff are combined:

API response includes:

{
  "id": "apr-123",
  "type": "merge_handoff",
  "context_json": "{\"handoff_targets\":[\"sprint-planner\"],\"session_id\":\"...\"}"
}

UI considerations:

• Show handoff targets when type === "merge_handoff"
• Update button text to indicate handoff will occur
• Show session continuity info (agent will resume with context)

Hierarchy & Trace Correlation

The hierarchy API applies three levels of virtual re-parenting:

1. Timestamp Correlation - Fixes ailang.* spans under exec.tool_use
2. Cross-Trace Merging - Links spans across different trace IDs
3. Session-Based Merging - Links orphan traces by session.id

Why use hierarchy API? Child spans don't have task_id set. The hierarchy endpoint expands traces to include ALL spans.

For detailed algorithm: See resources/hierarchy_algorithm.md

Development Workflow

Adding a Component

// ui/src/features/controlplane/components/NewComponent.tsx
import styles from '../ControlPlane.module.css';

export const NewComponent: React.FC<Props> = ({ data }) => {
  return <div className={styles.newComponent}>{/* content */}</div>;
};

Adding Styles

/* Add to ControlPlane.module.css */
.newComponent {
  background: var(--bg-surface);
  padding: var(--space-4);
}

CSS Variables

/* Colors */
--bg-deep: #0a0c10;
--bg-surface: #161b22;
--primary: #25c2a0;
--success: #10b981;
--danger: #ef4444;

/* Text */
--text-primary: #e6edf3;
--text-secondary: #8b949e;

/* Spacing */
--space-1: 4px; --space-2: 8px; --space-3: 12px; --space-4: 16px;

Troubleshooting

Event shows no spans

1. Run: scripts/diagnose.sh task TASK_ID
2. Check hierarchy API: curl localhost:1957/api/observatory/tasks/TASK_ID/hierarchy
3. Check spans exist: scripts/diagnose.sh spans TASK_ID

Missing child spans (exec.turn, etc.)

Use hierarchy API, not direct spans API:

# Wrong - only spans with task_id
curl "/api/observatory/spans?task_id=X"

# Correct - all spans in linked traces
curl "/api/observatory/tasks/X/hierarchy"

UI changes not appearing

make ui-deploy              # Clean build
# Hard refresh: Cmd+Shift+R

For database diagnostics: See resources/database_diagnosis.md

Resources

• REST API Reference: resources/rest_api_reference.md
• Database Diagnosis: resources/database_diagnosis.md
• Hierarchy Algorithm: resources/hierarchy_algorithm.md
• ID Relationships: resources/id_relationships.md - How IDs link across all 3 databases

Progressive Disclosure

1. Always loaded: This SKILL.md (~200 lines)
2. Execute as needed: Scripts in scripts/
3. Load on demand: Resources in resources/

Self-Improvement

This skill self-improves. When issues are discovered:

1. Identify the issue
2. Update scripts/resources/SKILL.md
3. Validate changes
4. Log in CHANGELOG.md