Increase contrast for the currently selected session
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Description
### Feature summary
Make the currently selected session clearly distinguishable with a higher-contrast background and border.
### What problem are you trying to solve?
The current selected-session state in the session list is too subtle. With eye-friendly monitor settings commonly used by developers who spend all day looking at screens—lower brightness, warmer color temperature, reduced contrast, night-light modes, or similar calibration—it is difficult to tell which session is currently active.
This creates repeated visual friction when working with many parallel sessions: I have to stop and carefully scan the sidebar before I can confirm which session I am viewing. The selection state should remain obvious across supported themes and display configurations.
### Proposed solution
Use a visibly stronger selected state for the current session row:
Apply a filled, higher-contrast background using the active theme's accent or selection token.
Add a clear border or leading indicator in the same accent color used for the focused composer/text-box border.
Preserve readable text and icon contrast in light and dark themes.
Keep hover, unread, running, and selected states visually distinct.
Aim for at least 3:1 non-text contrast between the selected state and adjacent session rows.
For the current GitHub theme, a green-tinted selected background matching the focused text-box border would work well. The exact color should remain theme-aware rather than hard-coded.
### Workflow impact
This would help developers managing many concurrent sessions, especially people using low-brightness, warm-color, reduced-contrast, night-light, or other eye-comfort monitor settings during long workdays. It would make session switching faster, reduce accidental work in the wrong session, and improve basic visual accessibility.
### Installation context
GitHub Copilot desktop app on Windows; applies to the session sidebar across platforms.
### Additional context
The key requirement is persistent, immediately recognizable contrast for the active session—not only a subtle hover effect or small icon. Ideally the selected state should be tested across every built-in theme and under reduced-contrast display conditions.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by locating the session sidebar's selected-row styling and the theme tokens used by the focused composer or text-box border. Compare the selected, hover, unread, and running states across built-in light and dark themes, then verify that the selected session is visibly distinct while text and icons remain readable.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- github
- Domain
- accessibility, design, desktop
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100