Session picker: selected-but-inactive row is indistinguishable from other inactive rows (low contrast)
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- Dominant language
- Shell
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Description
Describe the bug
In the sessions sidebar (shown via the session picker / /resume view), there are three distinct visual states for a row, but only two are easily distinguishable:
- Active session (the one currently open) - solid, high-contrast accent-blue background. Clear.
- Selected/cursor row (the row the keyboard/mouse cursor is on, used to switch-to or close a session, when it isn't the active one) - a subtle dark grey background.
- Other inactive sessions (not selected, not active) - plain background, no highlight.
The problem: state 2's highlight color is too close in luminance to the plain background (state 3), especially in the default theme: "github" palette. When only two sessions are open (one active, one selected-but-inactive), it's very hard to tell that the second row is actually focused/selected at all.
Steps to reproduce
- Open Copilot CLI with 2+ saved sessions.
- Open the sessions view (e.g.
/resume, or the sessions sidebar shown in some UI surfaces). - Move the selection cursor to a session row that is not the currently active one.
- Observe that the "selected" row's background is only marginally darker/lighter than an unselected, non-active row.
Expected behavior
The selected-but-inactive row should have a clearly distinguishable background (e.g., a mid-contrast highlight) independent of the active-row accent color and the plain inactive-row background, so all three states are visually unambiguous at a glance - regardless of which of the 5 whole-theme presets (default, github, dim, high-contrast, colorblind) is active.
Additional context
- Checked
copilot help config/ the full settings reference - there is currently no granular setting to override just this element; only whole-palettethemeswitching is exposed. - Suggested labels:
area:sessions,area:theming-accessibility - CLI version: 1.0.79, Windows 11, Windows Terminal,
theme: "github"(default)
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start at the /resume session picker and locate the row styling and the five whole-theme presets: default, github, dim, high-contrast, and colorblind. Compare selected-but-inactive rows with other inactive rows in each preset. Done means all three session states are visually distinguishable without adding a granular configuration setting.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- shell
- Domain
- accessibility, cli, design
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100