fix(tui): surface model errors

src/tui/tui-event-handlers.ts

@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ export function createEventHandlers(context: EventHandlerContext) {
       setActivityStatus("streaming");
     }
     if (evt.state === "final") {
+      const stopReason =
+        evt.message && typeof evt.message === "object" && !Array.isArray(evt.message)
+          ? typeof (evt.message as Record<string, unknown>).stopReason === "string"
+            ? ((evt.message as Record<string, unknown>).stopReason as string)
+            : ""
+          : "";
       const text = extractTextFromMessage(evt.message, {
         includeThinking: state.showThinking,
       });
@@ -57,7 +63,7 @@ export function createEventHandlers(context: EventHandlerContext) {
       chatLog.finalizeAssistant(finalText, evt.runId);
       noteFinalizedRun(evt.runId);
       state.activeChatRunId = null;
-      setActivityStatus("idle");
+      setActivityStatus(stopReason === "error" ? "error" : "idle");
     }
     if (evt.state === "aborted") {
       chatLog.addSystem("run aborted");

src/tui/tui-formatters.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { extractTextFromMessage } from "./tui-formatters.js";
+
+describe("extractTextFromMessage", () => {
+  it("renders errorMessage when assistant content is empty", () => {
+    const text = extractTextFromMessage({
+      role: "assistant",
+      content: [],
+      stopReason: "error",
+      errorMessage:
+        '429 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"rate_limit_error","message":"This request would exceed your account\\u0027s rate limit. Please try again later."},"request_id":"req_123"}',
+    });
+
+    expect(text).toContain("HTTP 429");
+    expect(text).toContain("rate_limit_error");
+    expect(text).toContain("req_123");
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to a generic message when errorMessage is missing", () => {
+    const text = extractTextFromMessage({
+      role: "assistant",
+      content: [],
+      stopReason: "error",
+      errorMessage: "",
+    });
+
+    expect(text).toContain("unknown error");
+  });
+});
+

src/tui/tui-formatters.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { formatTokenCount } from "../utils/usage-format.js";
+import { formatRawAssistantErrorForUi } from "../agents/pi-embedded-helpers.js";
 
 export function resolveFinalAssistantText(params: {
   finalText?: string | null;
@@ -38,7 +39,14 @@ export function extractTextFromMessage(
 ): string {
   if (!message || typeof message !== "object") return "";
   const record = message as Record<string, unknown>;
-  return extractTextBlocks(record.content, opts);
+  const text = extractTextBlocks(record.content, opts);
+  if (text) return text;
+
+  const stopReason = typeof record.stopReason === "string" ? record.stopReason : "";
+  if (stopReason !== "error") return "";
+
+  const errorMessage = typeof record.errorMessage === "string" ? record.errorMessage : "";
+  return formatRawAssistantErrorForUi(errorMessage);
 }
 
 export function formatTokens(total?: number | null, context?: number | null) {