From 4afbdf58b3013fb2638cb5ab6bd019b34a3b9be0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Brooklyn Nicholson <brooklyn.bb.nicholson@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 13 May 2026 19:25:00 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fix(desktop): drop noisy "returned N items / empty object"
 stub strings
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When a tool returns nothing useful, the row should be silent — the title
("Search Files", etc.) already tells the user what happened. Counting the
fields in an opaque payload is engineer-noise.

`formatToolResultSummary` and `minimalValueSummary` now return '' for
empty arrays / records / unrecognized values; tool-fallback already hides
the detail section when its body is empty.
---
 .../assistant-ui/tool-fallback-model.ts       | 28 ++++---------------
 apps/desktop/src/lib/tool-result-summary.ts   | 21 +++++---------
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 36 deletions(-)

diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/tool-fallback-model.ts b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/tool-fallback-model.ts
index 5615fe8fe20..df0e38103b3 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/tool-fallback-model.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/assistant-ui/tool-fallback-model.ts
@@ -833,30 +833,14 @@ export function inlineDiffFromResult(result: unknown): string {
   return typeof value === 'string' ? stripInlineDiffChrome(value) : ''
 }
 
+// Falls back to a string only when there's something concrete to render —
+// counts of opaque items/fields are noise, not signal.
 function minimalValueSummary(value: unknown): string {
-  if (value == null) {
-    return ''
-  }
+  if (value == null) return ''
+  if (typeof value === 'string') return value
+  if (typeof value === 'number' || typeof value === 'boolean') return String(value)
 
-  if (typeof value === 'string') {
-    return value
-  }
-
-  if (typeof value === 'number' || typeof value === 'boolean') {
-    return String(value)
-  }
-
-  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
-    return value.length ? `Returned ${value.length} items.` : 'No items returned.'
-  }
-
-  if (isRecord(value)) {
-    const count = Object.keys(value).length
-
-    return count ? `Returned object with ${count} fields.` : 'Returned an empty object.'
-  }
-
-  return String(value)
+  return ''
 }
 
 function fallbackDetailText(args: unknown, result: unknown): string {
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/tool-result-summary.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/tool-result-summary.ts
index 8defcd626e9..615473568c3 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/tool-result-summary.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/tool-result-summary.ts
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ function formatFieldValue(value: unknown, depth: number): string {
 
   if (Array.isArray(v)) {
     if (!v.length) {
-      return '0 items'
+      return ''
     }
     const scalars = v.map(summarizeScalar).filter(Boolean)
 
@@ -204,10 +204,10 @@ function formatFieldValue(value: unknown, depth: number): string {
   return clipInline(String(v))
 }
 
+// "Returned N items" / "0 items" / "Returned an empty object" are all
+// noise — better to render nothing and let the title carry the signal.
 function formatArraySummary(value: unknown[], depth: number): string {
-  if (!value.length) {
-    return 'No items returned.'
-  }
+  if (!value.length) return ''
 
   const max = 6
   const lines = value
@@ -216,9 +216,7 @@ function formatArraySummary(value: unknown[], depth: number): string {
     .filter(Boolean)
     .map(l => `- ${l}`)
 
-  if (!lines.length) {
-    return `Returned ${pluralize(value.length, 'item')}.`
-  }
+  if (!lines.length) return ''
 
   if (value.length > max) {
     const remaining = value.length - max
@@ -230,10 +228,7 @@ function formatArraySummary(value: unknown[], depth: number): string {
 
 function formatRecordSummary(record: Json, depth: number): string {
   const keys = Object.keys(record)
-
-  if (!keys.length) {
-    return 'Returned an empty object.'
-  }
+  if (!keys.length) return ''
 
   if (depth <= 2) {
     const direct = firstString(record, ['message', 'summary', 'description', 'preview', 'text', 'content'])
@@ -261,9 +256,7 @@ function formatRecordSummary(record: Json, depth: number): string {
     }
   }
 
-  if (!lines.length) {
-    return `Returned object with ${pluralize(keys.length, 'field')}.`
-  }
+  if (!lines.length) return ''
 
   if (candidates.length > lines.length) {
     const remaining = candidates.length - lines.length