feat(desktop): wire New Window to ⌘⇧N + command palette

Repoint session.newWindow (⌘⇧N) from the compact new-session pop-out to
openNewWindow(), which opens a full peer instance via the new openWindow
bridge, and add a "New Window" entry to the ⌘K palette (shown with its
hotkey hint, gated on canOpenNewWindow()). Relabel the action "New window".

Drops the retired openNewSessionWindow bridge and the vestigial
isNewSessionWindow()/new=1 flag; renames the shared opener helper.

apps/desktop/electron/preload.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('hermesDesktop', {
   touchBackend: profile => ipcRenderer.invoke('hermes:backend:touch', profile),
   getGatewayWsUrl: profile => ipcRenderer.invoke('hermes:gateway:ws-url', profile),
   openSessionWindow: (sessionId, opts) => ipcRenderer.invoke('hermes:window:openSession', sessionId, opts),
-  openNewSessionWindow: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('hermes:window:openNewSession'),
+  openWindow: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('hermes:window:openInstance'),
   petOverlay: {
     // Main renderer → main process: window lifecycle + drag. `request` is
     // `{ bounds, screen }`; resolves with the screen bounds it actually used.

apps/desktop/src/app/command-palette/index.tsx

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { useI18n } from '@/i18n'
 import { sessionTitle } from '@/lib/chat-runtime'
 import {
   Activity,
+  AppWindow,
   Archive,
   BarChart3,
   ChevronLeft,
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ import { openPetGenerate } from '@/store/pet-generate'
 import { requestStartWorkSession } from '@/store/projects'
 import { runGatewayRestart } from '@/store/system-actions'
 import { applyBackendUpdate } from '@/store/updates'
+import { canOpenNewWindow, openNewWindow } from '@/store/windows'
 import { luminance } from '@/themes/color'
 import { type ThemeMode, useTheme } from '@/themes/context'
 import { isUserTheme, resolveTheme } from '@/themes/user-themes'
@@ -413,6 +415,18 @@ export function CommandPalette() {
             label: cc.nav.newChat.title,
             run: go(NEW_CHAT_ROUTE)
           },
+          ...(canOpenNewWindow()
+            ? [
+                {
+                  action: 'session.newWindow',
+                  icon: AppWindow,
+                  id: 'nav-new-window',
+                  keywords: ['window', 'instance', 'open', 'new'],
+                  label: t.keybinds.actions['session.newWindow'],
+                  run: () => void openNewWindow()
+                }
+              ]
+            : []),
           {
             action: 'view.showTerminal',
             icon: Terminal,

apps/desktop/src/app/hooks/use-keybinds.ts

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ import {
   switcherActive,
   switcherJustClosed
 } from '@/store/session-switcher'
-import { openNewSessionInNewWindow } from '@/store/windows'
+import { openNewWindow } from '@/store/windows'
 import { useTheme } from '@/themes/context'
 
 import { requestComposerFocus, requestVoiceToggle } from '../chat/composer/focus'
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ export function useKeybinds(deps: KeybindRuntimeDeps): void {
       window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('hermes:new-session-shortcut'))
     },
     'session.newTab': () => deps.openNewSessionTab(),
-    'session.newWindow': () => void openNewSessionInNewWindow(),
+    'session.newWindow': () => void openNewWindow(),
     // ⌃Tab cycles the focused session/main tab strip; only a non-tabbed focus
     // falls through to the recent-session switcher.
     'session.next': () => void (cycleTreeTabInFocusedZone(1) || stepSession(1)),

apps/desktop/src/global.d.ts

@@ -31,8 +31,10 @@ declare global {
       // a spectator window (lazy resume — no agent build) for live-streaming
       // a running subagent's session.
       openSessionWindow: (sessionId: string, opts?: { watch?: boolean }) => Promise<{ ok: boolean; error?: string }>
-      // Open (or focus) a compact secondary window on the new-session draft.
-      openNewSessionWindow: () => Promise<{ ok: boolean; error?: string }>
+      // Open a new full-chrome app window — a peer instance of the primary that
+      // renders the complete app against the shared backend, so the user can run
+      // multiple GUI windows at once.
+      openWindow: () => Promise<{ ok: boolean; error?: string }>
       // The pop-out pet overlay: a transparent always-on-top window hosting only
       // the mascot. The main renderer drives it (open/close/drag + state push);
       // the overlay sends control messages back (pop-in, composer submit).

apps/desktop/src/i18n/en.ts

@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ export const en: Translations = {
       'nav.agents': 'Open agents',
       'session.new': 'New session',
       'session.newTab': 'New session tab',
-      'session.newWindow': 'New session in window',
+      'session.newWindow': 'New window',
       'session.next': 'Next session',
       'session.prev': 'Previous session',
       'session.slot.1': 'Switch to recent session 1',

apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh.ts

@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ export const zh: Translations = {
       'nav.agents': '打开智能体',
       'session.new': '新建会话',
       'session.newTab': '新建会话标签',
-      'session.newWindow': '在新窗口中新建会话',
+      'session.newWindow': '新建窗口',
       'session.next': '下一个会话',
       'session.prev': '上一个会话',
       'session.slot.1': '切换到最近会话 1',

apps/desktop/src/lib/icons.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import {
   IconActivity as Activity,
   IconAlertCircle as AlertCircle,
   IconAlertTriangle as AlertTriangle,
+  IconAppWindow as AppWindow,
   IconArchive as Archive,
   IconArchiveOff as ArchiveOff,
   IconArrowUp as ArrowUp,
@@ -120,6 +121,7 @@ export {
   Activity,
   AlertCircle,
   AlertTriangle,
+  AppWindow,
   Archive,
   ArchiveOff,
   ArrowUp,

apps/desktop/src/store/windows.test.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 
-import { canOpenSessionWindow, openNewSessionInNewWindow, openSessionInNewWindow } from './windows'
+import { canOpenNewWindow, canOpenSessionWindow, openNewWindow, openSessionInNewWindow } from './windows'
 
 const desktopWindow = window as unknown as { hermesDesktop?: Window['hermesDesktop'] }
 const initialHermesDesktop = desktopWindow.hermesDesktop
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ vi.mock('./notifications', () => ({
 
 function installBridge(
   openSessionWindow?: Window['hermesDesktop']['openSessionWindow'],
-  openNewSessionWindow?: Window['hermesDesktop']['openNewSessionWindow']
+  openWindow?: Window['hermesDesktop']['openWindow']
 ) {
   desktopWindow.hermesDesktop = {
     ...(openSessionWindow ? { openSessionWindow } : {}),
-    ...(openNewSessionWindow ? { openNewSessionWindow } : {})
+    ...(openWindow ? { openWindow } : {})
   } as unknown as Window['hermesDesktop']
 }
 
@@ -106,37 +106,54 @@ describe('openSessionInNewWindow', () => {
   })
 })
 
-describe('openNewSessionInNewWindow', () => {
+describe('canOpenNewWindow', () => {
+  it('is false when the desktop bridge is absent', () => {
+    delete desktopWindow.hermesDesktop
+    expect(canOpenNewWindow()).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('is false when the bridge lacks openWindow', () => {
+    installBridge(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true }))
+    expect(canOpenNewWindow()).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('is true when the bridge exposes openWindow', () => {
+    installBridge(undefined, vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true }))
+    expect(canOpenNewWindow()).toBe(true)
+  })
+})
+
+describe('openNewWindow', () => {
   it('no-ops gracefully when the bridge is absent (web fallback)', async () => {
     delete desktopWindow.hermesDesktop
 
-    await openNewSessionInNewWindow()
+    await openNewWindow()
 
     expect(notifyError).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
-  it('no-ops when openNewSessionWindow is missing', async () => {
+  it('no-ops when openWindow is missing', async () => {
     installBridge(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true }))
 
-    await openNewSessionInNewWindow()
+    await openNewWindow()
 
     expect(notifyError).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
   it('invokes the bridge', async () => {
-    const openNew = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true })
-    installBridge(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true }), openNew)
+    const openWindow = vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true })
+    installBridge(undefined, openWindow)
 
-    await openNewSessionInNewWindow()
+    await openNewWindow()
 
-    expect(openNew).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(openWindow).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(notifyError).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
   it('notifies on an ok:false result', async () => {
-    installBridge(vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: true }), vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: false, error: 'nope' }))
+    installBridge(undefined, vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ ok: false, error: 'nope' }))
 
-    await openNewSessionInNewWindow()
+    await openNewWindow()
 
     expect(notifyError).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   })

apps/desktop/src/store/windows.ts

@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import { notifyError } from './notifications'
 // never from the router. A "secondary" window renders a single chat without the
 // global session sidebar or the install / onboarding overlays.
 const SECONDARY_WINDOW_FLAG = 'secondary'
-const NEW_SESSION_WINDOW_FLAG = '1'
 
 let secondaryWindowCache: boolean | null = null
 
@@ -28,26 +27,6 @@ export function isSecondaryWindow(): boolean {
   return result
 }
 
-let newSessionWindowCache: boolean | null = null
-
-export function isNewSessionWindow(): boolean {
-  if (newSessionWindowCache !== null) {
-    return newSessionWindowCache
-  }
-
-  let result = false
-
-  try {
-    result = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('new') === NEW_SESSION_WINDOW_FLAG
-  } catch {
-    result = false
-  }
-
-  newSessionWindowCache = result
-
-  return result
-}
-
 let watchWindowCache: boolean | null = null
 
 // A "watch" window spectates a session that is being driven elsewhere (a
@@ -78,11 +57,16 @@ export function canOpenSessionWindow(): boolean {
   return typeof window !== 'undefined' && typeof window.hermesDesktop?.openSessionWindow === 'function'
 }
 
+// True when the shell can open a full peer app window (⌘⇧N / "New Window").
+export function canOpenNewWindow(): boolean {
+  return typeof window !== 'undefined' && typeof window.hermesDesktop?.openWindow === 'function'
+}
+
 type WindowOpenResult = { ok: boolean; error?: string } | undefined
 
 // Run a window-open bridge call, surfacing any failure as a toast. Shared by the
-// session pop-out and the new-session pop-out.
-async function openWindow(call: () => Promise<WindowOpenResult>, failMessage: string): Promise<void> {
+// session pop-out and the new-window opener.
+async function runWindowOpen(call: () => Promise<WindowOpenResult>, failMessage: string): Promise<void> {
   try {
     const result = await call()
 
@@ -102,14 +86,18 @@ export async function openSessionInNewWindow(sessionId: string, opts?: { watch?:
     return
   }
 
-  await openWindow(() => window.hermesDesktop.openSessionWindow(sessionId, opts), 'Could not open chat in a new window')
+  await runWindowOpen(
+    () => window.hermesDesktop.openSessionWindow(sessionId, opts),
+    'Could not open chat in a new window'
+  )
 }
 
-// Open a fresh compact window on the new-session draft.
-export async function openNewSessionInNewWindow(): Promise<void> {
-  if (!canOpenSessionWindow() || typeof window.hermesDesktop.openNewSessionWindow !== 'function') {
+// Open a new full-chrome app window — a peer instance of the primary that
+// renders the complete app against the shared backend. No-ops outside Electron.
+export async function openNewWindow(): Promise<void> {
+  if (!canOpenNewWindow()) {
     return
   }
 
-  await openWindow(() => window.hermesDesktop.openNewSessionWindow(), 'Could not open new session window')
+  await runWindowOpen(() => window.hermesDesktop.openWindow(), 'Could not open a new window')
 }