new console

src/App.svelte

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   import KeyArt from "./components/KeyArt.svelte";
   import MarketplaceDrawer from "./components/MarketplaceDrawer.svelte";
   import NewsPanel from "./components/NewsPanel.svelte";
+  import ReleaseConsole from "./components/ReleaseConsole.svelte";
   import ReleasePanel from "./components/ReleasePanel.svelte";
   import SettingsDrawer from "./components/SettingsDrawer.svelte";
   import SyncPanel from "./components/SyncPanel.svelte";
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@
   // Dev mode drops the patch notes: they describe the INSTALLED version, which is not what
   // a dev run starts. With that column gone the art has the whole window to sit in.
   const dev = $derived(launcher.devOn);
+  // A release takes that column back while it runs: its output is the one thing worth
+  // reading there, and it is where a developer is already looking.
+  const showConsole = $derived(dev && launcher.consoleOpen);
 
   onMount(() => launcher.start());
 </script>
@@ -26,9 +30,11 @@
   <KeyArt />
   <TitleBar onOpenSettings={() => (settingsOpen = true)} onOpenMarket={() => launcher.openMarket()} />
 
-  <main class="hub" class:dev>
+  <main class="hub" class:dev={dev && !showConsole}>
     {#if !dev}
       <div class="news-slot"><NewsPanel /></div>
+    {:else if showConsole}
+      <div class="news-slot"><ReleaseConsole /></div>
     {/if}
     <div class="hero-slot"><Hero /></div>
     <div class="action-slot"><ActionPanel /></div>

src/components/ActionPanel.svelte

@@ -118,6 +118,11 @@
     await launcher.loadRelease();
   }
 
+  // While one runs, this button is the way BACK to its output rather than a way to start a
+  // second: closing the console otherwise left a running release with nowhere to be seen.
+  const releasing = $derived(launcher.consoleRunning);
+  const hasOutput = $derived(launcher.consoleLines.length > 0 && !launcher.consoleOpen);
+
   async function browseCheckout() {
     const path = await launcher.pickFolder();
     if (path) await launcher.setDev({ dev_root: path });
@@ -304,10 +309,16 @@
         </div>
 
         <div class="dev-row">
-          <button class="btn dev-release" disabled={blocked || !s?.online} onclick={openRelease}>
-            Build &amp; deploy…
-          </button>
-          {#if !s?.online}
+          {#if releasing}
+            <button class="btn dev-release" onclick={() => launcher.showConsole()}>Release running…</button>
+          {:else}
+            <button class="btn dev-release" disabled={blocked || !s?.online} onclick={openRelease}>
+              Build &amp; deploy…
+            </button>
+          {/if}
+          {#if hasOutput && !releasing}
+            <button class="btn-link" onclick={() => launcher.showConsole()}>last output</button>
+          {:else if !s?.online}
             <span class="dev-note">needs the DHP</span>
           {/if}
         </div>

src/components/ReleaseConsole.svelte

@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+<script lang="ts">
+  import Icon from "./Icon.svelte";
+  import { launcher } from "../lib/launcher.svelte";
+
+  let scroller: HTMLElement | undefined = $state();
+
+  const lines = $derived(launcher.consoleLines);
+  const running = $derived(launcher.consoleRunning);
+  const exit = $derived(launcher.consoleExit);
+
+  // Follow the output, but only while the reader is already at the bottom: scrolling back to
+  // read an error must not be yanked away by the next line that arrives.
+  let follow = $state(true);
+  function onScroll() {
+    const el = scroller;
+    if (!el) return;
+    follow = el.scrollHeight - el.scrollTop - el.clientHeight < 24;
+  }
+  $effect(() => {
+    void lines.length;
+    if (follow && scroller) scroller.scrollTop = scroller.scrollHeight;
+  });
+
+  // A step header is worth picking out of a wall of build output, as is a failure.
+  function kind(line: string): string {
+    if (/^\s*={3}/.test(line)) return "step";
+    if (/^FAILED:|^\s*Erreur|error[: ]/i.test(line)) return "bad";
+    if (/nothing to (release|deploy)|No pack cut|Release finished/i.test(line)) return "note";
+    return "";
+  }
+</script>
+
+<section class="console glass" aria-label="Release output">
+  <header class="head">
+    <h2 class="eyebrow">Release</h2>
+    <span class="state mono" class:live={running} class:bad={!running && exit !== null && exit !== 0}>
+      {#if running}
+        running
+      {:else if exit === null}
+        idle
+      {:else if exit === 0}
+        finished
+      {:else}
+        failed ({exit})
+      {/if}
+    </span>
+    <span class="grow"></span>
+    <span class="total mono">{lines.length}</span>
+    <button class="icon-btn" aria-label="Close release output" onclick={() => launcher.closeConsole()}>
+      <Icon name="close" size={14} />
+    </button>
+  </header>
+
+  <!-- Both are deliberate: `log` is the role for streamed output, and it has to be
+       focusable or a keyboard cannot scroll back through a failed build. -->
+  <!-- svelte-ignore a11y_no_noninteractive_tabindex -->
+  <div bind:this={scroller} class="body mono selectable" onscroll={onScroll} tabindex="0" role="log">
+    {#if lines.length}
+      {#each lines as line, i (i)}
+        <div class="line {kind(line)}">{line || " "}</div>
+      {/each}
+    {:else}
+      <p class="empty">Waiting for the first line…</p>
+    {/if}
+  </div>
+
+  {#if !running && exit !== null}
+    <footer class="foot">
+      {exit === 0 ? "Closing this keeps the output until the next release." : "The full transcript is in state\\release\\release.log."}
+    </footer>
+  {/if}
+</section>
+
+<style>
+  .console {
+    display: flex;
+    flex: 1;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    min-height: 0;
+    background: var(--glass-strong);
+  }
+
+  .head {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    gap: 10px;
+    padding: 8px 8px 8px 16px;
+    border-bottom: 1px solid var(--line);
+  }
+
+  .grow {
+    flex: 1;
+  }
+
+  .total,
+  .state {
+    color: var(--muted);
+    font-size: var(--text-xs);
+  }
+
+  /* The dot earns its place: from across the desk it is the only thing that says whether a
+     release is still going. */
+  .state.live::before,
+  .state.bad::before {
+    display: inline-block;
+    width: 6px;
+    height: 6px;
+    margin-right: 6px;
+    border-radius: 50%;
+    background: var(--accent, #4ade80);
+    content: "";
+    vertical-align: middle;
+  }
+  .state.live {
+    color: var(--ink-2);
+  }
+  .state.bad {
+    color: var(--danger);
+  }
+  .state.bad::before {
+    background: var(--danger);
+  }
+
+  .body {
+    flex: 1;
+    padding: 8px 0;
+    overflow-y: auto;
+    min-height: 0;
+    font-size: var(--text-xs);
+    line-height: 1.55;
+  }
+
+  .line {
+    padding: 0 16px;
+    color: var(--ink-2);
+    white-space: pre-wrap;
+    overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+  }
+
+  .line.step {
+    margin-top: 6px;
+    color: var(--ink);
+    font-weight: 600;
+  }
+
+  .line.bad {
+    color: var(--danger);
+  }
+
+  .line.note {
+    color: var(--warn);
+  }
+
+  .empty {
+    padding: 8px 16px;
+    color: var(--muted);
+    font-size: var(--text-sm);
+  }
+
+  .foot {
+    padding: 8px 16px;
+    border-top: 1px solid var(--line);
+    color: var(--muted);
+    font-size: var(--text-xs);
+  }
+</style>

src/lib/backend.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import type {
   SignInResult,
   StackEvent,
   Status,
+  ReleaseConsoleTail,
   ReleasePlan,
   RemoveProgress,
   SyncConflict,
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ function createTauriBackend(): Backend {
     onInstallProgress: (handler) => subscribe<InstallProgress>("install-progress", handler),
     releasePlan: () => invoke<ReleasePlan>("release_plan"),
     releaseRun: (password, withApi, withMcp) => invoke<void>("release_run", { password, withApi, withMcp }),
+    releaseConsole: (since) => invoke<ReleaseConsoleTail>("release_console", { since }),
     onTileSyncProgress: (handler) => subscribe<TileSyncProgress>("tile-sync-progress", handler),
     onRemoveProgress: (handler) => subscribe<RemoveProgress>("remove-progress", handler),
     onStack: (handler) => subscribe<StackEvent>("stack", handler),

src/lib/launcher.svelte.ts

@@ -418,9 +418,61 @@ class Launcher {
     return this.run("release", async () => {
       await backend.releaseRun(password, withApi, withMcp);
       this.releaseOpen = false;
+      // Straight into the console: the release is running with nowhere else to show itself.
+      this.consoleLines = [];
+      this.consoleTotal = 0;
+      this.consoleExit = null;
+      this.consoleRunning = true;
+      this.consoleOpen = true;
+      this.pollConsole();
     });
   }
 
+  // ---- the release console -------------------------------------------------------------
+  /** Shown in the notes column in dev mode, where the patch notes sit otherwise. */
+  consoleOpen = $state(false);
+  consoleLines = $state<string[]>([]);
+  consoleRunning = $state(false);
+  consoleExit = $state<number | null>(null);
+  /** How many lines have been taken, so each poll asks only for what is new. */
+  private consoleTotal = 0;
+  private polling = false;
+
+  /** Polled rather than pushed: reopening the panel then needs no replay, and a slow window
+   *  cannot fall behind a build that prints thousands of lines. */
+  private async pollConsole() {
+    if (this.polling) return;
+    this.polling = true;
+    try {
+      for (;;) {
+        const tail = await backend.releaseConsole(this.consoleTotal);
+        if (tail.from > this.consoleTotal && this.consoleLines.length) {
+          this.consoleLines.push(`... ${tail.from - this.consoleTotal} earlier lines dropped`);
+        }
+        if (tail.lines.length) this.consoleLines.push(...tail.lines);
+        this.consoleTotal = tail.total;
+        this.consoleRunning = tail.running;
+        this.consoleExit = tail.exit;
+        if (!tail.running) return;
+        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 400));
+      }
+    } catch {
+      this.consoleRunning = false;
+    } finally {
+      this.polling = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** Reopen it after it was closed; a finished release keeps its output to be read. */
+  showConsole() {
+    this.consoleOpen = true;
+    if (this.consoleRunning) this.pollConsole();
+  }
+
+  closeConsole() {
+    this.consoleOpen = false;
+  }
+
   /** Change part of the settings and save, for the dev controls on the hub. */
   setDev(change: Partial<Settings>) {
     const current = this.settings;

src/lib/mock.ts

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import {
   type MarketItem,
   type MockControls,
   type MockScenario,
+  type ReleaseConsoleTail,
   type ReleasePlan,
   type Settings,
   type SignInResult,
@@ -786,7 +787,39 @@ class MockBackend implements Backend {
   async releaseRun(password: string, withApi: boolean, withMcp: boolean): Promise<void> {
     await this.wait(400);
     if (!password.trim()) throw "The node's sudo password is needed to cut a pack and to roll the API.";
-    this.log("info", `Release started in its own window (browser mock: nothing runs). API ${withApi}, MCP ${withMcp}`);
+    // Nothing runs in the browser, so play a short script into the console instead: enough
+    // to see the panel fill, scroll and finish.
+    this.consoleLines = ["=== ODIAN pack 0.74.0 ===", "", "=== Preflight ==="];
+    this.consoleDone = null;
+    const rest = [
+      "engine at 1255873...",
+      "Nothing that ships has changed. No pack cut.",
+      "pack: nothing to release",
+      `=== Launcher 0.1.40 === (API ${withApi}, MCP ${withMcp})`,
+      "npx tauri build ...",
+      "Release finished.",
+    ];
+    void (async () => {
+      for (const line of rest) {
+        await this.wait(700);
+        this.consoleLines.push(line);
+      }
+      this.consoleDone = 0;
+    })();
+  }
+
+  private consoleLines: string[] = [];
+  private consoleDone: number | null = 0;
+
+  async releaseConsole(since: number): Promise<ReleaseConsoleTail> {
+    await this.wait(60);
+    return {
+      from: Math.min(since, this.consoleLines.length),
+      lines: this.consoleLines.slice(since),
+      total: this.consoleLines.length,
+      running: this.consoleDone === null,
+      exit: this.consoleDone,
+    };
   }
 
   async syncNow(): Promise<void> {

src/lib/types.ts

@@ -306,6 +306,17 @@ export interface ReleasePlan {
   blocked: string | null;
 }
 
+/** A slice of the running release's output: what the window has not shown yet. */
+export interface ReleaseConsoleTail {
+  /** Index of the first line returned; higher than asked for when older lines were trimmed. */
+  from: number;
+  lines: string[];
+  total: number;
+  running: boolean;
+  /** Null while running; 0 means it finished, anything else means it failed. */
+  exit: number | null;
+}
+
 export const DEV_TARGETS = ["client", "web", "both"] as const;
 export type DevTarget = (typeof DEV_TARGETS)[number];
 
@@ -375,6 +386,7 @@ export interface Backend {
   syncTiles(): Promise<void>;
   releasePlan(): Promise<ReleasePlan>;
   releaseRun(password: string, withApi: boolean, withMcp: boolean): Promise<void>;
+  releaseConsole(since: number): Promise<ReleaseConsoleTail>;
   /** What the operator has to decide, oldest first. */
   getSyncConflicts(): Promise<SyncConflict[]>;
   /** Records one decision; resolves with what is left to decide. */