[lyn1dev]

Problem

On Windows, revealing a file in File Explorer takes over 2 seconds, because every reveal starts a hidden PowerShell before Explorer. To reproduce on Windows: open a file in the file preview panel and press Open in File Explorer. Expected: Explorer shows the selected file about as fast as the OS allows.

Change

The desktop app reveals local drive-letter files with Electron's shell.showItemInFolder from the three reveal entry points (file preview, chat file links, file context menu). It declines and falls back to the existing server reveal for non-Windows, WSL/UNC paths, remote environments, older desktop builds, connections without the operate scope, and when reg.exe does not report the stock Directory\shell value of none, so replacement file managers (#19526) are unchanged.

The IPC and renderer changes are all needed for this one fix: the main process owns the native call, and each entry point has to try it before the server.

Scope and approval

Fixes #33063. No maintainer has reviewed the issue yet, so this has no explicit approval. I'm submitting it under the small, focused fix route in CONTRIBUTING.md: it addresses one defect, the PowerShell start on every Windows reveal. It adds no setting, workflow or UI, and does not change product defaults; the same reveal happens, faster, and every case it can't handle keeps today's server path. It spans desktop, contracts and web only because one native call has to cross the IPC boundary and be reached from each existing entry point. If maintainers would rather triage #33063 first, its measurements stand on their own.

Verification

Time until the file is selected in Explorer, Windows 11 26200, Core Ultra 7 255H, 4 runs each after a warm-up:

Route	Average	Range
main (PowerShell then explorer /select)	2,453 ms	2,247–2,643 ms
shell.showItemInFolder	1,279 ms	1,169–1,393 ms

Built desktop app from this branch, launched with an isolated T3 home and app data, calling window.desktopBridge.revealItemInFolder in the real renderer with the window focused:

{"round":1,"appFocused":true,"returned":true,"bridgeMs":50,"selectedRight":"True","explorerInFront":"True","selectedMs":1505}
{"round":2,"appFocused":true,"returned":true,"bridgeMs":32,"selectedRight":"True","explorerInFront":"True","selectedMs":1352}
{"round":3,"appFocused":true,"returned":true,"bridgeMs":48,"selectedRight":"True","explorerInFront":"True","selectedMs":549}
{"round":4,"appFocused":true,"returned":true,"bridgeMs":53,"selectedRight":"True","explorerInFront":"True","selectedMs":1009}
declines \wsl.localhost\Ubuntu\home\a.txt -> false
declines relative\a.txt -> false

The target there was a folder, with=odd & names\report final,v2.txt. Separately, the right file was selected for paths with spaces, apostrophes, &, Unicode, commas and equals signs.

Tests: window.test.ts covers the native reveal and each main-process decline case. remoteOpen.test.ts covers the operate-scope guard. Desktop and web typecheck, format, lint and knip pass locally.

Could not check: pressing the on-screen button itself (the bridge call above starts one step after it), or a live replacement file manager (that decline is covered by a mocked registry value; this machine has none). vp run check:changed hung on my machine, so I ran the checks above and left the rest to CI.

Made with Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code, running in T3 Code.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Needs Human Approval

Macroscope's review found this PR requires human approval — Windows file reveals gain a native Electron fast path with server fallback. The unresolved authorization finding identifies a context-menu path that can reveal files from read-only or revoked connections, requiring resolution of the intended access restriction.

Needs human approval because:

• 1 blocking correctness issue found at or above your repo's Minimum Blocking Severity

^{Adjust the Minimum Blocking Severity for this repo — including turning it Off — in Settings. You can add or adjust custom eligibility rules. Learn more.}

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

The desktop app adds an IPC method that uses Electron to reveal eligible Windows paths. Web reveal actions try this method first and continue through their existing fallback paths when it is unavailable or returns false.

Changes: Folder reveal

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Desktop reveal IPC and Windows handling packages/contracts/src/ipc.ts, apps/desktop/src/ipc/channels.ts, apps/desktop/src/ipc/methods/window.ts, apps/desktop/src/ipc/DesktopIpcHandlers.ts, apps/desktop/src/preload.ts, apps/desktop/src/ipc/methods/window.test.ts, apps/desktop/src/app/DesktopApp.test.ts	The desktop bridge gains an optional reveal method and IPC channel. The handler queries the Windows directory shell verb and calls Electron’s reveal operation only for eligible paths. Tests cover the platform, path, and registry-result cases.
Web reveal integration apps/web/src/remoteOpen.ts, apps/web/src/remoteOpen.test.ts, apps/web/src/components/ChatMarkdown.tsx, apps/web/src/components/chat/OpenInPicker.tsx, apps/web/src/fileContextMenu.ts	The web helper returns true only when the optional desktop method succeeds and the environment has the required scope. Chat markdown, the open picker, and the file context menu try desktop reveal before their existing fallback behavior.

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Change: Refactor

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant WebRevealAction
  participant revealInDesktopShell
  participant DesktopBridge
  participant DesktopIPC
  participant ChildProcessSpawner
  participant ElectronShell
  WebRevealAction->>revealInDesktopShell: Request reveal for path
  revealInDesktopShell->>DesktopBridge: Call revealItemInFolder(path)
  DesktopBridge->>DesktopIPC: Invoke reveal-item-in-folder channel
  DesktopIPC->>ChildProcessSpawner: Query Windows directory shell verb
  ChildProcessSpawner-->>DesktopIPC: Return registry result
  DesktopIPC->>ElectronShell: Reveal path when Windows checks pass
  DesktopIPC-->>DesktopBridge: Return true or false
  DesktopBridge-->>revealInDesktopShell: Return reveal result
  revealInDesktopShell-->>WebRevealAction: Return true or false

Loading

Possibly related issues

• pingdotgg/t3code#33063: Reports a delay before Explorer selects a file. This PR adds an Electron reveal path for eligible Windows paths.

Suggested reviewers: juliusmarminge, t3dotgg

Merge Risk: Minimal · up to 7b8f1

The reviewed change has no established merge-blocking issue and is ready for normal checks.

Pre-merge checks: 4

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check		The title names the main change: revealing a file on Windows no longer starts PowerShell, which is the performance fix described in the PR. It follows the conventional commit format and is specific to…
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Description check		The description follows the template's Problem, Change, Scope and approval, and Verification sections, and it is detailed. The Problem section states the 2-second delay on Windows and gives reproducti…

Full details: Title check

Explanation

The title names the main change: revealing a file on Windows no longer starts PowerShell, which is the performance fix described in the PR. It follows the conventional commit format and is specific to the changeset. The title does not name the Electron shell API, but it does not need to cover every detail.

Full details: Description check

Explanation

The description follows the template's Problem, Change, Scope and approval, and Verification sections, and it is detailed. The Problem section states the 2-second delay on Windows and gives reproduction steps. The Change section explains the native reveal path and each decline case. The Scope and approval section links the issue #33063 and states that no maintainer has approved it yet. It argues for the small focused fix route under CONTRIBUTING.md. The Verification section includes a timing table, a built-app run with bridge output, and unit test coverage. It also states what was not checked: the on-screen button press, a live replacement file manager, and the repo-wide check:changed run. The template asks for before/after screenshots for UI changes. This change does not add UI, so screenshots are not required. The Scope section does not link a triaged issue with maintainer approval. The author discloses that gap and argues for the small-fix exemption. Whether that argument meets the bar is a maintainer decision. The description also ends with the model and harness line that the template asks for.

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[coderabbitai]

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Add an explicit approval basis to the Scope and approval section. Either link a
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Review info

Run configuration

• Source mode: Auto
• Repository: pingdotgg/t3code
• Branch: main
• File: .coderabbit.config.ts
• Commit: 3da48c1
• Layers: Repository TS config
• Review profile: CHILL
• Plan: Advanced
• Run ID: 3268863f-4cc3-4df9-a285-a2249255ec70

Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 5d1a1e1 and 7b8f1c4.

Files selected for processing: 5

• apps/web/src/components/ChatMarkdown.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/chat/OpenInPicker.tsx
• apps/web/src/fileContextMenu.ts
• apps/web/src/remoteOpen.test.ts
• apps/web/src/remoteOpen.ts

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