# Sprint Retro — Harbormaster v8.0.0a2

**Date:** 2026-05-10
**Theme:** Phase 2 of the v8 UI polish line — colored state badges
gain icon glyphs + full `aria-label` so color-vision-different
operators (and screen-reader users) get the same affordance.
Pure additive: zero color classes removed, glyphs sit alongside
the existing label.

## What landed

### `harbormaster` (this repo)

| SHA | Subject |
|-----|---------|
| (merge) | feat(ui): state badges gain icon glyph + aria-label |

## Capabilities (this sprint)

### 1 · Bridge state badge → icon + aria-label

The `FleetQ Bridge` status badge now renders as
`<icon> <state-label>` in an `inline-flex items-center gap-1` span.
New `bridgeStateIcon()` Alpine helper maps each label to a glyph:
`disabled → ⊘`, `token missing → ⚠`, `connected → ✓`, `stale → ⚠`,
`connecting → ⟳`, `disconnected → ✗`, `configured → ●`. The whole
badge binds `:aria-label="`Bridge ${bridgeStateLabel()}`"` so SR
users hear the full state, not just the glyph.

### 2 · Plugins enabled badge → icon + aria-label

Same pattern. `enabled` shows `✓ enabled (N loaded)`; `disabled`
shows `⊘ disabled`. Aria label: `"Plugins enabled, N loaded"` or
`"Plugins disabled"`.

### 3 · Plugin row status badge → icon + aria-label

Per-row plugin status (`loaded` / `missing` / `disabled` /
`not-allowlisted` / `no-dist-name`) now uses
`pluginStatusIcon(row.status)` with the same glyph table and
binds `:aria-label="`Plugin status ${row.status}`"`.

### 4 · Reembed phase badge → icon + aria-label

`phaseIconHtml()` returns:

* `running` → animated spinner div (`animate-spin` border ring,
  matches the trajectory `stale` spinner pattern)
* `running` + `cancel_requested` → ⏳
* `idle` → ⏸, `done` → ✓, `failed` → ✗, `cancelled` → ⚠

Bound via `x-html` (so the spinner element renders) and the badge
declares `:aria-label="`Reembed ${phaseLabel()}`"`.

### 5 · Trajectory tier badges → explicit aria-label

The three writeback tiers (`fresh`, `stale`, `stuck`) already
shipped icons in v6.0.0a2 but had no aria-label. Now:

* fresh → `aria-label="New trajectory"`
* stale → `aria-label="Writing back to FleetQ"`, `role="status"`
* stuck → `aria-label="Trajectory writeback stuck"`, `role="alert"`

The literal glyphs (●, ⚠) are wrapped in `<span aria-hidden="true">`
so SR doesn't read them aloud — the label carries the meaning.

### 6 · Static audit test (`tests/ui/test_state_badges.py`)

7 new test parametrisations:

* `test_bridge_state_badge_has_icon_and_aria_label`
* `test_plugins_enabled_badge_has_icon_and_aria_label`
* `test_plugin_row_status_badge_has_icon_and_aria_label`
* `test_reembed_phase_badge_has_icon_and_aria_label`
* `test_trajectory_tier_badges_carry_aria_label`
* `test_icon_helper_is_defined_in_alpine_scope` (×2 helpers)

Each asserts source-level invariants (string presence). Cheap,
fast, no browser fixture, fails immediately on regression.

## Real numbers

- 6/6 v8.0.0a2 sub-items shipped (full Phase 2 plan)
- 1 feature branch merged (no PR)
- +7 new tests (814 → 821 collected; +0 source files, 52 total)
- mypy --strict + ruff: clean
- Backwards-incompatible changes: 0
- Templates touched: 2 / 5 (dashboard.html, project_detail.html)

## What worked

- **Glyph table built into Phase 1 audit covers Phase 2.** The v8a1
  `_IconButtonAuditor.ICON_GLYPHS` set already includes ✓ ⚠ ⊘ ● ✗ ⏸,
  so Phase 2 badges never trigger the icon-only-button violation
  (they wrap the icon in `<span aria-hidden=true>` and rely on the
  label sibling).
- **Pure additive change.** Zero color classes removed, every glyph
  sits in a new wrapper span. If a v9 sprint changes the badge
  styling, the Phase 2 invariants stay intact.
- **Spinner rendered via `x-html`, not a hardcoded glyph.** Matches
  the existing `stale` trajectory pattern (animated border ring) so
  the visual vocabulary stays consistent.

## What we'd do differently

- **Standardise the helper function naming.** Three helpers (icon,
  label, badge-class) per state — but bridge has
  `bridgeStateIcon/Label/BadgeClass`, reembed has
  `phaseIconHtml/phaseLabel/phaseBadgeClass`. v9 could promote a
  single `stateBadge(state)` helper that returns
  `{icon, label, class, ariaLabel}` so the template signature
  matches everywhere.

## Action items for the next sprint (v8.0.0a3)

1 · Phase 3 — empty states across all surfaces. 5 surfaces (dashboard
no-projects, recall no-matches, trajectory no-entries, fan-out
no-selection, reembed-history no-runs) get a 3-part canonical
pattern: headline + secondary explanation + single CTA. New
`_partials/_empty_state.html` partial with `headline`, `body`,
`cta_label`, `cta_action` slots. Snapshot tests per surface.

## Out-of-scope (still)

- Per-state visual loading indicator on the bridge connecting state
  (icon is `⟳` static; could animate). Defer until visual feedback
  is requested.
- Heroicons SVG instead of unicode glyphs. Unicode renders without a
  network fetch; SVG would need either inline injection or a build
  step. Tailwind v4 + asset pipeline (Phase 7) is the natural place
  to revisit if SVG fidelity becomes a real issue.
